Jose Aldo requests his release from the UFC

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is fighting lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, and Jose Aldo has had enough.

Aldo, who beat Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 in July, was hoping to finally get his rematch with "The Notorious" after that victory, but instead saw the Irish star get a shot for the 155-pound belt at New York City’s UFC 205 after beating Nate Diazin a rematch at 170 pounds.

Speaking to Brazilian website Combate, Aldo revealed that he was offered a fight at UFC 205, but not against McGregor.

"I heard about everything that happened through my coach," Aldo said. "He had spoken with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby Saturday and Sean still had no answer about anything, and asked if I could fight on November 12. My coach said that if it would be Conor, yes, and then Sean asked him if I would fight Max Holloway or Anthony Pettis. ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] said that for those who I’d rather do a full camp and it could be on December 10. We waited until Dana publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I’d get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I’d have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana [White] said all the time that Conor couldn’t keep both belts. But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly having two belts at the same time."

Upset with the promotion, Aldo said he no longer believes in UFC president Dana White, and wants to be released from his contract with the promotion.

"Conor himself said before that he wouldn’t give his belt away by any chance and nobody would take it away from him," Aldo said. "After all this, I see I can’t trust any word from president Dana White, and who’s in charge of the promotion now is Conor McGregor. Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn’t return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore."

White said on Tuesday that McGregor would have to vacate a belt if he beats Alvarez on Nov. 12, but Aldo doesn’t believe that.

"I don’t believe in Dana saying that Conor would have to vacate one of the belts after UFC 205 because, based on what we’re seeing, this type of decision is not in his hands anymore, Conor makes the calls now," Aldo said. "And the biggest proof that who’s in charge in the UFC now is Conor is that when I wanted to move up to fight Pettis, they said I’d have to vacate my belt and try this fight with no title whatsoever. But with him, they let him move up to the division above without losing his belt, and also let him do any fight he wants. I understand that he sells a lot, but it gets to a limit when it’s no longer a sport, it becomes a circus. I don’t want any type of fight with the UFC. The only thing I want is to go on with my life, and they will go on with theirs."

UPDATE: After the UFC 205 press conference in New York, Dana White spoke with Combate TV and said he will call Aldo and offer a solution. After that quick interview, Aldo called the TV channel and doubled down, saying that he wants to retire from the sport.

"Not even fight MMA, too. It has reached a limit now," Aldo told Revista Combate. "I talked to ‘Dede’ a long time ago and he convinced me to continue. I went to the Frankie Edgar fight and won. I fought to win for ‘Dede’. I’m not angry or upset now, nothing. I never fought for money, I had a good career and legacy as featherweight champion.

"If [White] likes me and my family, I just hope he released me. I don’t want a fight. I want to leave as I came in. The UFC and WEC didn’t give me anything. Everything I conquered was my merit and from my team. Nobody gave me anything. I conquered everything. And I gave them a lot more than they gave me back. I just want them to release me from my contract. I’m not a ***** to sell myself [for money].

"I don’t even want to fight MMA. I want to follow a career in another sport. That’s what I want."

Source:  MMAFighting.com.

I have to admit...I would be tired of it myself... heres the deal tho... Aldo doesnt want to fight anyone but Conor and he kinda has allready "bowed" up on Dana when it comes to fights... After Dos Anjos bailed out on fight with Conor..Dana gave him his shot... but due to not getting a full camp he decided against it... Dana tried 2 more times to get Aldo in a fight on this card alone.. Holloway/Edgar either one..and again Aldo using same excuse.. He is one of my favorite fighters but he's really not that WARRIOR he used to be.. Now ..is he right? ABsolutely he is right... The owners need to get a handle on Dana but they wont...cause bottom line they could give a **** as long as profits are huge.. Dana IS in fact making them  money but hes also destroying the sport and assisiting its transformation into a "show" now.,.. Its unfortunate cause I see both sides in this... But Aldo hasnt truly truly wanted to fight for a very long time...and hes deeply disrespectful to AMerican audiences... perhaps it is time to go..but if I were he and supposid "warrior heart"..I would simply set out til a match was made with Conor..it will come to fruition... Aldo could persue these other sports as he says in mean time... But I sure wouldnt walk away knowing a guy "caught me...joked about it..and I walked"... Not in a million years.... Whats terrible for his case is he claims he wants Dana to release him, then on the other hand he says hes going to retire from the sport all together... That doesnt need a release so come on Aldo... at least start taking out your frustrations ON people...

