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Reacting to the news of former-foe, Jose Aldo’s stunning, retirement-snapping comeback to mixed martial arts at UFC 301 in May, Conor McGregor has claimed he’s happy to see the Brazilian make a return to the Octagon.

Aldo, the promotion’s inaugural featherweight champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee, is slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 301 in two months’ time in his native Brazil, taking on bantamweight contender, Jonathan Martinez.

Sidelined from mixed martial arts for almost two years time by the time of his comeback, Manaus favorite, Aldo most recently saw a three-fight winning run halted by expected next title challenger, Merab Dvalishvili in a decision loss to the Georgian.

Conor McGregor backs Jose Aldo ahead of UFC return

And booked to return following a pair of professional boxing matches in his time away from the Octagon, WEC veteran, Aldo takes on Martinez – and despite sharing one of the most distinct rivalries in the sport’s history with ex-two-weight champion, McGregor, the Brazilian received massive praise for making a return.

“Look at (Jose) Aldo now, [it’s] great to see Jose back,” Conor McGregor told MMA Fighting. “I was really happy to see Jose back. I was actually taken aback that he did retired when he did retire.”

“He was a contestant for the f*cking title,” Conor McGregor. “He was in title contention in my opinion, where I was looking. He was very unlucky to not actually scoop the title. And, you know, he fought the champions, and whatnot. … Now he’s back, I’m delighted to see him back. [He’s a] tremendous goer, always great for the company. And, there you go, let’s go.”

Fighting in a featherweight championship unification bout back in 2015, McGregor, the then-interim titleholder turned in a record-setting knockout win over Aldo in just 13 seconds, unifying the championships and handing the Brazilian his first promotional defeat.

What are your thoughts on Conor McGregor’s praise for rival Jose Aldo?

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Nearing the end of his career, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman faces Bruno Silva on this weekend’s UFC fight card in Atlantic City.

Weidman won the 185-pound title be dethroning UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in July 2013.  He successfully defended the title three times before losing to Luke Rockhold in December 2015.  Since losing the belt, Weidman has struggled.  

Those struggles were precipitated when he suffered a broken leg in his UFC 261 bout against Uriah Hall in April 2021.  Ironically, Weidman suffered the same injury that Silva did in their rematch at UFC 168.    

Heading into the fight with Hall, Weidman had lost five of his seven previous bouts.  His recovery was marred with setbacks and he wouldn’t return to the octagon for over two years.  In his return bout at UFC 292 in August 2023, Weidman was defeated by Brad Tavares.  

Having lost seven of his last nine fights and unable to put together back-to-back wins in the last nine years, Weidman’s fight with Bruno Silva could be the last for the 39-year old.    

“I’m undefeated in Atlantic City.  That’s where I started my career.  When I got the call, to be honest, I was like, oh man, that would be a really cool place to hang up the gloves,” Weidman said during an appearance on The MMA Hour.  

“As I started training, I was like, let me see how my body feels.  If I feel like I’m done I’ll be done, you know, 30 surgeries in and stuff.  But I’ve been feeling amazing,” Weidman continued.  “I am very cognizant that Atlantic City would be a cool place to hang up the gloves but I don’t see that happening, just to speak to the elephant in the room.  I feel great right now and I’m ready for Atlantic City.” 

Related: Dana White: ‘Jon Jones is the greatest of all time’

Weidman not only feels great, he’s in a good place mentally.  His coaches believe that he could still be one of the best middleweights in the world.  

“I think because physically I feel so good, mentally I feel really good.  I’m excited to go out there.  I feel great in training,” Weidman said.  “Listen, I know what it sounds like and I get it, but the coaches think if I wanted to, if I have the energy to do it, I could be the best in the world again.  And I do feel that way.  Now, I’ve got to go put in the work.  I’ve got to actually show that in the UFC, so we’ll see on Saturday night how I look but the way I feel is amazing.”   

Silva will enter the octagon at Boardwalk Hall this Saturday coming off back-to-back losses.  He’s 1-4 in his last five fights.    

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley is as concerned about defending his home as he is his UFC belt.

