It looks like Jose Aldo isn’t messing around when he says he wants out of the fight game for good.
The former UFC featherweight king dropped a huge bombshell last week that he had requested a contract termination from the promotion after being snubbed of yet another chance to exact revenge on Conor McGregor and get his hands back on that belt he held for so long. Should they refuse him his wish, his coach Andre Pederneiras revealed his fighter would be willing take this fight to court.
Aldo hinted strongly that he may never fight again after McGregor booked a lightweight title bout against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, which will mark his third fight in a row away from 145 lb.
One of his main gripes with the promotion was McGregor being allowed to hold his belt going into the fight against Alvarez, despite Dana White vowing that he would be forced to defend his belt or be stripped of it if he didn’t drop back down to featherweight immediately after he faced Nate Diaz at UFC 202.
'@ChaelSonnen doesn't think Aldo's been lied to https://t.co/5cvE0hddRK
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) October 2, 2016
Potentially leaving the sport forever isn’t a decision you would expect a loyal servant of MMA such as Aldo to take lightly. He has since given more details on why he could quit the sport to Tap Nap Snap, confirming that money had absolutely nothing to do with it.
“I hear a lot of people say the reason I don’t call the shots and that I’m not happy with my income is that I don’t sell fights. People have said that to me and they’ve said it about me.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Jose needs to be a better marketer; he needs to sell his fights more.’ But that’s not the philosophy I was raised with. My coach is a martial artist. I’m a martial artist. What we do starts with respect.”
Aldo believes that MMA has lost its way, claiming that the way its competitors are selling fights goes against everything the sport should stand for. He doesn’t buy into the idea that fighters need to make the headlines for the wrong reasons in order to drum up hype, and if that’s becoming the norm he doesn’t want any part of it.
“Where the sport is going is not respectful. The people who are selling fights are people who are giving each other the middle finger, throwing objects at press conferences, getting caught snorting cocaine and making headlines for all kinds of wrong reasons.”
“What I was taught and what I believe in is, I do my best inside the cage. I believe people want to watch me for my ability as an athlete.If the direction the sport is going is you’ve got to make headlines for the wrong reasons in order to be worthy of respect and in order to be worthy of the right income, it’s not something I’ll ever be on board with.”
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