While Nate Diaz’s submission victory at UFC 196 somewhat quietened Conor McGregor, it’s given Jose Aldo a louder voice than ever before.
Aldo was never much of a trash-talker prior to his rivalry with McGregor which came to a head at UFC 194 when the Brazilian was knocked out in just 13 seconds by the Irishman.
In the months after Aldo’s defeat, the former UFC featherweight champion kept himself to himself for the most part and interviews with him were few and far between.
But ever since March 5, when McGregor tapped to a rear naked choke in his first UFC loss, Aldo has been at his most vocal.
Aldo’s next fight is slated as an interim featherweight title fight against top contender Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 while McGregor competes in the main event in a rematch with Diaz but Aldo is adamant that he should have been matched up with ‘The Notorious.’
“I definitely wanted to fight for the title,” Aldo told Yahoo Sports.
Many fans believed that an immediate rematch for Aldo wouldn’t be sellable due to the fact that he had been beaten so comprehensively but the Brazilian has dismissed those claims, insisting he still feels like the undisputed champion at 145 lbs.
“I still feel like I’m the champ,” Aldo said. “It was a lucky shot that connected and I’m still the champ. Right now, this fight [between Edgar and myself] that is happening, I feel it makes both parties happy. They’re giving me the shot [at the interim title] and they’re giving him the rematch with Diaz. Being interim, it means there’s just one more thing I have to do on the way to regaining the title.”
Aldo was criticised by McGregor for posting this Tweet in the wake of his UFC 196 defeat and he accused the Brazilian of celebrating a fellow martial artist’s defeat which he perceived as “the sign of a loser.”
See ya at #UFC200, @TheNotoriousMMA. Your fairy tale is over. You got nowhere to run now. Time to a rematch, pussy. pic.twitter.com/67fmic8qxG
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) March 6, 2016
But Aldo refutes those claims.
“I knew that was what was going to happen,” Aldo said of the fight. “That’s what happens when you go up two weight classes and you fight a guy who is bigger than you and better than you. It was inevitable. He should stay in the lighter weight division if he wants to win anything. But I wasn’t celebrating. I just knew he was going to lose. Diaz is better than him and they fought at a higher weight. Of course I knew Diaz would win.”
