UFC legend Jose Aldo has retold how Conor McGregor once called him drunk while the Brazilian was travelling on a private jet to a promotional event.
The Irishman had a legendary feud with Aldo over the featherweight title in 2015, with the pair travelling the world to promote a doomed July bout before eventually meeting in December. McGregor defeated Aldo within 13 seconds when they eventually met, after an iconic build-up which produced one moment that wasn't captured on camera.
Since that fated fight, McGregor moved on to lightweight to become two-weight world champion as well as making a few brief stops up at welterweight. Meanwhile, Aldo reclaimed the belt before losing it to Max Holloway and moving down to bantamweight, where he finished out his career last month.
Now, they appear to think of one another fondly, with McGregor branding Aldo a "real legend" after one of the Brazilian's final fights. Recalling the fight build-up, during which the pair appeared to have real bad blood, Aldo told the Portuguese-language Connect Cast podcast : "It was funny, because the guy [McGregor] drinks a lot.
"He drinks a lot. F*** yeah! He probably even likes to drink gasoline. Bro, he'd call our private jet completely drunk, just taking shit. F*** it was funny, he's a good person because he does understand the other side. He understands the other person. But he's a guy with a vision."
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McGregor and Aldo's fight was the first example at the world level of the Irishman's mental game. He took Aldo's belt in front of a raucous Dublin press conference crowd and consistently mocked the revered champion, ultimately securing the mental edge before the bell even rang.
"It was his merit," Aldo added of the ultimate outcome when they fought. "I was going in, like it or not he [McGregor] has more reach than me, he had thrown a 1-2 already that I dodged and answered very quickly and he got spooked. And I said, 'Now it's time to go in, Mike Tyson style brother'. When I went in, straight away, everything was spinning."
The Brazilian quietly retired after his latest loss to Merab Dvalishvili in August, having come within touching distance of another world-title effort at bantamweight. Meanwhile, McGregor has not fought since breaking his leg in an opening round defeat by Dustin Poirier in July 2021, but has returned to training and is regularly posting footage of his rehabilitation on social media.
