Jose Aldo Talks Max Holloway, Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, More

Jacare talked about the situation you went through when you asked for a rematch with Conor, and he sided with you. Do you side with him as well?
Of course. I’ve been talking about this for a long time. Jacare earned the right to fight for the belt and become champion.
I don’t get why they are hiding Bisping from this fight. Jacare has the potential to beat anyone in the division.
You can put Bisping or anyone else on the same night and he’ll win.
I think he can fight three times in one night, one round each, because he knows he will finish him.
What do you think is going on in this new era?
That affected you asking for your rematch, but you got your belt back. But what’s going on?
You have a relationship with Dana, so how do you see this business in 2017?
It’s f*cking unfair, right? F*ck, there’s no why Jacare, and Demian too,
after winning eight in a row, not get their chances, an opportunity to fight for the belt.
We don’t even know what to say and do. It’s really unfair, a big cowardice.
Like Jacare said, they are only giving him more time to train,
like Demian is having more time to train, and when the opportunity comes, win the belt.
I think that’s it. It’s unfair. I didn’t even talk about me.
Right, a rematch, but I’m the champion again, I’ve felt this taste of being champion and still feel,
but they didn’t have their opportunity to fight for the belt yet, of being champion.
I’m upset because Jacare and Demian deserve to fight for the belt.
You wanted to fight in April, but then this whole story about Holloway in Disneyland, then he was injured.
How was it? In your words, what really happened?
It happened that we wanted to fight, it was set, and he came up with excuses.
First, we wanted to fight in January, and it didn’t work. And then March, April. Time went by and always an excuse.
He said he had to take his son to Disneyland, had a broken foot, his gym was closed, so everything happened.
And he was saying that I wasn’t fighting.
But everyone backstage knows, it’s easy for an athlete to come here and say a bunch of things,
but us athletes, who talk to the UFC directly, know what’s happening.
Not everything that the athletes say to the media and fans is the truth.
That’s the truth. Many talk, but when it’s time to do it, they run.
That’s what you think happened? He was running?
Well, I don’t know if he was running or not, but now we have a date.
We’re waiting for June 3rd and, God willing, everything will be alright.
You can be sure, brother, that this fight will be great. I’ll run through him.
You have this fight coming up on June 3rd, and if you win…
If I win, no. I will win. That’s a fact.
With this McGregor fight with Mayweather. Do you think this fight happens?
And, if you win, do you think the UFC gives you this rematch?
Never. Never. I think it was close once. Today, with this fight between the UFC and him, from both sides.
The UFC has tried to do this fight, and he didn’t want it. He’s running. He won't accept it.
But we’ll see. I don’t know if this fight happens. Like I said, many people talk. But talking in the media is easy.
I can come here and say I’m going to fight the boxing world champion, the kickboxing champion.
Cool, you will all post this, you’ll be all over the news, create some talk. It might become true, but it never stops being a lie.
We have a contract with the UFC, every athlete does, and everything has to go through the UFC.
It’s hard for Mayweather to accept a fight with (McGregor) being a UFC fighter.
He does boxing events, so it’s 80 percent for him and 20 percent for the rest.
It’s the opposite in the UFC. The UFC makes 80 and athletes make 20. That’s what happens. That's the real story.
So it’s not about Conor signing the contract or not, it’s Mayweather accepting to make less, or make his event.
Yes or no: do you think you’ll still fight McGregor?
Well, I don’t think about McGregor today. I couldn't care less what he’s doing.
Like I said, I want to remain champion, I want big fights. If one day I fight him, great.
If not, I’ll continue my life, continue being champion, continue being the same person, fighting and winning.
I don’t think about Conor today. I only talk about Conor because you ask. F*ck him.
At the end of the day, your fight with Holloway being postponed became a good thing because now you’re fighting in Rio, right?
It's great. Fighting in Rio, at home. With my family and friends, next to the gym. No timezone difference.
It’s great. We already knew it could happen. The fight didn’t happen in April, March, and we had this schedule
because Max said he wanted to fight in June, and we knew about this event in Rio.
If you pay attention closely, the UFC has this philosophy of booking events in great athletes’ cities.
There are not many events in Las Vegas now. They are making trips.
They had one in Fortaleza, now one in Rio, so they are using local athletes to do big events.
