Jose Aldo has stirred an already volatile pot ahead of his upcoming bout with Conor McGregor at UFC 194, letting the world know he’s been drug tested and taking a shot at the Irishman in the process.
Aldo posted the following on his Instagram account on Wednesday after he was randomly tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency at his base in Rio de Janeiro:
Here's the accompanying message that was included, per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com: "Hey, Irish sucker! Have you already done your drug test or they don't have it in Ireland? I DID IT TODAY! I wanna do it again next week! How about you? Are you ready for it, you punk?!?"
The pair are scheduled to meet in the Octagon on December 12 in Las Vegas, and it’d be fair to say there’s absolutely no love lost between them. Accusations about performance-enhancing drugs have been one of the key subplots to the constant barbs traded between the duo.
Back in March, Aldo hit back at accusations from McGregor that Brazilian fighters were using banned substances, claiming the Irishman was breaching doping rules himself.
Aldo was also involved in a controversial instance when Drug Free Sport director Ben Mosier took a urine sample from the Brazilian earlier this year. Problems with Mosier’s visa meant it had to eventually be discarded, but Aldo did take another test a day later that came back negative, per Cruz.
However, earlier this month, McGregor claimed Aldo’s “shady ass” doesn’t get tested in Brazil, per Cruz. You suspect it was that line that gave Aldo great delight in posting the aforementioned image and caption.
McGregor, inevitably, will respond to the most recent post from Aldo, but it’d be a major shame if these two remarkable fighters continued to sling accusations at one another regarding performance-enhancing drugs in the build-up to what is going to be a huge fight.
As we can see here, courtesy of UFC/MMA, it’s apparent that both men are desperate to get at each other, meaning we should be in for a treat later on this year:
The fact that this is the second round of pre-fight hype means the pair are likely to get even more personal when it comes to the verbal taunts. They were due to fight on July 11 after an ill-tempered promotional tour, but Aldo pulled out in the build-up to the bout with an injury problem.
McGregor went on to fight Chad Mendes and secure the UFC interim featherweight title. Here’s a look at the Irishman’s sensational finish in that fight, per BT Sport UFC:
After such an impressive display against Mendes, the fight with Aldo at UFC 194 is going to be even bigger than the one initially scheduled for July. McGregor has proven he can handle the pressure at the top level, but Aldo remains one of the most naturally gifted fighters in the sport and has the athleticism to cause McGregor problems.
It’s thoroughly entertaining watching the bravado go back and forth between the pair, but there’s always an uneasy feeling when accusations of doping are being bandied around. Hopefully, this emphatic statement from Aldo will ensure that kind of trash talk is shelved in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest evenings in the UFC’s history.
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