Ultimate Fighting Championship

Jose Aldo says fight against Max Holloway at UFC 208 is off

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:09 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jose Youngs/Fansided

Jose Aldo says the fight with Max Holloway is off

Jose Aldo is an unhappy champion.

Aldo (26-2) was last seen winning a unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, earning the promotion’s interim featherweight title in the process and guaranteeing a rematch against Conor McGregor.

However, after McGregor earned his second UFC title with a violent TKO over lightweight Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, the UFC stripped McGregor of his 145-pound title and promoted Aldo to the new undisputed champion. As a result, the fight between Holloway and Pettis was changed to an interim title fight, with the winner earning a shot at Aldo in the near future.

Holloway would go on to defeat Pettis with a third round TKO. Not long after, Aldo revealed he the title unification bout against Holloway would go down at UFC 208 in Brooklyn.

But now, in an interview with MMAFighting, the Brazilian is revealing the fight is off the February card, though it has nothing to do with him and his team

“This fight was set,” said Aldo “We had told the UFC we wanted to fight on that date. For us, it was set. The UFC said, OK, and they asked that we not discuss it any further before UFC 206. I was told the winner of the Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis fight would be my opponent in Brooklyn, and my understanding was that both Holloway and Pettis were told the same thing before their fight.

“After that fight, Holloway said a bunch of different things. First, I heard he twisted his ankle and wouldn’t have time to heal. Then I heard he had a trip booked to Disney World with his kids and he wouldn’t be able to reschedule. Then I heard his gym is closed during the holidays and he wouldn’t have enough time to train. So he’s basically going around, talking a lot of trash, saying a lot of bullshit and acting like a punk. He just talking shit.”

Holloway (17-3) is currently riding an incredible 10-fight win streak. Prior to his destruction of Pettis, the young Hawaiian earned an impressive decision win over former title Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199 in June. He previously scored back-to-back stoppage wins over Cub Swanson and Oliveira before earning a decision over Jeremy Stephens.

But even with his fight against Holloway off and his rival McGregor, who defeated Aldo in 13-seconds at UFC 194, sticking at lightweight for the foreseeable future, Aldo still considers himself the man to beat at 145-pounds.

“Yes, I consider myself the champion. No, the way that I got the belt doesn’t affect how I view myself. I’ve always been the champion. The champion is the person that defends the belt, not the person that gets the belt and flees the division. I should have gotten an immediate rematch. It was completely warranted and what should have happened. It didn’t happen, though.

“When they gave me Frankie Edgar, I knew that belt wasn’t going to remain the interim belt. I knew Conor wasn’t coming back; everyone knew he wasn’t coming back. That’s the real belt. I’m the one that has defended this belt. I’ve been the king of this division for a long time. I’ve never not seen myself as a champion. I lost a fight. That’s it. I knew that I was going to be the champion of this division and that’s how I still see myself. I’ve always been the champion.”

Aldo currently holds several UFC records, including the most successful and consecutive title defenses in UFC featherweight history (7). This also gives him the fourth most consecutive title defenses in UFC history.