Jose Aldo says Conor McGregor should return at 155: 'The division is wide open again'

The Dubliner's old featherweight rival says lightweight has stalled since Ilia Topuria lost to Justin Gaethje, and called McGregor's knee injury against Max Holloway "sad".

Jose Aldo thinks Conor McGregor should come back at lightweight, not welterweight, and says one win over a name at 155 pounds would open the division up again.

"I think first he needs to go through some dietary re-education to see if he can get back down and be lighter again," Aldo told MMA Fighting. "I think, in my opinion, he has the frame for 155, so it would be good. And I'll tell you this: today, if Conor fights at 155 and beats a name [that isn't necessarily at the top], the division is wide open again."

"To me, the division has kind of stalled there," he said. "Ilia [Topuria] moved up and lost to [Justin] Gaethje, so it's a bit of a mess there, and anyone can come in and snatch the title." Gaethje stopped Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June and has since said Topuria is too small for lightweight.

McGregor has not fought at lightweight since 2021, when he lost twice to Dustin Poirier. He broke his leg in the third of their fights, at UFC 264 in July 2021. His comeback, five years later, was at welterweight against Max Holloway at UFC 329 in July, and it lasted 69 seconds: he injured his right knee attempting a kick and Holloway won. The Dubliner had knee surgery in August and said: "Surgery went excellent. I am confident."

Before the injury, McGregor's coach John Kavanagh had said that "170 is a comfortable cut for him now and he's got the frame for it." Aldo is not sure what size McGregor will be when he returns. "His frame has also gotten much bigger, he's gained a lot of weight and muscle mass, so we don't know what he's going to be like when he comes back," he said.

Aldo, whom McGregor knocked out in 13 seconds for the featherweight title in 2015, called the end of the Holloway rematch "sad". "Everyone waited for him to come back, and then he comes back, you have that fight week, everyone is excited, millions and millions of people [tuning in], and then when the time comes, that happens," he said. "I hope he can come back, recover, and return to the octagon."

READ NEXTTwelve years since Conor McGregor stopped Dustin Poirier, the first of their three fightsRead the next story →

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