Max said he will come to Rio to take over the king’s kingdom. What are your thoughts on this?
F—k no. Bullsh-t. Won’t take anything.
He’s just another one who will try, and he doesn’t know how trained I am.
I’m excited about this fight because of everything he said. That only motivated me every time he talked.
You can be sure that he won’t take any kingdom here.
Your fights in Rio were a KO over Chad Mendes, a war with Chad Mendes, and the TKO win over the Korean Zombie.
What kind of fight go you expect this time, a five-round war or a KO?
I’ll knock him out. I’m done with wars. I’ve been in many wars already. You can be sure that there’s a KO coming.
Talking about trash talk, Holloway is trying to get inside your head, this psychological game,
but you’re always staying calm, doesn’t pay attention to it.
Was Conor the only one who made you lose your head leading up to the fight?
Literally lose the head. F*ck. No, man, it wasn’t trash talk or any of that.
It was a study I did in the fight, I’ll talk about it one more time. I thought about kicking his leg.
He threw a punch, I dodged it, and threw a left cross, but I thought about throwing a right hand and crossing,
a combination used by right-handed against southpaws. It wasn’t emotional. I was cool.
Everyone who knows me, in the gym, knows I was cool and confident to go in there and fight and win.
I think he’s using this side because Conor won, and everybody thinks he was inside my head.
No. I’ll get in there and fight the same way. It’s a fight. One hand connects and the fight is over.
That night I was unhappy, but I’ve made many people cry before. So that’s it.
One day you cry, one day you smile. Next time, you can be sure I’ll be smiling and happy.
You’re fighting in Brazil after your biopic. You’ve run to the crowd before after a win, is there any surprise?
The arena will be full, for sure, especially after the movie. We became really popular.
I think everybody knows Aldo now, care about me. Even those who don’t watch fights.
But we will think about it, something to do, if they don’t lock me in there.
It’s good to get this love form the fans, this wonderful atmosphere. It’s always good to be with them.
Analyzing Holloway technically, talk about his qualities. How do you analyze his win streak?
He’s in a good moment, has a good reach, and his height is good.
He has a good kickboxing, but is not that good on the ground.
He’s an athlete, I wouldn’t say complete, but he does well everywhere
He doesn’t have heavy hands, and is not a knockout artist, so you can be sure that I don’t see this danger that everyone else sees.
I have to respect my opponent, always doesn’t matter who he is, but I’ll get in there and win, that’s a fact.
After this win over Holloway in Rio, do you think about staying at featherweight or moving up to lightweight?
I asked for it, and it was really close to fighting at lightweight.
We got the deal done with Dana and the UFC, it was close,
but when it was time for Khabib to accept, he backed down.
Not Khabib, but his father, he thought it wasn't a good fight back then, and we were far from it again.
But we’ll see. The first step is defeating Holloway. After we win, we’ll see what’s the next step.
Do you have an opponent in mind, regardless of the weight class? Maybe a superfight?
Man, a superfight is always good for me. I have a superfight in mind.
That’s what matters today, money in the pocket.
I’m the champion and will continue being the champion, so doing big fights for me.
But I have a project after this fight. I’ll sit and talk to the UFC. If they approve it, it will be great.
- What project? - It’s a secret.
Is it the old project you had, of boxing? So maybe this fight between McGregor and Mayweather
is a good thing after all because it creates a precedent?
Exactly. Not only for me, but everyone else. I know.
I talked directly to Dana before when I went to that meeting, that I retired.
I went there, sat down and said what I wanted to do in my career. He made it clear for me.
I’ll do exactly the way he said. I wanna see if his word one again won’t be fulfilled.
I have an agreement with him. I sat down and talked. We’ll see.
First, I’ll focus on Holloway, and after that I’ll talk to him and we’ll see what happens.
Jacare has said many times that he’s upset with the UFC, of not getting his title shot.
You have announced your retirement before.
Now, after everything that happened, do you still have motivation to continue for a long time in MMA and fighting?
No, no. So, fighting, yes, but MMA? I’m the champion, I love it, I feel great, but I won’t get old fighting. You can be sure of that.
I won’t be like many athletes who didn't know how to manage their career and are fighting for money.
I think everybody fights for money, but I won’t go through that.
I have it set that I will stop fighting at the top. And the day I stop, I don't wanna know about it.

Jose Aldo Talks Max Holloway, Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, More

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