Dedé Pederneiras remembers the atmosphere of Aldo x McGregor and reflects on his pupil's defeat

J. Aldo (right) and Conor (left) faced each other in 2015. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @ConorMcGregor

coach of José Aldo for many years, Dedé Pederneiras accompanied the former featherweight champion (up to 65,7kg) at many moments of his career. Among them, the fateful defeat to Conor McGregor at UFC 194 which took place seven years ago. In a sincere stance, the renowned coach recalled the atmosphere between the rivals during the promotion of the confrontation.

“What happened in that fight there, why the fight was cancelled, I don’t know if you remember. Aldo got kicked and spun while training at the gym and fractured his rib and then everything was ready for the fight. The guys went on tour. It was the first time it happened in the UFC. They traveled to more than 10 countries. Two planes, one in each plane, took off together, arrived, promoted the city, cursed, talked shit about each other. I would find one behind the scenes talking nonsense to the other. (For) 10, 15 days, then it has already created an absurd stalemate between the two”, said Dedé in an interview with 'Fala Guerreiro Cast'.

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As he continued his speech, the leader of Nova União highlighted the privilege that McGregor had in the organization.

“And then McGregor became (interim) champion, which was the first mess that happened to Aldo in that situation. Aldo had just defended his title, he had little time. They wanted the champion McGregor because he was the guy who sold the most, he is the guy who sells the most to date in the UFC. After he became (interim) champion the situation only got worse, with talking nonsense to each other”, he continued.

Aldo (left) and McGregor (right) faced each other in December 2015. (Photo: Disclosure / UFC)

Finally, Dedé revealed a scenario that could have occurred if Aldo's punch had hit first.

“We only remember because Aldo was knocked out. But if you take the fight and put it in slow motion, Aldo went up, landed a cross and opened McGregor's eyebrow thousands of seconds later. I mean, if Aldo's cross arrives first, it was McGregor who was on the ground. So they both played with a lot of power there and with a lot of desire to kill each other. Unfortunately Aldo took the first one. What had to happen happened,” he concluded.

C. McGregor knocked out Aldo at UFC 194. Photo: reproduction/Instagram @ufc

Former featherweight champion, Aldo had his streak of title defenses interrupted after 10 years due to the knockout suffered by McGregor. Despite the defeat, the Brazilian still became champion of the category again, but he never had the chance to achieve his dream rematch against the Irishman.

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