UFC legend Jose Aldo has been told his hopes of killing Conor McGregor in their infamous 2015 title fight was the reason for his defeat.
Aldo, 35, was unbeaten in over a decade heading into the eighth defence of his 145lb title against interim champion McGregor at UFC 194. The pair had bee due to meet earlier that year, but Aldo was forced out of the title clash due to a broken rib. McGregor goaded Aldo for months leading up to their grudge fight, leaving the Brazilian in tears by knocking him out in just 13 seconds to end his title reign.
Thanh Le, who competed on the opposing team to McGregor when he coached The Ultimate Fighter 22, has cited Aldo's loss to McGregor before his ONE Championship title fight this Friday. After being goaded by his upcoming opponent Tan Kai, Le said he will not react like Aldo did to McGregor's trash talk ahead of their title fight.
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“No matter if he talked s*** or said nothing. The fact is, he’s a dangerous fighter that’s going to give everything he has to take this belt," Le said of his ONE Championship opponent. "When you allow trash talk to affect you, that’s when a McGregor-Aldo situation happens. He wanted to kill McGregor so bad, he threw all caution to the wind and we saw what happened.”
Le was coached by McGregor's rival Urijah Faber during his time on The Ultimate Fighter, with the American being eliminated in the opening round of the competition. Le's UFC journey didn't end there as two years later he was offered a spot on the Contender Series, winning his fight by knockout. The UFC was keen to sign Le following his win, but the timing didn't work out.
"They reached out to me for two fights," Le told Bleacher Report. "One was on five or six days notice, and I didn't want my first outing to be me missing weight. They couldn't get me a different weight class fight so I couldn't make weight and didn't even attempt to do it.
"That's something that's really important to me. If I make a commitment, I want to make sure I'll be able to do my job to the best of my ability. The other time, they wanted me to fight out of the country, but my passport needed to be renewed and I couldn't do that because it was another short-notice fight."
