Aldo: McGregor will take Mayweather money, retire
Much of the sentiment boosting Conor McGregor’s chances for being able to pull a stunning upset over Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rooted in the fact that McGregor ended former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Jose Aldo’s 10-year unbeaten run with a knockout in 13 seconds.
Aldo not only isn’t buying the theory, he also thinks it’s conceivable that McGregor will pocket the riches he’s fought and talked his way into and leave combat sports for good.
“There is no comparison. It is not similar. Totally different,” Aldo said when asked if a repeat of McGregor’s December 2015 featherweight-title victory can be repeated against Mayweather (49-0) Aug. 26.
“There is no way McGregor can defeat Mayweather. Mayweather has done this his entire life and it’s a different sport.”
McGregor sought on a fourstop international press tour to mentally infiltrate Mayweather, 40, who has returned from a twoyear retirement for the bout that could potentially become the richest event in combat sports history.
During a similar extended buildup to McGregor’s showdown with Aldo, which saw McGregor post an impressive knockout of Chad Mendes for the UFC’s interim featherweight title bout as Aldo recovered from an injury, the fast-witted McGregor went after Aldo at each face-toface meeting, from stealing his belt to accurately predicting the first-round knockout.
The victory rocketed the credibility of McGregor’s “Mystic Mac” predictions, furthered when he spoke of bloodying the face of Nate Diaz in their rematch, and repeatedly hammering lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez with punches to the face.
McGregor is saying he’ll stop Mayweather “inside four rounds.”
Aldo scoffed both at McGregor’s forecasting powers and the suggestion that the Irishman had penetrated his psyche.
“He and you can say whatever you want, but he was a lucky guy to get the one punch and finish it,” Aldo said. “There was nothing more to it than that.”
After losing the featherweight belt to Max Holloway in June, Aldo has some work to do to position himself for a rematch with McGregor.
Aldo doesn’t think it will ever happen because he said he suspects McGregor, 29, will leave fighting after taking home an expected purse that will exceed $100 million from the Mayweather bout.
“After Mayweather, when he gets lots of millions of dollars, he’ll probably never fight again,” Aldo said.
UFC president Dana White has said he expects McGregor to defend his lightweight belt in the UFC by the end of the year if he emerges healthy from the Mayweather bout. McGregor has also said he’ll venture to Russia to fight unbeaten lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
White has attended some of McGregor’s recent sparring sessions in Las Vegas, with the fighter scheduled to provide an update on his preparation at a Friday afternoon media day.
“It looks damn good. I’ve got to say I was impressed,” White said, dismissing the notion that McGregor made a mistake by not aligning with one of the respected California boxing trainers, like Freddie Roach, Abel Sanchez or Virgil Hunter, since he’s been out of the octagon since November.
Aldo disagrees, shaking his head affirmatively to the question if McGregor is conducting one of the greatest con jobs in sports history.
“It’s a joke.” Aldo said. “He’s just looking for the money.”