Interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been waiting in limbo to find out whether UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor would be returning to featherweight for a title unification fight.
Aldo, who earned himself a rematch with McGregor by defeating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July, has been campaigning for a rematch with McGregor since being knocked out in just 13 seconds in the main event of UFC 194 in December.
Following Conor McGregor’s UFC 202 majority decision win over Nate Diaz last month, UFC President Dana White stated that McGregor must defend his featherweight title, or vacate the belt. Despite that, McGregor remained noncommittal about returning to 145 after his win over Nate Diaz.
Despite that, it came as quite a bit of a surprise when it was revealed that McGregor would be moving to lightweight to fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt in the main event of UFC 205 in November. Even more surprising is that McGregor will get to keep his featherweight championship, and will only have to vacate a belt if he defeats Alvarez at UFC 205.
That didn’t sit too well with Jose Aldo, who requested the UFC release him from his contract during an interview with Combate:
“After all this, I see I can’t trust any word from president Dana White, and who’s in charge of the promotion now is Conor McGregor. Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn’t return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore.”
Dana White stated following the UFC 205 press conference that he plans to talk to Aldo over the comments, however Aldo was quick to fire back, stating that he not only wants to be released from the UFC, but retire from MMA competition:
“Not even fight MMA, too. It has reached a limit now. I talked to ‘Dede’ a long time ago and he convinced me to continue. I went to the Frankie Edgar fight and won. I fought to win for ‘Dede’. I’m not angry or upset now, nothing. I never fought for money, I had a good career and legacy as featherweight champion.
“If [White] likes me and my family, I just hope he released me. I don’t want a fight. I want to leave as I came in. The UFC and WEC didn’t give me anything. Everything I conquered was my merit and from my team. Nobody gave me anything. I conquered everything. And I gave them a lot more than they gave me back. I just want them to release me from my contract. I’m not a whore to sell myself [for money].
“I don’t even want to fight MMA. I want to follow a career in another sport. That’s what I want.”