J. Aldo (photo) said he is retiring from MMA. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
A bomb exploded in the world of MMA on Tuesday night (27). After the news that Conor McGregor will face Eddie Alvarez in the main fight of UFC 205, in New York, for the lightweight belt, even without having to give up the featherweight belt, José Aldo, interim featherweight champion, announced that he is retiring from MMA and asked Dana White, president of Ultimate, to release him from his contract with the organization.
“After all this, I see that I cannot trust any word from President Dana White and that whoever is in charge of the event now is the Conor McGregor. As I am not here to be McGregor's employee, today I ask you to cancel my contract with the UFC. When I was asked to fight against the Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner of this fight would be McGregor's challenger or would have the straight title, because if he didn't return to the featherweight division after the rematch with the Nate diaz would lose the belt. After being deceived so many times, I no longer feel motivated to fight in the UFC”, said Aldo on the program 'Revista Combate', on the Combate channel.
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Upon learning of the Brazilian's statements, Dana White minimized the case and assured that he will not terminate Aldo's contract with the UFC. “We are not going to cancel his contract. We know he was very emotional, we respect him a lot José Aldo, we like those around him. Khabib (Nurmagomedov) wanted a fight on this card and we got him a fight on this card. We'll be able to find something cool for José too”, said the president while participating in the program 'Revista Combate'.
After Dana's statement, Aldo spoke again and ratified his decision, claiming that the financial aspect was not the reason for his choice, but rather the fact that, according to him, he had reached his limit.
“I saw what Dana said, since I lost they promised me something. It was in my mind that I didn't even want to fight MMA anymore, there came a time when I reached my limits. I sat down with Dedé a long time ago, he convinced me to continue, I fought with the Frankie Edgar To win, it was Dedé's fight. When the fight ended, I offered him victory. After that, I was waiting, the guy said the fight was done, people from the UFC said we got the fight. We achieved this, they said we had to fight with the Frankie Edgar. It's not that I'm hot-headed, angry, anything like that. I'm very calm, I talked long before that I wanted to end my career at the age of 30 and take new directions. I never fought for money, I wanted to have a good career and leave a legacy in the category. I wanted to retire as featherweight champion, but it didn't happen that way. I'm interim champion, I'm up there, but I'm really fed up.”
“This morning I was talking to Dedé... If they offer anything... For me, it's not a question of money, I can't take it anymore. It reached my limit. If he (Dana) likes me and my family like he said, I just ask that he release me normally, I don't want to fight with anyone. I want to leave the way I entered. The UFC never gave me anything, nor the WEC, nor anyone. It was all my merit, that of my team and my family. At no point did they give me anything. I achieved it with my own merits. I gave them much more than they gave me in return. I just want them to be able to release me from the contract. If they offer me millions, they can keep it for themselves, I don't want it. Sorry for the expression, but I'm not a whore to sell myself, I'm a man. My father made me like this”, concluded the fighter.
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