Jose Aldo entered UFC 194 as the only champion the UFC’s featherweight division had ever had, unbeaten in ten years. He left with a 13 second knockout loss to Conor McGregor.
Obviously dejected and struggling to come to terms with the loss in the cage afterward, Aldo called for a rematch with McGregor, and said he’d be back to reclaim the title.
“He threw a right on my chest, I expected that, and when I attacked him, he hit a good right, and that was it,” Aldo said in the cage after the fight (translated by Guilherme Cruz at MMAFighting.com). “I think after this fight, we have to go for a rematch.
“McGregor’s trash talking] didn’t affect anything. He can say whatever he wants. I’ll never fall in any provocation. He was happy today, he hit me with a good punch. We have to go for a rematch, and I will be better prepared to reclaim what is mine.”
Penick’s Analysis: Given the rematches coming for Cain Velasquez and Ronda Rousey in 2016, there’s no reason Aldo couldn’t get his. There’s significant money to be made in a rematch, much as there is with Rousey-Holly Holm II, though there are also a significant number of other options for McGregor’s next fight than for Holly Holm’s. I’m not sure what the UFC will do at all at this point, but as the only champion in this division into Saturday night, and unbeaten in his Zuffa run prior to this event, he’s earned the right to a rematch as much as anyone.
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