Jose Aldo not interested in ‘humiliating circus fights’ with YouTubers

Don’t expect Jose Aldo to entertain any fights against “celebrities,” YouTube or otherwise.

The former Featherweight kingpin and current Bantamweight contender discussed the recent trend of freak show boxing fights, and while he’s not going to judge anyone for taking them, it certainly isn’t his bag.

“I respect everyone for doing these fights, especially when you’re in the end [of your career],” Aldo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “[When you’re] in the end, I think it’s worth making as much money as possible because, in general, they didn’t manage well their careers, so they are going down that path, and thank God this door has opened for them and they are making good money.

“But Aldo, no. To me, that doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t get inside my head,” he continued. “I have always fought for a legacy, I’ve always fought to make history and have my story told, and have people say in 10, 20, 30 years from now, ‘Aldo was the greatest featherweight champion and went down to bantamweight and became champion as well.’ No money can buy that. To me, my legacy is worth way more than money.”

There appeared to be a time at one point that Aldo was looking to get out of UFC and into boxing. But, now that he’s found new goals and purpose at 135 pounds, “Scarface” sounds more committed to his current promotion than ever.

“I make money in my fights since I got in the sport and I’ve always planned to, when I stop and retire tomorrow, I don’t have to do those things, which, to me, are humiliating,” he said. “For everything I’ve learned in martial arts, everything I’ve done, to sell myself for money … no, I’m a legacy guy. I want to be in the UFC. When I’m done fighting, I want it to be in the UFC. I want to be in the Hall of Fame. I want to see my story told in the world’s biggest organization, not in one of these circuses. If it’s a [money fight] in the UFC, cool, I’ll do it. Outside of it, I wouldn’t.”

Aldo mentioned the example of Dustin Poirier fighting Conor McGregor again instead of competing for the title, and also the possibility of a Poirer vs. Nate Diaz bout.

“To me, it makes sense, just like it would for me to be in a super fight against whoever,” he said. “But to fight a YouTuber who spends his entire day selling content that has nothing to do with martial arts, I can’t wrap my head around that. I respect that, but it doesn’t have my attention.”

As for what Aldo is looking at for himself next, he called out T.J. Dillashaw following his big win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265. But, between Dillashaw’s knee injury and desire to fight for the title in his next fight, that may not go down. Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot of super fights at 135 pounds right now, although anyone in the Top 10 would be a super fight for the hardcore fans.