Jose Aldo Says He Is Rethinking Decision to Retire from MMA

It looked like MMA fighter Jose Aldo was retiring from the Octagon in September, when he made public his dissatisfaction with the UFC for not giving him a rematch with Conor McGregor.

But on Friday night, Aldo tweeted out that he is rethinking retirement:

Bloody Elbow's Lucas Rezende provided the translation: "I've been rethinking my retirement from MMA. I talked to my family, and, after seeing all the requests from my fans, there will be some good stuff coming for you guys. Thanks Russia."

Aldo, who is 26-2 over his career, most recently defeated Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July to become the interim featherweight champion. It was his first fight since his loss to McGregor via first-round knockout at UFC 194 in December.

After his victory over Edgar, Aldo was expecting a rematch with McGregor at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, but Notorious will take on Eddie Alvarez at 155 pounds instead. The bout will take place less than three months after McGregor's UFC 202 win over Nate Diaz at 170 pounds in August.

That didn't sit well with Aldo, who spoke with Ana Hissa and Evelyn Rodrigues of Brazilian website Combate on Sept. 27 (via Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting):

"

We waited until [UFC President Dana White] publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I’d get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I’d have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana [White] said all the time that Conor couldn’t keep both belts. But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly having two belts at the same time.

"

He then went after White, saying that he "can’t trust any word" the president says and was looking to leave the UFC:

"

Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn’t return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore.

"

On Wednesday, Aldo met with White and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby at promotional headquarters in Las Vegas and told ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto that things went well. However, he added that he is still wary of trusting White. 

If the two can bury the hatchet and Aldo gets a bout that he wants, such as a meeting with McGregor, then Junior could be back into the Octagon to resume his stellar career. 

Stats courtesy of UFC.com.