Jose Aldo Expects ‘Great Things’ from Conor McGregor at UFC 303: ‘Be the Conor of Old'
Aldo weighs in on McGregor's return fight against Michael Chandler.
Jose Aldo wants to see his former foe turn back the clock.
Gearing up for his own MMA return at UFC 301, the former UFC Featherweight Champion looks onward to UFC 303 for Conor McGregor's comeback story. A broken leg all healed up and one Hollywood debut in the books, "The Notorious" is set to face long-awaited opponent Michael Chandler on June 29th.
It's a make-or-break kind of fight for McGregor as he returns from the longest layoff of his career as well as a two-fight losing skid, courtesy of Dustin Poirier. The 35 year-old still oozes with confidence that he can compete at the highest level and that will be put to the test against "Iron" Chandler.
Aldo, who finds himself in a similar scenario vs. Jonathan Martinez next month, is backing McGregor to get the job done against Chandler in what could very well be a vintage performance from the Irish superstar.
"I have great expectations for that fight," Aldo told MMA Junkie via a translator. "As I always say, I always root for the guys who I fought and the guys who would beat me because that just proves that I lost to the best and I lost to champions. So, I hope that he can go in there and be the Conor of old and be aggressive and go in there to finish the fight and not leave it to the judges. I expect great things from that fight."
Jose Aldo's words of encouragement to his ex-rival go hand-in-hand withwhat McGregor said regarding 'The King of Rio's' epic homecoming at UFC 301, which marks the final fight of his current UFC contract.
"Look at Aldo now. Great to see Jose back," McGregor said on 'The MMA Hour'. "Really happy to see Jose back... Excited to see him back. Tremendous goer. Always great for the company."
While the former featherweights are able to break bread now, it wasn't always that way. McGregor and Aldo had one of the most heated rivalries in MMA history en route to their title unification bout at UFC 194. The young McGregor spewed many insults, talking his truths to get inside the head of "Scarface" before ending his championship reign with a freaky fast 13-second KO to cap off 2015.
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