I don't blame Aldo for not stepping in on 10 days notice. He has to realize though that they give Conor the fights he wants for money reasons and they use them in situations which tjey can make excuses if he loses. If he lises at 145, then they have no excuses.

Oh without a doubt bud... your exactly right...and thats EXACTLY what they see ...Do you remember that Tweet Connor made early last week.... "Beg Me"..... I seriously believe that wasnt intended for anyone but Aldo from Connor..Nothing had been complete contractually and I am sure Dana was telling Conor everything Aldo was saying at the time..how heated he was getting .... Conor bent over backwards to make Aldo and he a HUGE event... Aldo has nobody but himself to kick over this entire arrangement since then... and he's done it before... I think alot stems from Aldo not really "feeling" this fight game for some time now... But he will have to take a step back to see all that...Its different when your heart isnt in something ya know... It will just be a shame that  he would quit while "TeamDana-Connor" are trying to teach this veteran a lesson in a sport he helped build... 

Aldo's been throwing a lot of hissyfits lately ... this isn't one of them.

I can't totally understand where he's coming from, a legend of his stature getting treated like the janitor's assistant just because he can't top 400K PPV buys (or doesn't want to become the circus act you need to become in order to get 1.5M idiots to pay to watch you fight).

The UFC need to find the fine line between entertainment and sport but they're too greedy. Absolutely NOTHING would happen if Conor either fought Aldo next or vacated the 145 strap. Conor wouldn't walk if they took his belt away. He'd ***** up like he did when he "retired" after they pulled him off UFC 200, then pull his socks up and "devise" another "path to absolute greatness".

The UFC showing a guy like Aldo who's arguably top 10 all-time p4p in the sport, has been doing it for so long, has so many amazing performances under his belt, is still very much up in the p4p list (the real one, not their fake marketing-biased rankings) that's he's basically nothing to them, just another name on the roster shows just how much thay "care about the sport".

What a bunch of hypocritical idiots!!

@StreamFan, I actually think that tweet was directed at "all of them" and more so towards Eddie (beg to fight me) and Dana (beg me to headline the NYC card so it doesn't bust, relatively, like UFC 200) than Aldo.

I doubt Conor thinks that much about Aldo these days, let alone dedicate a tweet to him ;)

* Edited at 09.28.2016, 3:54 AM ET *

well..you could be right man...thats what I thought intially.. but damn if Aldo just isnt fuming right now...like hes been atagonized..LOL

I really agree with you..all these fighters allready know how there being treated now... but they need to pay close attention to how the "legends" are being treated..thats huge man!  And with the way Dana is going , hes actually preventing rising greatness in essence by strongholding them top spots..I mean they have literally let Conor run rampent in this business..

That one reporter did ask a interesting question and got told to set down... when he asked who would MAIN this fight if Ronda was back... At first I was like ****..then I thought about it.. and seen a older interview (months ago) where by far Ronda has and is the biggest thing in this sport by far....(according to Dana in this interview)

That made a light come on... what is going to happen when she does return.. There is only a spot at the "top" for one.. there will be trouble in paradise about who is getting what and how much (money, attention, press, ect) ..Its going to get interesting because I think it could disrupt things in time.. What do you think

