BJJ black belt and Interim UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo has had enough of the UFC.
Also was hoping to face current Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor at UFC 205. The Notorious beat Aldo for the featherweight strap in a mere 13 seconds back at UFC 194, and Jose was hoping UFC 205 would be a chance to regain his gold.
Where you at @TheNotoriousMMA? Come back down and I'll see you at UFC205 or drop the belt! #hitandrun
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) August 21, 2016
But the UFC had other plans for McGregor, placing him in yet another main event superfight, this time against reigning Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.
In an interview with Brazil’s Combate, Aldo said the news was a surprise.
I heard about everything that happened through my coach. He had spoken with Sean Shelby Saturday and Sean still had no answer about anything, and asked if I could fight on November 12. My coach said that if it would be Conor, yes, and then Sean asked him if I would fight Max Holloway or Anthony Pettis. ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] said that for those who I’d rather do a full camp and it could be on December 10. We waited until Dana publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I’d get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I’d have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana said all the time that Conor couldn’t keep both belts. But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly having two belts at the same time.
After all this, I see I can’t trust any word from president Dana White, and who’s in charge of the promotion now is Conor McGregor. Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn’t return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore.
Dana White recently said Conor would have to vacate one title if he beats Alvarez at UFC 205, but Aldo is not buying it and says he just wants he and his former employer to go their separate ways.
I don’t believe in Dana saying that Conor would have to vacate one of the belts after UFC 205 because, based on what we’re seeing, this type of decision is not in his hands anymore, Conor makes the calls now. And the biggest proof that who’s in charge in the UFC now is Conor is that when I wanted to move up to fight Pettis, they said I’d have to vacate my belt and try this fight with no title whatsoever. But with him, they let him move up to the division above without losing his belt, and also let him do any fight he wants. I understand that he sells a lot, but it gets to a limit when it’s no longer a sport, it becomes a circus. I don’t want any type of fight with the UFC. The only thing I want is to go on with my life, and they will go on with theirs.
And while Scott Coker and the UFC’s biggest rival, Bellator, are no doubt licking their lips in the hopes of having such a big-name UFC star on their roster, it appears Jose Aldo simply wants to retire from the sport.
“I’m not angry or upset now, nothing,” Aldo told Revista Combate. “I never fought for money, I had a good career and legacy as featherweight champion.”
At only 30 years old, it would seem a bit premature for Aldo to end his MMA career, but he is right when he says it was “good.” Despite his youth, Aldo has held both the WEC and UFC featherweight championships, defending the latter seven times in a row before his loss to McGregor. Only two losses sully his 28-fight career.
If it is Jose Aldo’s time to go, then we here at the Jiu-Jitsu Times are saddened that we will never see him in the cage again, but respect his decision.
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