Former UFC featherweight champion and current bantamweight contender Jose Aldo is on a title run once again, with back-to-back flawless performances over Pedro Munhoz and Marlon Vera. But, one of Aldo’s memorable moments in his career is one of his toughest on a personal level; his rivalry with Conor McGregor and his knockout loss to the Irishman at UFC 194.
Despite the heated rhetoric between the two former UFC champions in the past, Aldo and McGregor have been relatively complimentary of each other recently; with Aldo supporting a potential McGregor comeback with McGregor replying and calling Aldo a legend of the game.
Aldo and McGregor will always be linked, but the UFC all-time great believes that there won’t be a second chapter to their rivalry as he continues his rise up the bantamweight division and McGregor recovers from a leg injury before a widely-expected return to lightweight.
“No, I don’t see myself fighting Conor,” Aldo said in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “That’s not the path. I root for him today, I hope he recovers from the injury and fights again at the highest level, and becomes champion again because that way he and I will always be together. No matter if I’m down and he’s up or the other way around, people will always put out names together, and that way we carry each other up.”
McGregor is in the midst of his recovery from leg surgery after suffering a nasty leg break during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Aldo is coming off one of the best performances of his career and he looks in incredible shape, and appearing to still be in the prime of his career.
Aldo and McGregor’s rivalry remains one of the most notable in UFC history and is widely regarded as one of the main reasons for the sport’s rise in popularity during the mid-2010s. Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t deny Aldo and McGregor’s impact on the sport.
What do you think would happen in a hypothetical Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo rematch?