Jose Aldo claims he would still be content if he never got the chance to exact revenge on Conor McGregor.
But it certainly seems like the Brazilian is chasing the man responsible for his most humiliating defeat as a bizarre interim lightweight title fight appears to be on the horizon for the recently promoted featherweight champion.
With McGregor’s scheduled hiatus from the Octagon, there were two very obvious fights to make in his absence.
It would have made the most sense for Tony Ferguson to face off with Khabib Nurmagomedov – be it for the interim lightweight title or just in a title eliminator – while the logical next step at the top of the featherweight division would be a unification bout between interim champ Max Holloway and promoted “undisputed” champion Aldo.
Those were the fights. Everyone knew that.
But it looks like we’re going to get neither as Aldo has since revealed that the discussed match-up with Holloway at UFC 208 had fallen by the wayside and, now, he’s set for a move-up in weight for the first time in his storied career.
“The Brooklyn fight [against Holloway] is not happening,” Aldo said during an interview with Ariel Helwani. “I now expect and believe I will be fighting in early March. Either March 3 or March 4, I can’t remember.
“I believe they will soon announce an interim lightweight title fight with me. They’ve been trying to find me an opponent, and — surprise, surprise — at least one has already turned down the fight against me. I’m waiting to see who they will find.”
While Aldo stopped short of naming the man who had rejected the bout – likely one of either Nurmagomedov or Ferguson – the suggestions are that it was the the undefeated Russian due to the statement that “his father didn’t think it was good” and the fact that Nurmagomedov’s father also acts as his long-time coach.
Aldo vs. Holloway looked all but set in stone, with each man keen on meeting the other and both seemingly happy with the date of February 11.
As soon as the Hawaiian got his hand raised in the UFC 206 main event, UFC president Dana White approached the victor with the idea of facing Aldo in New York.
But that’s apparently off the table now.
“This fight was set,” Aldo explained. “We had told the UFC we wanted to fight on that date. For us, it was set. The UFC said, OK, and they asked that we not discuss it any further before UFC 206. I was told the winner of the Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis fight would be my opponent in Brooklyn, and my understanding was that both Holloway and Pettis were told the same thing before their fight.
“After that fight, Holloway said a bunch of different things. First, I heard he twisted his ankle and wouldn’t have time to heal. Then I heard he had a trip booked to Disney World with his kids and he wouldn’t be able to reschedule.
“Then I heard his gym is closed during the holidays and he wouldn’t have enough time to train. So he’s basically going around, talking a lot of trash, saying a lot of bullshit and acting like a punk. He’s just talking shit.”
