Former two-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo is rooting for Conor McGregor despite their old rivalry. The Irishman will finally make his impending return at UFC 303 to take on his TUF 31 adversary, Michael Chandler. Reflecting on this UFC 303 bout, Aldo gave a warning to McGregor while sharing some words of praise.

Conor McGregor has started his training camp for the June 29 fight. On the other hand, Michael Chandler’s been training even before ‘The Notorious’, who was busy with his outside-the-Octagon business ventures. Regardless, Jose Aldo has little to no doubt that McGregor can beat the former Bellator champion, but he has to watch out for one particular thing.

Jose Aldo advises Conor McGregor to wrap up quickly against Michael Chandler

Jose Aldo has no bad blood with his former rival. He mentioned that the reason he was backing Conor McGregor to secure the victory was because he had lost to the Irishman. Aldo believes that in his whole career, he’s lost only to the fighters who are arguably better than him, and who’ve also become champions.

“I have great expectations from that fight and I always say, I always root for the guys who I’ve fought and the guys have beaten me because, you know, that just proves that I lost to the best and I lost to champions,” Aldo told ‘MMA Junkie‘.

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Coming back to the fight, ‘Junior’ has cautioned his former rival not to try to go to the distance in the fight. Besides, Conor McGregor has been able to do well mostly in the early rounds, and Jose Aldo wants him to go for the finish against Michael Chandler. “I hope that he can go in there and be the Conor of old and be aggressive, and go in there to finish the fight, and not leave it to the judges. I expect great things from that fight,” the former 2-time UFC champion added.

This is not the first time the pair has shown support for each other. McGregor has, on several occasions given shoutouts to Aldo. By Aldo’s own admission, McGregor has also sent him gifts a few times. As happens with a lot of rivals, Aldo and McGregor now share a cordial bond, and will always remain an integral part of each other’s careers. Now, they are both approaching similar milestones together.

Although people are talking about the return of Conor McGregor, it is important to note that Aldo will be fighting out his contract on May 4th at UFC 301. Let’s have a look at that front,

Aldo will compete in his last fight at UFC 301, according to his UFC contract

After spending more than a decade in Dana White‘s promotion, Jose Aldo’s time may be coming to an end. The fight against Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 will be the last fight on his current UFC contract. Aldo last fought in 2022 but then went on to compete in three boxing matches.

Regardless, Jose Aldo returned to fulfill his contractual obligations in the promotion where he made his name in the MMA world. Mentioning that the outcome of the UFC 301 will determine his future, ‘Junior’ added, “That’s basically what I told the UFC a couple months ago: I want to do this fight, see where I’m at, see how I do, see how I perform and then I can make a decision.” 

While Jose Aldo would be competing in his last fight, his former rival Conor McGregor has just two more fights left in his contract, including the UFC 303 outing. Their upcoming fights will decide how both these superstars choose to go forward in their careers. Will they re-sign with the UFC, or chase bigger purses outside TKO? Let us know in the comments.