Conor McGregor was warned not to touch Jose Aldo during the UFC 189 World Tour. To very little surprise, McGregor didn’t listen.
UFC president Dana White said in an interview with The Fight Network on Friday that McGregor slapped Aldo in the back before a morning show in Toronto. White said a producer was trying to arrange the seats and, well, didn’t do it very wisely.
“He’s trying to put Conor McGregor in a seat behind [Aldo] and Conor McGregor reached over and slapped Aldo’s back,” White said. “And now Aldo is crazy and doesn’t want to do most the stuff we have to do today. It’s been fun.”
Aldo did end up going through with the interview, which was with Canada AM and featured Aldo, McGregor, White, Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald in a rather strange setup. McGregor did behave himself during the segment. White sat between the two men on a couch.
“Jose Aldo does not like Conor McGregor, and Conor McGregor is good at pushing his buttons,” White said.
No one in the UFC obviously wants an incident to occur on this tour, which has already hit Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston and New York. This weekend, Aldo and McGregor will head to London and McGregor’s hometown of Dublin.
The two are slated to meet in the main event of UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas with Aldo’s featherweight title on the line. Aldo’s coach Andre Pederneiras told White before it started to make sure McGregor did not touch Aldo.
“We’ve spent a lot of money already promoting this fight,” White said. “It would obviously bum us out if it didn’t happen at that time.
“I would love to do this fight on July 11. Let’s hope this stays together.”