Conor McGregor Wants To Fight In Brazil, Jose Aldo Makes History, UFC Champ Honors Aldo

By Dana Becker

- Needless to say, the last few years have been tough on former champion Jose Aldo. But the Brazilian showed that he remains one of the best fighters in the world with a finish of Renato Moicano for his second consecutive win at UFC Fight Night 144.

Aldo, who held the UFC featherweight title for several years before dropping it to Conor McGregor, holds the UFC/WEC record for his division in wins (18), stoppages (11) and knockouts (11).

"No one believed me," Aldo said. "But I knew you (the fans) would be by my side and the victory would be ours."

After testing the range of each other out in the first, Aldo went to work on Moicano in the second, peppering him with shot after shot. He connected with an uppercut that rocked the rising contender before finishing him and racing into the crowd to celebrate.

"I wanted to vary my shots," Aldo said. "Hit him high and low. He was a little taller, so I wanted to vary it."

- Max Holloway and Jose Aldo have shared the Octagon twice, with the reigning UFC featherweight champion scoring wins in both meetings. That didn't keep Holloway from showing Aldo his respect, though, after the Brazilian earned a win Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 144.

"Not just the king of Rio," Holloway wrote on Twitter. "King of Brazil. King of defending champs. Congrats Ze Aldo. Nothing but love for you my bratha."

Holloway earned a third round TKO over Aldo in 2017 at UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to unify the UFC featherweight titles. Later that year, he defended his belt with another third round TKO vs. Aldo at UFC 218 in Detroit.

- Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor took in the UFC's return to Brazil this weekend, watching like many others on ESPN+. McGregor posted on Twitter that he would "LOVE to compete" in Brazil for "all the passionate Brazilian fans."

During his pre-fight build with Jose Aldo, McGregor was very outspoken against the country. He was in attendance in 2014 for Aldo's fight with Chad Mendes.

"Notorious" did state that he was "so close to securing a bout in Rio last year. It was essentially a done deal." McGregor is expected to return to action later this year.

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