Perhaps unfairly for Jose Aldo, he may well be best remembered in some parts of the world as the man Conor McGregor knocked out in thirteen seconds. Aldo, who at the time was the world’s number one pound for pound fighter, has since moved to featherweight, and delivered one of the finest performances of his life against Pedro Munhoz.
While McGregor is nursing his broken leg, Aldo was asked by MMAFighting.com if he sees a Notorious rematch in his future. The answer?
Aldo says McGregor rematch will ‘Never’ happen
Never. “That’s what I don’t understand, brother. Back when it should have happened, like they are going rematches and trilogies, I didn’t have the opportunity, no one considered anything, and each one went their way. Now that the situation has inverted again, it feels like they have the obligation to book it.
No, I don’t see myself fighting Conor. Never, I think.
I can even say that. It might happen tomorrow, but that’s not the path. I root for him today, I hope he recovers from the injury and fights again at the highest level and becomes champion again, because that way he and I will always be together. No matter if I’m down and he’s up or the other way around, people will always put out names together, and that way we carry each other up.”
When Jose Aldo fought Conor McGregor at UFC 194 in 2015, he was the reigning featherweight champion, undefeated in over a decade. McGregor put an end to that in only thirteen seconds of the first round. Aldo continued to fight at featherweight afterwards, reclaiming the interim title, being declared undisputed champion, and then losing the title once more. He since moved down to bantamweight.
Conor went in the other direction, in more ways than one. McGregor moved up a weight class, not down, taking on Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight title. But while Jose Aldo stayed active, McGregor spent much of the past five years promoting his whiskey and dabbling in boxing.
He’ll spend much of the next year recovering from the broken leg sustained against Dustin Poirier in July. McGregor got heavier and less active, while Aldo lost weight and maintained a gruelling schedule.
Today, with at least twenty pounds between them, and after all Aldo’s hard work to reach 135 pounds at the ripe old age of 34, a rematch looks more unlikely than ever. Aldo flat-out rejected moving up to lightweight to fight McGregor again.
“No, man, there’s no way. I’m going after a fight for the belt, I want to build this career at bantamweight and make history this way. I’m happy that Sonnen and others are talking about this rematch, but I don’t see myself [fighting him]. I see my next fight being at bantamweight, and that way we’ll be close to fighting for the belt.”
Would you want to see McGregor vs Aldo 2, or are you happy leaving the past in the past? Let us know in the comments.
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