Former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo spoke to Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour about his decision not to take the short-notice fight against Conor McGregor this Saturday, as well as his belief that he still deserves an immediate title shot in his next Octagon appearance. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
Regarding his decision to turn down the short-notice McGregor offer, Aldo explained that it was simply a case of him not having proper time to prepare for such a fight.
“Any professional needs time to train. It’s not a cockfight where I go there and put my rooster to fight. It’s a high-level sport, I’m going there to do my job. When I have time to train, it can happen at any time, anywhere.”
Aldo also spoke about wanting an immediate title shot in his next fight, something he feels he has a right to.
“I can’t speak for others, and I don’t care what they say. I know I deserve an immediate rematch. People who say I don’t, I don’t care about them. The important is what the UFC thinks and what we think. We came to the conclusion that we’re having an immediate rematch.”
Finally, the longtime UFC Featherweight king revealed that he would like to be a part of the historical UFC 200 event coming up in July.
“I want to fight at UFC 200. It’s a historical edition, a great event. I would like to be part of it.”
