With the news that Rafael Dos Anjos had pulled out of UFC 196 with a broken foot, there were a number of options put forward for a new fight, one of which was a rematch with Jose Aldo.
While it has since been confirmed that White contacted both Aldo and Frankie Edgar before settling on a match against Nate Diaz, the question on everyone's lips has been why did the Brazilian turn down the chance at a rematch with McGregor?
That question was answered on Monday as Aldo appeared on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani with the assistance of a translator, and explained how he had been getting on since the loss.
He stated that he hasn't gone back to watch the fight too many times, because he recognised that they both landed good punches on each other, but McGregor's one connected better and was really lucky.
Helwani also asked him about the chance that he had been given to have a rematch with McGregor, to which he responded that he wasn't able to train until February 11th, and he need more preparation than that to put in a good performance:
"It’s not a cockfight where I go there and put my rooster to fight. It’s a high-level sport, I’m going there to do my job. When I have time to train, it can happen at any time, anywhere".
Speaking about his chance to get a shot at the title, whether or not McGregor relinquishes the belt, Aldo stated that "I know I will win [the belt] again", and that fighting the Irishman was not so important.
Aldo also added that he would love to return at UFC 200, but wants to come back for the belt, not just a match to determine the number one contender: "I know I deserve an immediate rematch. People who say I don’t, I don’t care about them. The important thing is what the UFC thinks and what we think. We came to the conclusion that we’re having an immediate rematch [title fight]".
He also added that he was not going to be watching McGregor's next fight against Nate Diaz, and he doesn't really care what happens in it.
Via MMA Fighting
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