Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor had a heated rivalry in the lead up to their featherweight title fight at UFC 194 in December of 2015.

McGregor taunted Aldo profusely at the pre-fight press conferences before eventually knocking out the long time 145-pound kingpin in just thirteen-seconds (twelve if you ask Conor) in the fight itself.

Despite all of McGregor’s pre-fight antics, Jose Aldo still has a ton of respect for the Irishman and what he was able to do for the sport.

Conor McGregor, who announced his retirement from mixed martial arts earlier this week on Twitter,was the first “champ champ” in UFC history and is unquestionably the biggest star in the promotions history.

If “Mystic Mac’s” retirement proves true, Aldo believes McGregor should be remembered for taking the sport of mixed martial arts to the next level.

“What he did for the sport and what he won. If I fight Floyd Mayweather and make 80 million dollars, the UFC would never see me again too.” Aldo told Portal do Vale Tudo (via MMAMania). “Do you really think I would train multiple martial arts three times a day? He had a brilliant career, he was a great fighter and if he really is retiring, I congratulate him for all he did in the sport.”

Conor McGregor was last seen in action at UFC 229, where he suffered a fourth round submission loss to reigning division champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As for Jose Aldo, the 32-year-old Brazilian legend is coming off back-to-back TKO victories over perennial featherweight contenders Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano.

Aldo is expected to face Alexander Volkanovski at May’s UFC 237 event in Rio.

Are you surprised by Jose Aldo’s recent comments on Conor McGregor? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!