Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo has informed the UFC in no uncertain terms that he won’t fight again unless it’s either for the title or a rematch with Conor McGregor.
Aldo successfully defended his UFC 145lb title seven times over a four and a half year period, but was then KO’d in just 13 seconds by his rival McGregor at UFC 194 in December.
Despite the stunning nature of the swift defeat Aldo firmly believes that his past reputation warranted him an immediate rematch, but that’s not been the case so far with McGregor electing to move up to lightweight to challenge Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 on March 5th instead.
That appears to have angered Aldo who’s now penned a public statement so that everyone is clear on exactly where he stands regarding his next fight.
“Hi everyone, I was quiet for a while, because I was waiting for my rematch. In fact, I was already training for it, based on how the fight went down. But apparently I was wrong. So I wanted to make something clear to the UFC: for everything that I’ve done, everything I’ve accepted, and mostly how the fight ended, I will not accept any other fight other than a title shot. My only exception would be fighting Conor McGregor. At any time, anywhere, and since he is scared and knows that I’m gonna win… It doesn’t even have to be title fight against him. You can keep my belt. What I want is to whoop your ass. Again: any time, anywhere.
“Dana White Lorenzo Fertitta, keep ur word. I still believe in the company that I work for. #rematch”
Aldo is following in the footsteps of the featherweight divisions other top contender Frankie Edgar who also went on record several weeks ago saying that he wouldn’t fight again unless it was for the title.
The UFC’s decision to allow McGregor to challenge RDA at 155lbs without having to vacate his featherweight title first is at the root of the problem here. If they had done that then Aldo and Edgar could have fought to establish a new champion, but as things stand that’s not going to happen.
At this stage there’s still a chance that McGregor will move back down to 145lbs to defend his belt, potentially at UFC 200 if all goes according to plan, but it all depends on whether he’s fit enough to do so after his battle with Dos Anjos.
Even if he does so that does still mean that either Aldo or Edgar is going to be given the cold shoulder and could be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines if they do stick to their word and refuse to fight again unless it’s for the belt.
