[MMA NEWS ARCHIVES]
The following article was published five years ago, where tonight’s UFC Vegas 44 headliner José Aldo accused McGregor of backing out of a deal they had made prior to their UFC 194 bout. The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 14, 2016, 5:48 PM]
Former UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo recently spoke out about a pre-fight agreement made with UFC officials prior to his title defense against Conor McGregor at UFC 194 and explained how “The Notorious” Irishman broke his word immediately after the fight.
Aldo told Portal Vale Tudo that prior to losing his title to McGregor at the UFC 194 pay-per-view that both he and McGregor agreed to vacate the Featherweight title after the fight — regardless of who won — and move up to the Lightweight division where they were told they would then receive an immediate shot at the UFC Lightweight title.
“I won’t accept another fight if it’s not for the belt. When we signed the contract, the intention was that the winner would fight at lightweight, but we would need to abandon the featherweight belt.”
Aldo continued, explaining that after that, if they wanted to return to the Featherweight division, they would again immediately receive a shot at whoever the champion would be at that point in the weight class.
“That was the plan, that’s what they told us. If we fought at lightweight, win or lose, and then had the opportunity to fight at featherweight again, it would be for the title immediately. I think they gave him too much power and he’s playing now, calling the shots more than the others. I think that’s wrong, no one ever did that.”
In conclusion, Aldo said that it’s not so much that the “piece of sh*t” McGregor broke his word, but it’s a sign that it shows it is McGregor, not Dana White or another UFC executive, that appears to be calling the shots in the UFC lately.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s about money or not at this point, what matters is show who calls the shots, who’s the boss, and not just a piece of s–t talking about things you see. He doesn’t deserve to be where he is. I’ve always respected all the merits, but he had more luck than merits.”
(H/T for transcribing: MMAFighting.com)
