After Jose Aldo gave a long and detailed interview to Ariel Helwani, where he claimed that McGregor was refusing to fight him, that Holloway was the reason their fight would not take place, and that he would fight for the interim lightweight title... There was always going to be a backlash.
Also claimed that what he has said in recent times has been mistranslated, so after carefully outlining how he felt to Helwani, we got a look at what the re-instated featherweight champion really feels.
While he claimed that Holloway and McGregor were ducking him, he also revealed that a lightweight who the UFC 'never thought would turn down the fight' did so on the advice of his father, and of course many people believed that man to be Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Turns out, they were right. We know because the man himself took to Instagram to issue a response, and it was highly entertaining.
Aldo says, referring to me, that I refused to fight with him. Tell him that I do not bully the little.
I want a real battle, and only Tony can give it to me. At this stage of my career, even if I win Daniel Cormier, fans will say that I have to fight with Tony, and I agree with them.
I have spent my career in the UFC asking for the strongest opponents, currently in this division we must decide who is stronger, me or Tony? Without exception, all the fans and experts want to see this fight and I want to give it to them.
And you, Aldo, I advise you not to lose the respect of your fans, including me, do not lose your head, do not fall for the mind games of the UFC, and be yourself.
'I do not bully the little.'
Magnificent.
It seems clear that Khabib was indeed offered Aldo, but chose to fight Tony Ferguson instead. The reasoning behind this he claims is to finally put an end to people constantly asking to see this fight happen, but Aldo feels that he was ducking the fight because it isn't a good match-up.
There also appears to be a reason why Max Holloway couldn't fight too, as his management posted the following picture to Facebook claiming that he can't train for six weeks due to an ankle injury.
So it seems that everybody who Jose Aldo is accusing of avoiding him has logical reasons to do so. That doesn't reflect too well on the Brazilian.
We'll wait and see what Dana White and the UFC have to say about this when the questions are inevitably put to them, but for the moment, Jose Aldo is making a lot of people upset with his claims.