* Edited at 09.28.2016, 3:59 AM ET *

Aldo's been pissed off about the UFC for a looooooong time, but while he was still champ it suited him. He was still making ok money (he still had his sponsors even after the Reebok deal), could fight only twice a year and still support his family and could pull out of the Vegas cards and only fight in Brazil (which no other big promotion does even to this date). He more or less called the shots and if he pulled out of enough fights there would eventually be a Brazil card they want him to headline (by the way, don't get me wrong, in no way or form do I think Aldo wanted to fight in Brazil because he was scared or anything of that sort, he just couldn't be assed to fight anywhere else if he could manage it, he's a private, humble family guy who would rather be close to home as much as possible). This fitted the Aldo that had already fallen out of love with the sport and was doing it plainly as his best source of income. He'd cruise past fights using distance, leg kicks and TDD, risking as little as poosible and that was great for him. So even though he hated working for the UFC and had zero respect for his "bosses", he played ball.

Then came Conor and changed his life. Firstly, his sponsors started to pay him less once Reebok came in (but that's not Conor's fault), then Conor made their fight so big it HAD to be in Vegas no matter how many times he pulled out and then he's no longer champ so he's the one who "needs something from them" AND to top it all, Conor showed the UFC just how much money their champs could potentially bring in and they fell in love with it so whoever doesn't fit into that pattern is expendable to them, a card-filler. Even if he's one of the best fighters on the planet.

* Edited at 09.28.2016, 5:19 AM ET *

THAT my friend... was brilliant!  That was an excellent break down of what went on... KUdo's to you my friend.. You are spot on!!

Aldo is an all-time favorite for me. Such a huge fan. And it's a shame that the UFC has let one guy get almost bigger than their entire company to the point where it's pissed a ton of people off. Sadly, an all-time great like Aldo probably won't get the respect he deserves in order to get his will back to fight. If he leaves, I hope he fights elsewhere. He's got much more left in him, and it'd be a shame if he retired due to all of this. 

Well said @yossgold

The guy that was probably ****ed around more than Aldo was Khabib. They actually sent him a bout agreement to fight Alvarez. They used him as leverage to get the fight between Eddie and Coner done faster. Plus Dana went on Twitter saying that was the fight they were trying to get done, getting Khabib's hopes up.

It's a shame that this might discourage Aldo from training and staying focused because I thought he looked the best he's ever looked at UFC 200. I don't think there was any 45er in the world that could of beat him that night.   

It is because Khabib would beat them all and they not want that.

Amazing how aldo was always been a respectful fighter and gets treated like ****.  I dont blame him at all.  I mean even the title fight against conor was setup for him to fail on the marketing side.  Im not trying to give him excuses but he did have a lot of pressure for that fight.  He went for the fence and paid for it.  and now the featherweight title is like a nothing but guys waiting for a title that doesnt get defended.  

the one rematch that was needed more than any never happened.

go read a comment section about him from the pre-McGregor days. 

among US fans, he may have been the most ****-on fighter around.  Pulling out of fights, evading drug testers, etc.

If anything the whole McGregor experience has a had a long-term net effect of increasing sympathy for, and appreciation of, Aldo.   

* Edited at 09.30.2016, 11:52 AM ET *

Speaking of hypocritical idiots.

@mmacylon he did not evade or dodge drug testing  the guy showed up with no proof.  why does getting hurt make him so bad.  

pre conor aldo shouldve acted like a ********* blowing kisses at himself in a mirror and maybe DW and the brothers wouldve respected him more!

my not very clearly expressed point was that a lot of (other) people disliked Aldo back in the pre-McGregor days - and that those people shat up him for reasons of injury/purported test shadiness

I never saw such love for Aldo on US websites as I do now that he is the anti-McGregor martyr

though maybe Aldo's longevity helps his cause with longtime fans as well, even if they didn't like him at first.  Dominick Cruz didn't have such fan support until his comeback, and his fight style and personality have changed little since his first title run

* Edited at 09.30.2016, 3:03 PM ET *

i agree there was some hate as soon as he fought more technical.  I just have seen UFC promote the challenger so much.  Aldo deserved so much more and i really hope this is not the last of him