Jose Aldo has claimed that Conor McGregor is his ‘friend’ despite the pair’s fierce UFC rivalry.
McGregor famously knocked out Aldo in just 13 seconds in 2015, taking the UFC featherweight title from the Brazilian in the process. That result followed an intense build-up that spanned the best part of a year, and it also marked the end of Aldo’s 10-year unbeaten run.
Despite the personal nature of the rivalry between Aldo, 36, and McGregor, 34, the pair are now friends, according to the Brazilian.
Aldo, who retired from mixed martial arts last year, hit out at McGregor after outpointing Jeremy Stephens in a boxing match this month, but he has now apologised, telling MMA Fighting: “I was a little heated [...] Conor is my friend. I wish him all the best.”
McGregor had tweeted, “Me and Aldo should box,” after the latter beat Stephens, and Aldo told MMA Fighting: “I had just rewatched the match in the locker room, and I had won – everybody said it. Right after that, a reporter asked me [about McGregor’s comments], and I hadn’t seen what Conor had said.
“I called him names, laughed a lot because of that. But when I got to Brazil, I messaged him apologising, because I saw it wasn’t his intention to challenge me; he was trying to give me a push. I misunderstood.
“But we’re cool again. Conor is my friend. I wish him all the best.”
After beating Aldo, McGregor went on to become the UFC’s first ever dual-weight champion, knocking out Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight title in 2016.
He then vacated the featherweight belt, and Aldo won the vacant strap before losing it to Max Holloway.
Holloway was eventually dethroned by Alexander Volkanovski, who still holds the belt today.
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