UFC star Jose Aldo has been told his desire to "kill" Conor McGregor in the pair's renowned 2015 fight was his downfall and the reason he lost to the Dubliner.
That's according to Thanh Le, who was speaking ahead of his ONE Championship title fight this Friday.
His opponent Tan Kai has been to the fore in goading him prior to the fight but Le said he will not rise to the bait like Aldo did ahead of his showdown with McGregor.
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Aldo, 35, had held an unbeaten streak spanning over a decade ahead of the eighth defence of his 145lb title against interim champion McGregor at UFC 194.
McGregor was relentless in trash talking the Brazilian ahead of the fight and the tactic worked a charm; he knocked Aldo out within 13 seconds to end his reign.
And Le said he is very wary of the example of Aldo as he heads into this week's fight against the outspoken Kai.
He said: “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.
"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 under the wing of McGregor's rival Urijah Faber who coached him during his time on Ultimate Fighter.
Despite a first round elimination from the competition, he went on to take a spot on the Contender Series two years later, winning his fight by knockout.
Following that win, the UFC was eager to sign him, but the timing did not suit.
He told Bleacher Report : "They reached out to me for two fights.
"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."
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