With Rafael dos Anjos out of next week’s UFC 196 event, the UFC has been seeking a replacement to face Conor McGregor. One of the names they looked to offer the fight to was Jose Aldo, but his coach Andre Pederneiras said on Tuesday that the former UFC Featherweight Champion wouldn’t have been ready to fight on ten days notice.
“Dana [White] called me, telling what happened and asking if Aldo was in shape to fight,” Pederneiras said in an interview with Combate (translated via Guilherme Cruz at MMAFighting.com). “I said he wasn’t and that there wasn’t enough time, and unfortunately he wouldn’t be able to fight next week.”
To be clear, it was Pederneiras turning the fight down, though it’s in contrast to Aldo’s comments on Instagram last month saying he wanted his rematch with McGregor “any time, anywhere.”
Penick’s Analysis: “In shape” or not, this may have been the one time a fighter should have stepped in no matter what. Given the delay to McGregor’s Lightweight Title hopes, his desire to move to welterweight after that to go after that title, and the fact that Frankie Edgar remains in line at featherweight, it’s not a surety that Aldo ever gets another chance to rematch McGregor. This very well could have been a last chance option for him, and by not taking it the opportunity may not come around again.
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