Conor McGregor: I promised not to hit Jose Aldo in the body at UFC 189

Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor

Ever a colorful story teller, Conor McGregor claims he placed a call to Jose Aldo shortly after hearing news of the champ’s fight-scratching rib injury before UFC 189.

“I still called him when he bruised his rib,” the interim champ said today during a teleconference in support of his title unifier against Aldo at UFC 194. “I said, ‘Show up, and I won’t target your body.’ I said that to him. I said, ‘I won’t hit you to the body – I’ll hit you clean in the face.’ He still didn’t show up.”

Not surprisingly, that doesn’t ring a bell for the Brazilian champ, who was relatively restrained on the line with the popular Irishman, especially compared to a world tour when the two repeatedly clashed during photo face-offs.

“He’s not going to be able to hit me in the body, anyway,” Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) said to MMAjunkie via translator. “That wasn’t the issue. The issue for me was the weight cut with the ribs.

“He got scared of me when he saw me – why the hell is he going to call me?”

McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), of course, is a master of talking up a fight, though today he chided a reporter who asked whether his bold words were an act. This time, however, he feels relatively certain his promotional efforts won’t be wasted when UFC 194 takes place Dec. 12 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Although there were a lot of rumors and speculation around their previous bout, what was completely real for McGregor was an injury to his knee sustained during the press tour.

The 27-year-old Dublin native hid his injury from the media and the Nevada State Athletic Commission that oversaw the July pay-per-view event. But afterward, he reported an 80 percent tear of his ACL, his second major knee injury after a torn ACL suffered in a bout this past year with Max Holloway.

That didn’t stop him from marching forward to accept a short-notice bout with three-time title challenger Chad Mendes for the interim strap.

“I’m an animal,” McGregor growled when asked why he took the bout despite the serious injury. “I’ll tell you what, because I’m a beast. Nothing can break me. Nothing can stop this train from taking over this game. Absolutely nothing. I had a busted up leg and (Aldo’s camp) knew I had a busted up leg and they planned to target it. They celebrated it, because it happened on the world (press) tour. Their whole camp knew it, and they celebrated and plotted a way to attack it.”

“Fans saved their hard-earned money to come see that show,” he added later. “Seven million dollar gate, $50 million pay-per-view, (and) god knows what else in sponsorship sales and merchandise throughout the week. If I’d have walked from that show, I would have flushed the company’s money down the toilet, I would have flushed the fans money down the toilet, I would have flushed my own money down the toilet. I showed up. I came through for everyone who put in so much.

“I could have walked, and I’ll tell you what, 100 percent of the roster would have walked. Jose pulled with a bruise, and not even an apology to the fans.”

In reporting the injury post-fight, McGregor also said he had told the UFC he felt that scheduling a fight with Aldo so soon after the first scrapped matchup was “a little too soon.”

One would think his own physical condition might play a part in that statement, but McGregor parried and said it was because of his opponent.

“It was certainly nothing to do with me – it was because of Jose’s little weak body,” he told MMAjunkie. “It left him five months. I felt it might rush him into camp. It might rush him back into heavy training and the same thing might occur. As an exit presents itself for my friend Jose, he’s going to take it. So I thought to myself, let him chill for a little bit. Let him rest up instead of sending him back into camp. I have no doubt he doesn’t want to be there, so I just wanted to prolong it a little bit and let him recover.

“My body’s great. I’m swinging them legs like a motherf-cker, yeah? So I just wanted to give him a little more time. But it seems OK right now. It was around this time last time that he pulled out, so I might breathe a little easier when he touches U.S. soil. But it seems to have worked out. He seems to be showing up this time.”

Aldo might have kept a lower profile going into his second scheduled bout, but he’s emerged as someone who’s learned his lesson about hanging on the words of McGregor. No matter what’s said, no matter what injuries interceded in the ill-fated bout, only what happens next matters.

And this time, it appears there’s nothing to indicate anything that will stand in between the two stepping inside the cage, where Aldo promises he’ll have the last word.

“Wherever I hit him, he’s going to go to sleep,” Aldo said.

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

view original article >>