Jose Aldo on turning down UFC 196 fight: ‘It’s not cockfighting’

Following Jose Aldo’s UFC 194 KO loss to Conor McGregor, the former champ stated that he wanted a rematch with Conor McGregor regardless of whether or not the UFC featherweight championship was on the line.

Aldo began his campaigning for a rematch with McGregor, however UFC President Dana White pointed out that the first time the UFC booked the bout, Aldo backed out with an injury, then when the fight did happen Aldo lost in 13 seconds.

When Rafael dos Anjos backed out of his UFC 196 lightweight title fight with Conor McGregor, the UFC offered Aldo the fight on short notice. The former champ turned down the fight because he didn’t have enough time to prepare.

In a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Aldo spoke about turning down the bout.

“Any professional needs time to train,” Aldo told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour. “It’s not a cockfight where I go there and put my rooster to fight. It’s a high-level sport, I’m going there to do my job. When I have time to train, it can happen at any time, anywhere.”