It’s a double-edged sword anytime the UFC announces a Conor McGregor fight.
On one hand, fans get to see one of the most entertaining mixed martial artists on the planet spit hot fire on the mic then compete. On the other, it usually causes a ripple effect of dissension among his peers in the UFC.
We’ve seen both elements of that this week.
The UFC announced Tuesday featherweight kingpin McGregor will challenge lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 on Nov. 12 when the promotion visits Madison Square Garden to hold its first event in New York.
While the matchup is tantalizing from both a stylistic and historical perspective — McGregor can become the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously — it infuriated interim featherweight champ Jose Aldo.
In fact, Aldo, one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, has asked for the UFC to release him. Aldo was knocked out by McGregor in 13 seconds at UFC 194 last December and has been eyeing a rematch ever since, but it doesn’t look like he’s ever going to get it.
McGregor’s 155-pound title matchup with Alvarez will be his third fight since taking the featherweight belt from Aldo, yet none of them have taken place in the 145-pound division. He had back-to-back welterweight bouts against Nate Diaz prior to signing the Alvarez contract.
Aldo beat Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 back in July and UFC president Dana White said at the time McGregor’s next fight after his rematch with Nate Diaz, win or lose, would be a title unification bout with Aldo. The only reason there was an interim belt to begin with was because the UFC allowed McGregor to attempt to avenge his March loss to Diaz. White also mentioned that if McGregor didn’t defend his title after the second Diaz bout he would be stripped of his belt. White and the UFC went back on their word and now Aldo says he doesn’t want anything to do with the UFC.
“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,” Aldo told Brazil’s Combate Tuesday. “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.”
This doesn’t appear to be a kneejerk reaction from Aldo either. His head coach and manager Andre Pederneiras explained to Combate they’ve broached the subject of leaving the UFC in the past.
“He’d already said, ‘If they screw me over this time, I’ll stop fighting for the UFC,” Pederneiras said. “We believed it wouldn’t happen – also because of Dana’s statements. We thought, ‘If [McGregor’s] going to fight in the upper division, we’ll keep the belt and fight either [Max] Holloway or [Anthony] Pettis. If he takes the rematch against us, I’ll fight him directly, all good, problem solved.'”
Aldo has six fights remaining on an eight-fight contract and wants an amicable split from the organization. If he doesn’t get it, Pederneiras said they would get lawyers involved. Aldo mentioned he desires to pursue a career in another sport but didn’t specify which sport.
“We don’t believe anything anymore, and Aldo’s decision was ‘I’m not fighting anymore. I no longer have the motivation to fight for the UFC. And to go in there without motivation – I don’t want to lose because of that. So I’d rather get out,'” Pederneiras added.
It’s unfortunate if we really have seen the last of Aldo, one of the all-time greats and an underappreciated commodity all at once. And for it all to end because the UFC continues to bend at the knee to appease McGregor? That’s a tough pill to swallow.
