MMAFighting  UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is fighting lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, and Jose Aldo has had enough. Aldo, who beat Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 in July, was hoping to finally get his rematch with “The Notorious” after that victory, but instead saw the Irish star get a shot for the 155-pound belt at New York City’s UFC 205 after beating Nate Diaz in a rematch at 170 pounds. Speaking to Brazilian website Combate, Aldo revealed that he was offered a fight at UFC 205, but not against McGregor. “I heard about everything that happened through my coach,” Aldo said. “He had spoken with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby Saturday and Sean still had no answer about anything, and asked if I could fight on November 12. My coach said that if it would be Conor, yes, and then Sean asked him if I would fight Max Holloway or Anthony Pettis. ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] said that for those who I’d rather do a full camp and it could be on December 10. We waited until Dana publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I’d get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I’d have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana [White] said all the time that Conor couldn’t keep both belts. But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly having two belts at the same time.” Upset with the promotion, Aldo said he no longer believes in UFC president Dana White, and wants to be released from his contract with the promotion. “Conor himself said before that he wouldn’t give his belt away by any chance and nobody would take it away from him,” Aldo said. “After all this, I see I can’t trust any word from president Dana White, and who’s in charge of the promotion now is Conor McGregor. Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn’t return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore.” White said on Tuesday that McGregor would have to vacate a belt if he beats Alvarez on Nov. 12, but Aldo doesn’t believe that. “I don’t believe in Dana saying that Conor would have to vacate one of the belts after UFC 205 because, based on what we’re seeing, this type of decision is not in his hands anymore, Conor makes the calls now,” Aldo said. “And the biggest proof that who’s in charge in the UFC now is Conor is that when I wanted to move up to fight Pettis, they said I’d have to vacate my belt and try this fight with no title whatsoever. But with him, they let him move up to the division above without losing his belt, and also let him do any fight he wants. I understand that he sells a lot, but it gets to a limit when it’s no longer a sport, it becomes a circus. I don’t want any type of fight with the UFC. The only thing I want is to go on with my life, and they will go on with theirs.” 

UPDATE: After the UFC 205 press conference in New York, Dana White spoke with Combate TV and said he will call Aldo and offer a solution. After that quick interview, Aldo called the TV channel and doubled down, saying that he wants to retire from the sport. “Not even fight MMA, too. It has reached a limit now,” Aldo told Revista Combate. “I talked to ‘Dede’ a long time ago and he convinced me to continue. I went to the Frankie Edgar fight and won. I fought to win for ‘Dede’. I’m not angry or upset now, nothing. I never fought for money, I had a good career and legacy as featherweight champion. “If [White] likes me and my family, I just hope he released me. I don’t want a fight. I want to leave as I came in. The UFC and WEC didn’t give me anything. Everything I conquered was my merit and from my team. Nobody gave me anything. I conquered everything. And I gave them a lot more than they gave me back. I just want them to release me from my contract. I’m not a whore to sell myself [for money]. “I don’t even want to fight MMA. I want to follow a career in another sport. That’s what I want.”

You cannot blame Jose Aldo for being upset, he won the WEC Featherweight Championship in 2009 (later promoted to UFC Featherweight Champion) and did not lose until Conor McGregor knocked him out in 13 seconds in 2015. Aldo defeated Frankie Edgar since then, but the UFC Featherweight Championship sits stagnant, as champion Conor McGregor jumps between Middleweight and Lightweight only taking big money fights as the UFC’s biggest star. Aldo never got his rematch, which most other champions get, as Dana White has totally ignored the fact that the Featherweight Champion will not have defended his title in over a year when all is said and done. There is no doubt that a Aldo and McGregor would be a big draw, but Dana White has sent McGregor in the direction of “superfights”, while allowing him to sit on the Featherweight title which has upset the entire division. Aldo now says he wants to retire from MMA, an old trick used by his rival McGregor, as leverage to get what he wants.