Former UFC star Jose Aldo has launched a fresh attack on Conor McGregor, insisting the Irishman will return to the featherweight division humbled after his loss to Nate Diaz.
After the Notorious was choked out by Diaz at UFC 196, Aldo was one of the first high-profile fighters to react, calling for a rematch on Twitter. And speaking to Brazilian media outlet Esporte Espetacular (h/t Dave Doyle of Yahoo), the former champion has had more scathing words for McGregor:
You will come back [to featherweight] with your tail between your legs after what happened, after that embarrassment. You will come back. My hand almost caught you, but when it does for good, you will sleep.
He’s a lion when he’s attacking, but a kitten when he’s getting beat up. Everybody saw in his eyes that he’s just a [expletive] that quits when he’s getting beat up. That’s what we saw.
Aldo lost to McGregor at UFC 194 in spectacular circumstances, with the latter knocking out the former with a devastating punch in just 13 seconds.
After clinching the featherweight crown with that victory, the Irishman sought to move up to take the lightweight title, too, although a scheduled bout with champion Rafael dos Anjos was cancelled. Diaz stepped in at late notice, and at a bolstered 170-pound weight limit, he proved too big and too strong for McGregor.
With UFC 200 around the corner, there’s been much speculation about McGregor’s next opponent. According to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, a potential rematch with Diaz is on the cards for the summer showpiece.
Some haven’t reacted well to those rumours, especially given McGregor will have then gone two fights without defending the featherweight belt.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden played down the significance of that, though:
People talk about McGregor "paralyzing" the UFC featherweight division. It's actually only been 3 MONTHS since he won the title. #facts
— Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) March 19, 2016
Still, there are contenders at featherweight who could argue they deserve a shot. Frankie Edgar has proved his credentials lately, especially after he outclassed Chad Mendes in his last outing. Aldo, too, while beaten emphatically by McGregor last time out, was unbeaten for over a decade before UFC 194.
There’s clearly a needle between the pair, who were involved in two bitter promotions with the first fight scheduled for UFC 189 cancelled.
“He [Aldo] said anytime, any place, anywhere... and then it wasn’t anytime, any place, anywhere,” said McGregor of Aldo, revealing he was offered the chance to replace Dos Anjos at UFC 196, per James Whaling of the Daily Mirror. “Now another man gets a victory over me and he celebrates it. That’s the sign of a loser. That’s the sign of a runner-up. That’s the not the sign of a champion.”
Sports Illustrated’s Jeff Wagenheim agrees, suggesting some of the comments made by Aldo in the aftermath of his loss to McGregor have been a little bitter:
Listen to the man, Conor. Look at how Jose has reacted to *his* embarrassing loss. Oh wait ... https://t.co/TNldeDczsz
— Jeff Wagenheim (@jeffwagenheim) March 20, 2016
Should McGregor fight Diaz again and win, it’s tough to see him dropping back down to featherweight any time soon. However, another defeat after another foray into a bigger weight class would surely see the Irishman return to defend his strap, perhaps, as Aldo says, with his tail between his legs.
Aldo’s words carry plenty of clout as one of the UFC’s all-time great competitors, although the constant barbs at McGregor in the wake of his own bad loss do come across as a little desperate. It certainly adds a degree of irony to claims from the Brazilian that the Irishman hasn’t reacted well to a rare defeat.
