Jose Aldo's message to UFC: Keep your word, give me a title rematch

Jose Aldo already made it clear that he will accept no fight outside of a chance to challenge for a UFC title.

Aldo (25-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was long the king of the featherweight division, but Conor McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) took the title with a 13-second knockout at UFC 194. McGregor will now move up to 155 pounds to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title at UFC 197.

Dethroned champions have had little trouble getting immediate shots to recapture gold recently. Cain Velasquez was set for the opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title at UFC 196 following a one-sided loss to Fabricio Werdum, but an injury postponed the bout; Jon Jones is returning from a lengthy suspension directly into a light heavyweight title fight with new champion Daniel Cormier; Anderson Silva was given an immediate middleweight title rematch with Chris Weidman after Weidman knocked him out in lopsided fashion; Weidman may have the opportunity to rematch Luke Rockhold after Rockhold thoroughly dominated him at UFC 194; and Ronda Rousey was positioned to rematch Holly Holm after being battered about and head kicked into unconsciousness at UFC 193 before scheduling conflicts pushed the rematch into the future.

Despite the precedent seemingly having been set for dominant champions to get a shot at regaining the belt, no matter how bad the loss, it never seemed the option was on the table for Aldo. And the Brazilian reiterated on Facebook has little interest in working his way back into the title picture.

“Hi everyone, I was quiet for a while, because I was waiting for my rematch,” Aldo wrote. “In fact, I was already training for it, based on how the fight went down. But apparently I was wrong. So I wanted to make something clear to the UFC: for everything that I’ve done, everything I’ve accepted, and mostly how the fight ended, I will not accept any other fight other than a title shot. My only exception would be fighting Conor McGregor. At any time, anywhere, and since he is scared and knows that I’m gonna win… It doesn’t even have to be title fight against him. You can keep my belt. What I want is to whoop your ass. Again: any time, anywhere.

“Dana White Lorenzo Fertitta, keep ur word. I still believe in the company that I work for. ?#?rematch?”

It’s possible that McGregor could be matched up with Frankie Edgar if he does return to featherweight after his bout with dos Anjos. The situation could be setting up for a very long layoff for Aldo should he stick to his guns on needing a title fight.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.