Former champ Jose Aldo will go to court, talk sh*t if UFC refuses to release him - 'We don't want a war'

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight title that Conor McGregor earned with a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo back in Dec. 2015 will more than likely not be defended for an entire calendar year. That's because "Notorious" has been running the show ever since, taking back-to-back Welterweight fights against Nate Diaz and in less than two months a Lightweight match against division champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.

Now, it seems not even the interim division title is safe, as Aldo has doubled down on his desire to be released from his UFC contract. Indeed, perhaps company president White initially chalked it up to "heat of the moment" behavior or something else, but "Junior" is dead serious.

"I think Dana and the new owners have to understand that there's a completely unsatisfied employee who doesn't want to continue," said Andre Pederneiras, Aldo's long-time trainer, to MMAFighting.com. "I think it creates dissatisfaction, and he will want to go to court. He would have to go to court to cut this contract. And the damage a dissatisfied person, someone like Aldo, talking shit to everyone about a lot of things, I think the company wouldn't want a guy like this every day in the media talking trash.

"Since the guy doesn't want to do it, let him leave!" Pederneiras continued. "We don't want a war, we don't want a fight, we don't want to talk bad about anyone. We only want the right to say, 'I don't want to be here anymore. It's not about money, I don't want to be here anymore.'"

McGregor's insistence on preferring to not defend the Featherweight title, and UFC's money-hungry acquiescence, is a bitter pill to swallow for all 145-pound fighters on the roster, but particularly Aldo, who held the title since his defeat of Mike Brown under the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banner back in 2009. For the sake of perspective, McGregor at that same time was flittering around the relatively unknown Irish international circuit with a 4-1 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record.

Times have clearly changed, as UFC has opted to let McGregor steer his own maniacal ship because, well, he's a controversial trash-talking superstar who makes bank. Aldo, meanwhile, is a proud, decorated Brazilian veteran who has better things to do than sit on the sidelines and continue to get dicked around on the whim of the Irishman.