The reigning bantamweight champion took care of the latter at UFC 299, winning a unanimous decision in a rematch with Marlon “Chito” Vera to secure his first title defense. With that rivalry behind him for now, O’Malley can concentrate on more personal matters, including beefing up the security at his residence.

On an episode of the TimboSugarShow podcast, “Sugar” explained how a recent encounter at his home had him ready to take justice into his own hands.

“I was walking around my property a couple of nights ago because I saw this car outside,” O’Malley said. “Walking around with my pistol loaded, ready. I was in a mindset—My family’s at my house. It’s not a game. I don’t know if someone’s trying to give me something.

“Chito’s house got broken into. I don’t want someone trying to steal my s***. They think, ‘Oh, he’s rich, he’s got money, he’s got s***.’ I will f******—You get in a mindset. Someone’s like, ‘I’m ready to die.’ I’m ready to kill. So I was just walking around out there with my AR, I’m walking around with my pistol.”

Since earning a Contender Series contract in 2017, O’Malley has experienced an impressive rise to fame, winning 10 of his 12 UFC fights and capturing the bantamweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling.

For O’Malley, the increased notoriety has led to plenty of positive and negative attention, but regardless of intention, he’s asking people to use common sense and avoid invading his personal space.

“People keep finding my f****** house,” O’Malley said. “It’s f****** annoying. I want to put a sign way out there on the road that says: ‘If you pass this line, you could be shot.’ Something. And it’s fans. They like me, that doesn’t mean you can f****** come to my house. Don’t come to my house even if you like me and you want to give me a gift, don’t come to my f****** house.”

“I had security come put crazy security cameras in, motions, light, all that,” O’Malley added. “Just high-end s***, s*** was f****** expensive. Worth it.”

The extent to which fans are willing to go to get closer to their favorite fighter has surprised O’Malley. His coach and co-host Tim Welch said that one fan came all the way up to his house and that they were wearing a “Bane mask.”

O’Malley responded incredulously to the situation.

“Somebody came to my f****** door… He walked,” O’Malley said. “Parked and walked.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Add Daniel Cormier to the list of fighters who think Dustin Poirier should get the next shot at Islam Makhachev.

Poirier is just the kind of name that Makhachev needs to cement himself as a bonafide octagon star, the former two-division UFC champ said Wednesday on his video podcast.

“For Islam to get to where he truly needs to be as a champ, he’s got to have those familiar names on his resume, or at least have competition with them,” Cormier said.

Cormier, of course, is not entirely unbiased in his pick for the next lightweight title fight. Lightweight champ Makhachev is a former training partner at his longtime gym, American Kickboxing Academy, and Poirier is from his hometown of Lafayette, La.

Prior to his big UFC 299 win over Benoit Saint Denis, Poirier said one big win could qualify him for a title shot. Afterward, he called out Makhachev, who brushed him off as his next challenge contender in a way that many champs do to their next contenders.

Cormier thinks Makhachev may be more interested than he let on.

“When Conor McGregor was Conor McGregor, he knocked out Jose Aldo to be the champion. It was an amazing tool to spring him into superstardom. Because by that point, it didn’t matter who he fought at lightweight. He was already a star because he had just beaten the greatest featherweight of all time in the manner in which he did it.

Then when he left, the [featherweight] belt needed to be contested. Who did they put out there? Frankie Edgar, former champion, Jose Aldo, former champion, because the names are recognized. [Max] Holloway beat Jose Aldo. It meant much more for Max Holloway, in terms of becoming a star, to beat Jose Aldo than some random guy for the belt.”

Picking Poirier over other potential lightweight contenders could complicate things for others, such as Justin Gaethje, who knocked out Poirier in his previous fight and is now set to face Max Holloway at UFC 300. Another, former champ Charles Oliveira, is also booked for the April 13 mega-event against Arman Tsarukyan.

But according to Cormier, Poirier is “1000 percent a win-win situation for the UFC.”

