Jose Aldo wants championship fight or Conor McGregor rematch

ByBrett Okamoto ESPN logo
Thursday, January 28, 2016

The longest reigning champion in UFC featherweight history has put his foot down.

Jose Aldo (25-2), who defended the UFC 145-pound championship seven times from 2011 to 2014, has publicly stated he will not accept any nontitle matchup at this point in his career. The 29-year-old surrendered his title to Conor McGregor in a 13-second knockout loss at UFC 194 on Dec. 12.

In an Instagram post, Aldo encouraged the promotion to "keep [its] word" and book him to a title fight. His only exception would be a rematch against McGregor (19-2) under any capacity.

"I was quiet for awhile because I was waiting for my rematch based on how the fight went down," Aldo wrote. "In fact, I was already training for it, but apparently I was wrong. So I wanted to make something clear to the UFC: For everything I have done, everything I have accepted and mostly how the fight ended, I will not accept any other fight other than a title shot.

"My only exception would be fighting [McGregor], at any time, anywhere, and once that he is afraid and knows that I'm gonna win."

McGregor has been booked to a lightweight title fight against Rafael dos Anjos (25-7) at UFC 196 on March 5 in Las Vegas. McGregor's 145-pound title will not be on the line.

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (20-4-1) is in a similar spot as Aldo. Edgar, 34, is on a five-fight win streak. His manager told ESPN.com that he also will not accept anything but a title fight.

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