UFC Star Opens Up About Past Hatred for Conor McGregor Fueled by Love for Jose Aldo

UFC lightweight, Renato Moicano often goes for a no-holds-barred to express his opinions about various issues in the UFC. On the latest episode of ‘Show Me the Money’ the 34-year-old took a shot at former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Amidst his discussion with the UFC welterweight, Gilbert Burns, ‘Money Moicano’ revealed why he used to hate the famed Irishman during the days of his iconic rise in the UFC. The reason, to nobody’s surprise, is, what McGregor did to his fellow Brazilian fighter Jose Aldo.

UFC fans are celebrating the return of retired UFC featherweight king, Jose Aldo, at UFC 301 on 4 May. Aldo is a legend and like many of his fans, Moicano too hailed his iconic featherweight title reign. Aldo was on an 18-fight win streak defending his title. That was until he came face to face with a mad Irishman with the ambition of becoming a two-division champion.

The setup to the fight was downright ugly and when both fighters walked into the octagon at UFC 194, the championship reign came to an end in a rather disheartening manner as he got KO-ed by McGregor in just 13 seconds.

Lots of UFC fans, including Moicano, were disappointed by Aldo’s loss. But it was McGregor’s trash-talking throughout the buildup to their that got under the skin of Aldo’s fans even more. Remembering the iconic fight, the 34-year-old Brazilian said,

“I used to hate McGregor so much back in the day. Because we were such big fans of Jose Aldo. He was talking so much about, ‘I can predict these things’, and he used a lot of strong phrases [to deride Aldo].”

But these things are in the past as admitted and although Aldo did get humbled that fateful day, that loss does very little to blemish his legacy as one of the greatest to ever do it. Moreover, Aldo remains one of the most loved fighters in the business.

This is why Moicano and all the other Aldo fans will want him to end his UFC career with a victory. However, several fans aren’t sure of Aldo’s return and how he would fare, given his return from a pro boxing career.

Why did Renato Moicano’s idol Jose Aldo decide to return to the octagon?

A look at Aldo’s current pro-boxing career will reveal that he holds a record of 1-0-1 with his debut match ending in a draw. This is why a large chunk of fans may be confused about Aldo’s return to the UFC. Well, Aldo revealed the reason behind the same in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto a few days ago.

It turns out ‘Scarface’ has one fight left in his UFC contract. This is why he had to seek approval from the UFC authorities for competing in his desired boxing matches. But, Aldo has now decided to free himself from all those hassles.

His UFC 301 fight against Jonathan Martinez will be his last UFC fight as per his contract. Aldo also revealed that the UFC authorities had offered him a contract renewal, but he denied the offer. So this is going to be the final time Jose Aldo steps into an octagon under the UFC banner. And if this is to be his swansong, it’s only natural that Moicano and the scores of Aldo’s fans cheer aloud for the ‘King of Rio’ during his UFC 301 fight.