“Because if Dustin Poirier wins, Dustin Poirier’s right back at the forefront of fighting by beating one of the more dominant champions. And if he loses, now you’re got a champion who just put two title defenses over Alexander Volkanovski in front of a win over Dustin Poirier, with Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan waiting in the wings, or Justin Gaethe if he can get past Holloway.

“Think of the run Makhachev could have if he’s able to put all these fights behind each other.”

Cormier said Makhachev’s diss of Cormier works perfectly as the spark for a pre-fight promotion cycle.

“I would steer into that if I’m the champion,” he said. “I would try to become the evil empire. I would try to become the villain. ‘The Rock’ right now is doing it in the WWE. That’s essentially what every one of these champions is when they work their way to the top. You’re the guy they have to get through in order to reach a goal they’ve dreamed of their entire lives.

“Islam needs to tell Dustin, ‘You’re never going to do it. You don’t belong on my level. You got here because there was no one else.’ That would make the people where he would fight hate him. That would make people run to support Dustin Poirier. But that would also make people care more. … And ultimately, that’s what’s important – nothing else.”

Check out the full video below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

When asked about the greatest of all time, UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hesitate to answer.  He said, ‘Jon Jones.’  In an interview with Lex Fridman, White discussed what made Jones the UFC GOAT, and why there’s no doubt about it.  

“He’s never been beat.  He destroyed everybody at light heavyweight which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport.  Then he moved up to heavyweight.  He won easily at heavyweight,” White said.  “There’s no debate.  Nobody can debate who’s the greatest of all time.  It’s absolutely, positively Jon Jones.  He’s never lost.  He’s never been beat in the octagon.”

Jones became the youngest UFC champion at the age of 23.  He defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 in March 2011 to win the 205-pound championship at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.  All of his fights after that have been championship bouts.  

Jones was stripped of the title three separate times during his light heavyweight dominance.  The first time was in 2015 after defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 182.  Jones was forced to vacate the championship after violating the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy for being involved in a hit and run incident that caused injury.  

Jones won the interim light heavyweight title in his return fight against Ovince Saint Preux but was stripped of that belt after testing positive to banned substances.  Fifteen months later he was facing Cormier in a rematch at UFC 214.  Jones knocked Cormier out to win back the title but the result was later changed to a no contest when Jones again tested positive for a banned substance.  

Jones won the belt in his first fight back from suspension and defended it three more times before vacating the division.  Overall, Jones successfully defended the light heavyweight title eleven times.

Jones took a three-year hiatus from fighting from 2020 to 2023.  He returned as a heavyweight and won the championship in his heavyweight debut.  Jones made quick work of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 to capture his second divisional title.  He’s slated to take on former two-time champion Stipe Miocic later this year.    

White said that Jones had ‘never been beaten’ and ‘he never lost,’ but that’s exactly true.  Jones was disqualified for illegal elbows in a fight against Matt Hamill in 2009.  Jones was likely seconds away from a finish and was winning, but rules are rules.  It’s true that Jones hasn’t been beaten by another fighter.  His loss was essentially to himself, but it’s still a loss.

Related: Maycee Barber spent nine days in the hospital following UFC 299 win

Whether you consider Jones unbeaten or not doesn’t really matter.  There are other variables to consider and White believes longevity is one of them.  

“The other thing that you have to factor in too is longevity,” said White.  “Sometimes, with a lot of these guys, the sport passes them by.  Younger guys that are faster, this, that, and the sport evolves.  Nobody’s been able to beat Jon Jones.

“The other thing that you measure, when you said dominance, it’s true.  If you’re this guy that has unbelievable power and you’re just f**king knocking everybody out and nobody’s ever pulled you into the deep water before.  That was when my opinion of Jon Jones started to change,” White continued.  

“[Alexander] Gustafsson took him into the deep water.  Gustafsson hit him with some sh*t that he had never been hit with.  Gustafsson tested him and put Jon Jones in a place where I bet if you sat down and interviewed Jon Jones, going into the deep rounds of that Jon Jones thought he was going to die.  And he kept going.  He was willing to do whatever it took to win that fight… It’s undeniable.  You can hate all you want.  Jon Jones is the greatest of all time.”

Do you agree with White?

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