Conor McGregor is going to have to do a little more than stealing Jose Aldo’s belt to get under the champion’s skin.
McGregor swiped Aldo’s title from right in front of him during the UFC 189 World Tour press conference Tuesday in Dublin. McGregor held it over his head and Aldo gave chase, but UFC president Dana White got between the two men before a disaster occurred. Security was able to intervene and settle things down for the most part.
After the press conference, Aldo told UFC Brasil that the incident did not faze him one bit.
“I didn’t feel anything,” Aldo said. “That’s the best he can do because next time he’s in front of me, I will beat the sh*t out of his face.”
Aldo defends that title against McGregor at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas. For the last week-plus, the two men have been on his winding promotional tour that has stopped in Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Toronto and London. Dublin was the last leg.
“Now it’s time to go home, train and train,” Aldo said in the video. “Brother, I will run through him like a runaway truck. I will smash him.”
McGregor certainly did enough to grate on Aldo’s psyche, though the champion seemed to let it roll off his back. McGregor took the title from him and taunted Aldo in Los Angeles and he gripped the back of his neck in Toronto. Things seemed to get more and more intense as the tour rolled on until it reached a boiling point in McGregor’s home country of Ireland.
Aldo and McGregor never came to blows, though it came close on several occasions, the most intense Tuesday with McGregor’s belt snatch. Aldo was more incendiary in Ireland he was in perhaps all the other stops combined, telling antagonizing fans, “I’m the king of Dublin.”
Aldo’s coach Andre Pederneiras warned White not to let McGregor touch Aldo during the tour. McGregor tried his best to do just that and succeeded on one occasion. The Irishman was not impressed with Aldo’s response to the Toronto altercation or stealing his belt in Dublin.
“He said he’s going to do something,” McGregor said Tuesday. “He’s done nothing.”