Wednesday 28 September 2016 15:33, UK
Interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo has asked to be released from UFC after being passed over for a rematch with Conor McGregor.
UFC president Dana White announced on Monday night that McGregor would instead challenge lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden on November 12.
It will be McGregor's third consecutive contest outside the 145-lbs division after his two bouts with Nate Diaz and means he will not fight at featherweight in 2016.
McGregor's last featherweight fight was his spectacular 13-second knockout of long-time champion Aldo in December 2015 to win the title.
The Brazilian rebounded with a victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July to win the interim title but he has not yet been granted the rematch he was promised after winning that fight and he is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the company.
"I heard about everything that happened through my coach [Andre Pederneiras]," Aldo told Brazilian website Combate. "He had spoken with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby on Saturday and Sean still had no answer about anything, and asked if I could fight on November 12.
"My coach said that if it would be Conor, yes, and then Sean asked him if I would fight Max Holloway or Anthony Pettis. 'Dede' [Pederneiras] said that for those I'd rather do a full camp and it could be on December 10.
"We waited until Dana publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I'd get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I'd have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana [White] said all the time that Conor couldn't keep both belts.
"But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly have two belts at the same time.
"I understand that he sells a lot, but it gets to a limit when it's no longer a sport, it becomes a circus."
White said after UFC 202 in August when McGregor defeated Diaz that the Irishman would have to either defend his featherweight title next or give up his belt.
McGregor did not want to do either, instead campaigning for the opportunity to become the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.
White says McGregor will be forced to give up one of the belts immediately after the Alvarez fight but Aldo is annoyed with how events have played out in his arch rival's favour and does want to be part of the organisation.
"Conor himself said before that he wouldn't give his belt away by any chance and nobody would take it away from him," Aldo said.
"The biggest proof that who's in charge in the UFC now is Conor is that when I wanted to move up to fight Pettis, they said I'd have to vacate my belt and try this fight with no title whatsoever. But with him, they let him move up to the division above without losing his belt, and also let him do any fight he wants.
"Since I'm not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC.
"When they offered me a fight with Frankie Edgar, Dana said that the winner would challenge McGregor or win the linear title, that he would lose his belt if he didn't return to the featherweight division after his rematch with Nate Diaz. After being fooled so many times, I don't feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore."
