Jose Aldo‘s 2024 return from retirement to the UFC didn’t turn out the way he wanted. After racking up a second consecutive defeat, the former 2-time featherweight champion decided to call it a career, much to the surprise of the MMA community. “I don’t think I have it in me anymore,” Aldo stated through his translator after his UFC 315 fight. As MMA fans are still trying to comprehend his decision to hang up his gloves, Conor McGregor has come out to share a few words for one of his biggest career rivals.
Jose Aldo’s fight last weekend was, by no means, a lackluster outing as the matchup turned out to be pretty thrilling. In fact, ‘Junior’ came quite close to finishing Aiemann Zahabi during the final round with a knee strike and a soccer kick to follow it up with. In the post-fight interview, Aldo revealed that he had faced certain undisclosed hurdles, with the botched weight cut adding to his woes, claiming that his “body said no.” Well, the 37-year-old has more than proved to have made a case for himself as one of the greats ever and is already in the Hall of Fame.
Echoing the same sentiment, Conor McGregor decided to drop a message for Jose Aldo, with whom he had one of the most talked-about, sport-defining, memorable, and heated rivalries in UFC history. For many MMA enthusiasts, the UFC’s featherweight division was at the peak of its popularity in the period when these two former champions were dominating as 145-ers.
Calling Jose Aldo one of the best ever, Conor McGregor wrote, “Legendary goer. True MMA All Timer,” on his Instagram stories. It’s kind of strange to talk about ‘The Notorious’ and ‘Junior’ being on the same page since their rivalry got quite personal. But it was certainly a pleasant sight to see McGregor giving Aldo the credit that he truly deserves.
MMA: UFC 301 – Martinez vs Aldo May 4, 2024 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL Jose Aldo Junior red gloves fights Jonathan Martinez blue gloves during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. Rio de Janeiro Farmasi Arena RJ BRAZIL, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasonxSilvax 20240505_gma_db3_0188
Well, this isn’t the first message Conor McGregor sent to Jose Aldo after his retirement decision. In fact, the Irishman branded the former 2-time champ the ‘featherweight GOAT.’ The feeling is kind of the same for the ‘King of Rio’, who also had pleasant things to say about one of his most heated rivals during a confession almost a couple of years ago.
Jose Aldo’s thankful to Conor McGregor for big UFC 194 payout
One of the first fights that gained a lot of traction in Conor McGregor’s career was his fight against Jose Aldo. He got the fans invested in his many antics during the buildup of the fight, even infamously trashing the Brazilian fans in Rio de Janeiro—the city that the former 2-time champion is based out of. This certainly paid dividends, as the UFC made good money from all the ensuing drama.
The Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo headlined event, UFC 194, helped the UFC generate a reported 1.2 million PPV buys, making it one of the most watched fights in the promotion’s history. That translated well into their payouts, as McGregor and Aldo reportedly took home an estimated $4.5 million and $2.3 million, respectively.
Despite getting knocked out in just 13 seconds of the opening round after being on the receiving end of some serious trash talk, ‘Junior’ was thankful to McGregor for helping him get that ‘red panty night’ payout. During a 2-23 interview, Jose Aldo said, “How can I have animosity? That’s the guy that gave me the most money.” He further added, “I have nothing but respect, and we have a friendship now.”
Well, what do you think about Jose Aldo’s retirement decision? Did it surprise you? Drop your comments below.
The post Conor McGregor Sums Up Huge Compliment to Ex-UFC Rival in 7 Words After His Shocking Retirement appeared first on EssentiallySports.
