“When I lost to Conor, he should have rematched me right away,” Aldo told mmafighting.com. “Like I've always said and done, the champion is the guy who defends the belt against all challengers.

“Guys who run from title defences are not champions. All Conor did was he beat the champion. But he never did what he had to do to become the champion. He's never been the champion of the featherweight division.”

Aldo won an interim featherweight title fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC200 and was promoted back to featherweight champ after McGregor was stripped of his belt last month - having not defending it since December 2015.

“When they gave me Frankie Edgar, I knew that belt wasn't going to remain the interim belt,” he said. “I knew Conor wasn't coming back; everyone knew he wasn't coming back.

“That's the real belt. I'm the one that has defended this belt. I've been the king of this division for a long time. I've never not seen myself as a champion. I lost a fight. That's it.”

The pair could yet clash at lightweight, where McGregor is the world title holder, with reports that Aldo is considering a move up to the 155-pounds weight class.

Wherever they meet, it is clear Aldo is no fan of the Irishman: “He's two-faced. He says a lot of stuff to the press, but behind-the-scenes, he turns down fights left and right. He picks opponents, he picks events.

“He's not willing to face challengers the way a champion should be ready to face challengers.”