Jose Aldo wasn’t surprised to see Conor McGregor vacate the UFC Featherweight Championship in order to hold onto his lightweight belt.
“It was a fact that this was going to happen,” Aldo said in an interview on Brazilian sports program Planeta (via MMAjunkie’s Steven Marrocco and Fernanda Prates). “We knew [McGregor] was going to relinquish the belt—obviously, either mine or the lightweight one.”
McGregor beat Aldo at UFC 194 in December 2015 to unify the UFC featherweight title. He then knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 on November 12 to capture the lightweight belt.
In October, UFC President Dana White said McGregor would have to surrender one of his two belts in the event he was a champion in two weight classes.
Aldo won the interim featherweight title with his victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July. ESPN.com’s Brian Campbell reported the UFC made the 30-year-old the undisputed featherweight champion after McGregor surrendered the belt.
Despite losing to McGregor, Aldo told Planeta he expected to stand atop the featherweight division once again:
I think I’ve always been the champion, and I will always be the champion. As long as I’m at featherweight, no matter what happens, I’ll keep being the champion. So this, for me, was something that was already certain. The minute I lost, I knew, the next day, the belt would be mine again. It was just a matter of time. Of course, [it was] not the way I wanted, but I’m happy because I know I’m the champion.
Aldo added that he envisions making one featherweight title defense in February or March before getting a second crack at McGregor.
Aldo’s title defense will likely come against the winner of the interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 on December 10.
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