Jose Aldo lost his UFC featherweight crown to Conor McGregor in 13 seconds at UFC 194, and he won’t accept to compete in a non-title fight when he returns to the Octagon in 2016.
The Brazilian fighter, who dominated the WEC and UFC for six years, says he was promised a shot at the 145-pound belt by Dana White moments after his loss to "The Notorious" in Las Vegas, but seeing the UFC president let McGregor move up to 155 pounds to challenge champion Rafael dos Anjos without vacating his belt, leaves his future uncertain.
"Right after the fight, Dana went to the locker room and told us our next fight would be against Frankie Edgar for the belt, because Conor would move up for the lightweight division since he couldn’t cut weight anymore," Aldo told PVT. "I want a rematch with (McGregor), of course, especially because there was no fight. None of us fought, it was just a punch that he was able to connect and won the fight. Okay, congratulations, but it wasn’t what everyone expected. But I don’t live focused on that, I’m focused on the future.
"If it’s a rematch or a title fight, it doesn’t matter, but, of course, one day we will fight again, and I know I will beat him, I know I can do it. My next step, like I said, I can’t see other fight, and I won’t accept another fight if it’s not for the belt."
McGregor will face lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197, and that doesn’t surprise Aldo. In fact, the Nova Uniao fighter says he also agreed to move up to 155 pounds with a win over McGregor in December.
"When we signed the contract, the intention was that the winner would fight at lightweight, but we would need to abandon the featherweight belt," he said. "That was the plan, that’s what they told us. If we fought at lightweight, win or lose, and then had the opportunity to fight at featherweight again, it would be for the title immediately."
McGregor will try to make history as the first two-division champion in the UFC, and Aldo believes that shows how much power the Irishman has over the UFC brass.
"I think they gave him too much power, let him grow a lot, and he’s playing now, calling the shots more than the others," Aldo said. "I think that’s wrong, no one ever did that. It doesn’t matter if it’s about money or not at this point, what matters is show who calls the shots, who’s the boss, and not just a piece of s--t talking about things you see. He doesn’t deserve to be where he is. I’ve always respected all the merits, but he had more luck than merits."