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20th Dec 2014

Even Jose Aldo wants Conor McGregor to get the next title shot

Make it happen, Dana

Ben Kiely

The fans want it, Conor McGregor wants it and now, UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo has admitted that even he wants to see the Notorious fight for the belt next

Aldo is fresh off his seventh consecutive title defence against American wrestler Chad Mendes at UFC 179. Having beaten every UFC featherweight at the business end of the rankings, with one notable exception, there is one fighter in particular who the Brazilian wants to take on inside the Octagon next. Aldo sees Conor McGregor as the ideal opponent for his next defence.

I hope he’s next because it would be a huge fight. 

Scarface commended the Irish UFC superstar’s ability to market fights and implied that his McGregor’s inevitable pre-fight trash-talking would make it a huge event.

We have to look at both sides of the situation. He talks a lot, so it makes you more excited to fight. It makes it more intense. I hope he’s next and that we can do a great fight.

He’s a tough fighter, but we haven’t seen him against a top 5. He’s not ready, but the promotion he does is good. He’s a good athlete. He talks a lot. If he doesn’t talk that much, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

Of course, McGregor has fought a top five fighter before. In his last fight he annihilated the then fifth-ranked 145 lb fighter Dustin Poirier, finishing off the Diamond with a stellar TKO in the opening round. Despite McGregor’s dominant victories inside the Octagon in 2014, Aldo thinks that the Dubliner will be an easier matchup than Chad Mendes.

I see Chad (Mendes) as the best of them. If you put (Frankie) Edgar, Conor or (Ricardo) Lamas, he beats all of them on the same night.

McGregor takes on “midget, German steroid-head” Dennis Siver at the “I can’t believe it’s not Dublin” event in Boston in January. Aldo revealed that he will be supporting the Irishman in the bout, with a view to handing him his first UFC loss at a massive event, possibly on home soil.

I’m rooting for Conor. Like it or not, I hope he wins because I will win a lot by fighting him.

It all depends on the negotiation. If they pay me well… We have soccer stadiums here too, so if I could bring this fight to Brazil, I don’t care about him.

To see the man himself talking about a potential fight with the undisputed champ Jose Aldo, check out part one of Conor McGregor’s video diary series exclusive to SportsJOE here.

Hat-tip top MMA Fighting