UFC 196 Pre-fight Press Conference
When the 168-pound frame of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor rolled over under the mounted barrage of Nate Diaz in the second round of their UFC 196 main event fight, and tapped out to a rear-n***d choke, one man celebrated above all others.
HIGHLIGHTS! WATCH DIAZ SMOKE, CHOKE MCGREGORFormer featherweight champion Jose Aldo, recentlyhumiliated by a 13 second knockout at UFC 194 in December, immediately posted a taunt on Twitter:
An hour and a half later when thepost-fight press conference finally started, a reporter asked McGregor if he had a response to the tweet, as the Irishman had made a veiled reference about certain featherweight fighters "celebrating his loss."
The "Notorious" one, despite licking his wounds and giving credit to Diaz for the victory, was resolute in his disdain for Aldo:
"I just think it"s... he had an opportunity to show up here. And he didn"t. He could be sitting there... he could be sitting where Nate"s (Diaz) sitting right now. He was the first choice. He said, "anytime, any place, anywhere" and then he wasn"t anytime, any place, anywhere. Now another man gets a victory over me and he (Aldo) celebrates it. That"s the sign of a loser. That"s the sign of somebody... that"s the sign of a runner-up, you know? That"s not the sign of a champion so..."
As for whether that fight happens atUFC 200 or not, McGregor wouldn"t say. He did indicate he has no desire to take a break, despite admitting the loss is a "tough pill to swallow", and would be looking to drop back down to featherweight to defend his belt next.
"I haven"t stopped in a long time, it"s been a crazy couple of years. I"ve only really busted onto the scene and climbed all the way. But I"m still really enjoying it. I"m not tired of it. Now going back down to the featherweight division I would imagine would be what is next.I don"t know. I still feel UFC 200 is there for me."
UFC president Dana White agreed.
"I think that"s what makes sense, you know what I mean? Tonight was one of those nights... this was a fight. This was what this thing was built to be. This is what it was, you know, everything that we talked about and it lived up to everything that it was supposed to be. It was awesome."
McGregor said he does believe Aldo deserves a rematch but said the Brazilian pulls out of fights a lot, and Frankie Edgar is more reliable. Ultimately he said it will likely depend on who the fans want to see the most.
But despite those words, that doesn"t mean McGregor is done with his plans at 155 or even 170 pounds for good.
"I weighed in at 168 pounds. I didn"t make anything, I simply ate regularly so... 145 isn"t anything. It"s a cut, it"s intense but I make it and I make it every time so I think 145 will be next. I"ll defend my belt. I believe maybe Nate will fight (Rafael) dos Anjos now. I think after I defend my belt and climb myself back up I think I will get my shot at that lightweight belt once again so maybe me and Nate can do it again."
For continuous coverage of the entire UFC 196 card, including post-fight recaps and analysis, clickhere andhere.
Source: http://www.mmamania.com/2016/3/6/11168272/jose-aldo-conor-mcgregor-ufc-196-rematch-ufc-200
