Jose Aldo has insisted that Conor McGregor is his "friend" despite recently labelling his former UFC rival as an "a******".
Aldo and McGregor butted heads after the Brazilian fought to a controversial draw against Jeremy Stephens at Jorge Masvidal's Gamebred Boxing event earlier this month. McGregor tweeted after the fight: “Me and Aldo should box", but Aldo was less than impressed with the Irishman's suggestion and proceeded to lash out at his former opponent.
“Conor is an a******,” Aldo said. “He only talks now because he has a fight booked, and does so to sell anything, not to actually fight. He’s a son of a b****.” McGregor was seemingly taken back by Aldo's tirade as he then tweeted: "Well OK then ahaha whatever lad I was only trying to be nice. Who p***** in your acai?"
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Aldo has now backtracked on his criticism of McGregor by admitting that he overreacted by calling him a "son of a b****" and "a******." The former UFC rivals - who fought in December 2015 when McGregor won by KO in just 13 seconds - are seemingly on good terms with Aldo sending his best wishes to 'Notorious'.
“I was a little heated,” Aldo told Trocacao Franca. “I had just re-watched the match in the locker room and I had won, everybody said it, and right after that a reporter asked me and I hadn’t seen what Conor had said. I called him names and laughed a lot 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.”
Aldo and McGregor have been cordial to each other despite sharing a bitter feud in the build-up to their featherweight world title fight eight years ago. The Brazilian has even stated he would be open to training with McGregor in Ireland, admitting his former opponent could teach him a lot about boxing after his 2017 clash with Floyd Mayweather.
“Yes. Why not? I have to learn a lot in boxing," Aldo said of training with McGregor. "There are some great Irish boxers, so if I have the opportunity to go to Ireland and train with Conor and the Irish, I’m super open to it. Especially pro boxing. It’s a new world, and I have to learn from the best. Conor has good boxing, he fought Mayweather in boxing, so he has a lot to teach me.”
