UFC interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo has clarified that his comments about having spies in Frankie Edgar's camp following their bout at UFC 200 were not to be taken seriously and were in fact a "jab" at Conor McGregor.
The Brazilian took to Instagram on Thursday to deliver a lengthy post in which he explained his comments:
Per MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz, he said:
Sometimes we aren't taken seriously, and other times we joke around and get taken too seriously, so... let's clarify I've always fought fair.
...
When I talked about having spies in Edgar's camp, it was a reference to a comment Macgregor [sic] made before our fight. It was just a jab. Everyone knows you can't change up your entire strategy on fight week- of course Frankie's strategy was going to be everything that worked for him in our first fight- it was a no-brainer that he would try the same things. As to spies in camp, relax people...my spies are just in your heads. I'm ready for anyone, no spies required.
According to Cruz, on Wednesday Aldo said that after receiving some inside information he opted to kick less to avoid Edgar's takedown attempts. Per Fight Metric, the 29-year-old deployed a significantly lower number of kicks than usual during the victory.
MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani predicted the risky comments were likely not intended to be taken seriously:
Very good chance Aldo is playing mind games. Fair play, I suppose. But man, a claim like that is very dangerous. Can ruin a whole team.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 20, 2016
Bleacher Report's own Patrick Wyman admired them:
I love Jose Aldo. You don't hold a belt for six years by not making the most of every possible advantage. https://t.co/y0WLqBry8I
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) July 20, 2016
@MrCharlesDutch @guicruzzz If that's all it takes to get inside the next opponent's head, pretty brilliant.
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) July 20, 2016
Bantamweight fighter Aljamain Sterling revealed he is nevertheless careful to avoid such situations whether Aldo was being serious or not:
Even if he's lying, this is EXACTLY why I choose to workout so late at night or earlier than everyone else. https://t.co/bdSuKcUDvM
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) July 22, 2016
Aldo has history with McGregor after Notorious famously knocked him out in just 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015.
Prior to the fight, McGregor had taunted Aldo in their ongoing war of words by claiming he had spies reporting on the Brazilian's training.
Per Cruz, he's hoping to get another shot at the Irishman at UFC 205 but believes it will only happen if McGregor loses his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202—should Notorious win, Aldo expects there to be a third, decisive fight between them.
After returning to winning ways against Edgar, Aldo could still get the rematch he's looking for at some point even if it isn't at UFC 205.
If he does the trash talk will inevitably resume, but Aldo's focus will be on proving a point after the humiliation he suffered in their first encounter.
