Jose Aldo Reveals What Conor McGregor Is Really Like

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and his interim counterpart Joe Aldo have a very colorful history. ‘The Notorious’ first mentioned Aldo’s name back in 2013 after destroying Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut. Th duo were eventually paired in a pivotal title bout at UFC 189 that would never transpire. Eventually McGregor fought Chad Mendes for the junior strap in the main event on July 11, 2015. The resulting second round TKO win for the Irishman set up a unification bout for the recovering Brazilian’s belt.

When McGregor and Aldo finally met i the octagon at UFC 194, they’d been embroiled in a year-long rivalry. The world tour for UFC 189 had seen countless confrontations and trash talking wars, and it all came to a head in 13 seconds. ‘Mystic Mac’ fulfilled his prophecy, laying Aldo down with a single well-timed left hand to the chin. As ‘Scarface’ came around from his flash slumber on the canvas, he awoke to a completely different world.

Rise and Fall

The fall of arguably the greatest 145-pound fighter of all-time was truly a historic moment. The time since has proved to be a wild ride, and has signalled the potential end of the rankings. ‘Money fights’ are he future, ushered in by that one-punch knockout that changed the way the cogs turned. While ‘The Notorious’ wondered up in weight to fight Nate Diaz twice, Aldo defeated Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 for the interim belt.

Continuing the trend of cash over rankings, the Irish superstar now has sights on the lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. The fierce rivalry with ‘Scarface’ must go on if Mcgregor plans to fight at featherweight again, but that’s yet to be revealed. According to a report on Bloody Elbow, the beef is not as serious as you’d think.

Friends?

“It’s a friendly relationship. I don’t have a problem with him trying to promote himself. If we take a look at it money-wise, it was pretty good. I think there should be more fighters like him at featherweight. I’m not his friend, though. He can go his way and I can go mine.”

“I’ve seen him staring at a wall, looking at nothing with everyone around him trying to taunt him and he would just stand there, gazing. He’s a regular, mellow guy, but if he sees a camera or some Irish people, he transforms in a such way that makes you say to yourself ‘son of a bitch'”.

Drinking with the enemy

“One day we were hanging out and he said he was going to get the coffee and I said I wanted mine with sugar and he said something like ‘nice’. Most of the times we met, there was always someone recording us, though, so he had to keep his persona up. With no cameras, he changes completely.”

Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor 2 is by no means a certainty, but one thing is–there’ll be no talk of friendship if/when they are booked to rematch.