Jose Aldo has issued an apology to former foe Conor McGregor after unleashing a profanity-laced tirade directed at the Irishman.
On April 1, ‘Junior’ stepped inside the squared circle at Gamebred Boxing 4 for a showdown with another former UFC opponent, Jeremy Stephens. After six rounds of action, the bout was dubbed a majority draw. Shortly after the announcement, McGregor took to Twitter, suggesting that the two former featherweight champions have their long-awaited rematch inside the boxing ring. It was an especially tame tweet compared to his usual social media trash-talk.
However, Jose Aldo was in no mood for McGregor’s antics. When asked about the tweet at the Gamebred Boxing 4 post-fight press event, ‘Junior’ ripped into the former two-division champ, telling ‘The Notorious’ to “suck a cane field of d*cks.”
Appearing on MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, Jose Aldo issued an apology to McGregor and provided an explanation for his initial response.
“I was a little heated,” Aldo said. “I had just re-watched the match in the locker room and I had won, everybody said it, and right after that a reporter asked me [about McGregor’s comments], and I hadn’t seen what Conor had said. I called him names, laughed a lot, because of that. But when I got to Brazil, I messaged him apologizing because I saw it wasn’t his intention to challenge me, he was trying to give me a push. I misunderstood [his intentions]. But we’re cool again. Conor is my friend. I wish him all the best.”
Jose Aldo is Open to Training with Conor McGregor in Ireland
Despite their incredibly heated rivalry leading into UFC 194, Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo’s relationship has evolved into one of MMA’s most interesting friendships. Asked if he would be interested in training alongside the Irishman as he progresses in his professional boxing career, ‘Junior’ was more than open to the idea.
“Yes. Why not?” said Aldo. “I have to learn a lot in boxing. There are some great Irish boxers, so if I have the opportunity to go to Ireland and train with Conor and the Irish, I’m super open to it. Especially pro boxing. It’s a new world, and I have to learn from the best. Conor has good boxing, he fought Mayweather in boxing, so he has a lot to teach me.”
As for what comes next for the general consensus featherweight GOAT, Jose Aldo is eyeing a big-money fight this summer in Saudi Arabia, though no opponent has been established as of yet. Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather is one of the names being tossed around, but Aldo indicated that other opportunities may take precedence over a clash with the undefeated boxing icon.
“Ali [Abdelaziz] had already negotiated with [Mayweather’s] staff and it was agreed with the Saudi Arabia people, the sheik,” Jose Aldo said. “But I think they’re liking what I’m showing in boxing and it’s creating a euphoria to aim at bigger things as well. We’re not past the idea of boxing Mayweather, it might happen, but we have other plans first.”
“I wanted to build a career in boxing like everybody does, to start against easier opponents and earn experience until you get there, but given the name I have, it’s hard to take the same path everybody else does. We’re trying to choose the right fight. Jeremy was way heavier than me now. I was at 157 pounds when I went to the arena on fight night and he was over 177. There was a huge difference.
“As soon as the fight ended, Ali said we won, but we had to fight on the right weight class. I’ll fight at 140. But since new opportunities have come around in boxing, maybe this Mayweather match will have to wait a little bit.”