Dana White Explains Why Jose Aldo Didn't Face off with Conor McGregor

The UFC appeared to botch a golden opportunity to have Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo face off after the Irishman's victory over Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 Sunday night.

But UFC President Dana White would later explain to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani why the two future adversaries did not engage in a staredown inside the cage.

"He is superstitious," White said. "He will not set foot in the Octagon unless it's a fight. ... I just wanted to clarify that, too, because it looked kinda weird—nobody told Joe. He only goes in the Octagon for a fight."

Indeed, it did appear weird considering UFC commentator Joe Rogan had called for Aldo to step into the cage to square off against McGregor during the Irishman's post-fight interview. Those plans would be nixed on the fly, and instead, we had Aldo speaking through an interpreter following McGregor's interview.

Despite the fact that the photo-op of a Aldo-McGregor staredown didn't happen, fans still were able to see one of heck of an image immediately after the fight.

Following a dominant TKO win over the outmatched Siver, McGregor hopped over the cage and went straight toward Aldo. The image of McGregor screaming into Aldo's face while being restrained by security with Aldo simply laughing figures to be shown numerous times in the lead-up to their clash, which, according to White, has yet to be scheduled.

The fight has the potential to be one of the biggest the UFC has put on given the following McGregor has. In a short amount of time, the Irishman has gone from touted prospect to UFC megastar. It’s pretty telling that McGregor main evented a card in just his third UFC appearance.

Meanwhile, Aldo is the reigning champion and hasn’t lost since 2005. He was recently pushed to the limit by Chad Mendes in their epic UFC 179 fight, a fight that will surely be on anyone’s short list for Fight of the Year.