Dana White responds to Jose Aldo saying he's retired from the UFC
Jose Aldo will sit down with UFC president Dana White next week to hash out their differences after the interim featherweight champion proclaimed recently that he was retiring from the sport and wanted to be released from the promotion.
Aldo's ire with the UFC came after Conor McGregor was put into a lightweight title fight against Eddie Alvarez while still retaining the featherweight title he won last December.
Aldo was promised a rematch with McGregor after beating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 and he believes if that fight isn't going to happen, then the Irishman should be stripped of the belt that he's yet to defend at 145 pounds.
Neither of those things happened and now Aldo says he's done with fighting for good.
"Listen, I can't make anybody fight anybody. I can do the best I can to put together fights and make them happen. Jose Aldo and I will get together probably next week and we'll talk about this," White told "UFC Tonight" on Wednesday.
"I think he's being a little ridiculous about this."
Aldo has voiced his frustration in a series of interviews recently in Brazil where he's doubled down on his desire to walk away from the sport and call it a career.
The embattled interim champion says there's nothing the UFC could offer him to stay and at this point he just wants his release from the promotion.
White doesn't sound exactly sold that Aldo is ready to retire at 30 years of age with plenty of time left in his career.
White just can't guarantee that Aldo will ever get the chance to fight McGregor again.
"I'll get him a fight. I'll get him a fight all day long," White said. "If you look at that division, it's stacked. (Max) Holloway is ready, he wants to fight. Anthony Pettis is in that division now. There's a lot of talented guys there that he can fight.
"I can't make Conor McGregor fight anybody. Obviously everybody wants the fight. I'm waiting for Joanna Jedrzejczyk to call out Conor McGregor next. Everybody wants to fight Conor."
Aldo was the only featherweight champion the UFC had ever known until McGregor finished him in their fight last year. Now McGregor seems resigned to make history with a second title reign at 155 pounds rather than revisiting his rivalry with Aldo.
Of course, Aldo long teased the possibility that he would move to lightweight to pursue a belt as well during his long reign as champion, but White says the Brazilian never really showed that much desire to conquer two divisions the way that McGregor does currently.
According to White, McGregor's desire to fight anybody and everybody is part of the reason why he's such a massive superstar and also why he's been able to call his shots since winning the featherweight title against Aldo.
"When Aldo was doing it, Aldo never aspired to do those things," White said. "I'm the guy that's stood in front of pretty much everybody in this sport at one time or another and a fight pulled out the week before and let me tell you what, nobody acts the way Conor McGregor acts when a fight pulls out or whatever.
"You're talking about a guy normally when you have so much to lose, everybody's afraid to lose it, nobody wants to take a risk. This guy goes all in. Every time. And it's part of the appeal and the allure of Conor McGregor. Everybody can be mad and everybody can cry, but when you step up and fight the way this guy fights and you put all your chips on the table, nobody does it."
Aldo said he'll be flying to Las Vegas next week to meet with White and it will be interesting to see the outcome of that sit down as the Brazilian ultimately decides whether or not he's going to fight again.
