UFC megastar Conor McGregor speaks out on the return of one of his former rivals: José Aldo. His statements will surprise you.
José Aldo is back in the octagon, more precisely the one he knows well, that of the UFC. He will therefore return after a short stint in boxing with a record of 1-0-1. He will face Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the meantime, he has kept busy with boxing matches, including a memorable draw against former UFC foe Jeremy Stephens. Now, he’s ready to trade the ring for the cage once more.
Conor McGregor, who famously dethroned Aldo to become the UFC Featherweight Champion at UFC 295 back in December 2015, expressed his delight at seeing his old rival return.
“Look at Aldo now, great to see Jose back, really happy to see Jose back,” said McGregor on The MMA Hour. “I was actually taken back that he did retire when he retired. He was in contention for the f*****g title, he was in title contention from where I was looking.”
The news shocked more than one. Conor McGregor, the biggest star in the UFC, owes a lot to José Aldo. His global rise began with his victory by knockout in 9 seconds against the Brazilian. Maybe if Aldo hadn’t accepted this fight, the story would be very different. ‘The Notorious’ respects the Brazilian enormously.
Conor McGregor is happy for José Aldo
Despite showing he can still compete with the best in the world, the UFC veteran laid down the gloves shortly after his loss to the Irishman. A pretty special choice, as Conor McGregor declares on The MMA Hour:
“Look at Aldo now, really happy to see Jose back. I was actually taken back that he did retire, when he retired. He was in contention from where I was looking.”
Conor McGregor tells Ariel Helwani that he is happy to see Jose Aldo return at UFC 301. @TheNotoriousMMA /… pic.twitter.com/6WBXvLaWIF
— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) March 20, 2024
“There is no other choice than to meet José Aldo to help him in his task. I was surprised he retired when he did. He was in contention for the f*cking title, he was in contention for the title from what I saw. I’m happy to see José back. I wonder if it wasn’t the negotiations that didn’t work for him, if he tried to push for more and then backed out and they let him? He went and did his boxing matches and everything else. Now he’s back and I’m excited to see him come back, it’s always good for the company, let’s do it. »
As Conor McGregor says, José Aldo was still one of the best before leaving the promotion. If he beats Jonathan Martinez, 14th at bantamweight, Aldo will likely have a top 10 opponent and be close to a title shot. As for Conor McGregor, he recently revealed that his fight against Michael Chandler was scheduled for this summer and that the UFC would announce it very soon.
“[Francis Ngannoy] would not have fought in MMA until the first quarter of 2025… It would have been December at the earliest or likely February of 2025. He was locked in. But he would have then gone ahead and fought Fury… It would have delayed.”
Donn Davis says if Francis Ngannou had won he would not have fought in the PFL until 2025 Q1.
Says Ngannou/Ferreira will happen on PPV sometime between July and September.
Also on that card will be Cyborg/Pacheco.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/cc8qOVAHTn
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 20, 2024
