JOSE ALDO EXPLAINS TEARS AFTER CONOR MCGREGOR DEFEAT

Jose Aldo said he cried after losing to Conor McGregor at UFC 194 because Dana White told him he would not get an immediate rematch. Aldo had expected another fight after his long reign as featherweight champion. He said White told him McGregor planned to move up to lightweight because making the featherweight limit had become too difficult. “I was crying because I knew we weren’t going to fight again,” Aldo said in an interview. He said he had wanted the chance to regain the title.

McGregor knocked out Aldo with a left hand 13 seconds into their fight on 12 December 2015. The contest took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and McGregor took the featherweight title. Aldo entered the fight with an 18-fight winning streak, including seven UFC victories. He described himself as the first and, until that point, only featherweight champion in UFC history. Aldo said White had told him McGregor would leave the division whether he won or lost.

The UFC released footage of Aldo crying in the changing room after the defeat. Aldo later told Combate that he had pressed White to arrange a rematch. He said he found the loss difficult to process. McGregor had directed repeated verbal taunts at Aldo during the promotional tour before the fight. Aldo’s account places the conversation with White at the centre of his explanation for the tears.