Jose Aldo doesn’t think he’ll ever get to avenge his 13-second loss to Conor McGregor.
The pair met in the main event of UFC 194 in 2015 where they fought to unify their titles. Aldo at the time was the undefeated featherweight champion of the world, who had not lost in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition in over a decade. McGregor was the interim featherweight champion after having defeated Chad Mendes via second round TKO at UFC 189.
McGregor was able to put away the Brazilian in only 13 seconds after a beautifully placed counter-left hook and “Scarface” immediately began to campaign for a rematch. “Notorious” has since moved on to bigger and better things, leaving many to believe he and Aldo may never fight inside the Octagon again.
Now Aldo has regained his 145-pound crown after McGregor went on to capture the lightweight title, and he will be taking on interim featherweight champ Max Holloway at UFC 212 from Brazil on June 3rd. During a recent media call to promote the event, Aldo was asked about a possible rematch with McGregor in the future, to which he replied that he doesn’t think it’s ever going to happen as McGregor has already declined a rematch:
“Everybody says things today that I don’t even understand why,” Aldo said. “Conor was good for one side, let’s say, because he brought more attention to the division and to myself. On another side, to talk about the fight, man, that’s in the past.
“Everybody still asks me if I want or if I don’t want (to fight him again). That’s not up to me. That’s up to the UFC, and we know it will never happen. I don’t even know if he will come back to fight. The UFC tried to do a (second) fight and he didn’t want it, didn’t accept it, because what happened will never happen again.”
Even if Aldo does decide to eventually move up to 155 pounds, he couldn’t care less if he and McGregor cross paths again:
“I couldn’t care less what Conor does or doesn’t do,” Aldo said. “I’m a UFC fighter and I’m the best featherweight. I have to focus on training and evolving to defend my belt.”
Aldo is now fully focused on Max Holloway, who he credits for being one of the most dangerous up-and-comers in the division, but vows he will fail like all the rest:
“I think Max is a big challenge, an opponent that I already expected to face in the future,” Aldo said. “I try to look at every up-and-comer. I’m a reference (point), I’m a target. Everybody wants the champion, so I try to study every young athlete that enters the division.
“It’s another test for me,” Aldo added. “He’s a young guy, hungry to win. He’s another one who will try and fail. That’s for sure.”
H/T MMA Fighting for the transcriptions
