Jose Aldo retires from UFC, will fight in different combat sports
- According to reports, one of the greatest fighters.
- In the sport’s history is leaving mixed martial arts.
Jose Aldo and the UFC have come to an agreement that enables him to terminate his existing contract, which has one bout left in it.
He is apparently free to try his hand at other combat sports like boxing or grappling now that “Scarface” has been liberated by the organization.
The removal of Aldo’s name from the UFC roster and rankings earlier today appeared to confirm this. The decision was made soon after Aldo’s longtime coach, Andre Pederneiras, recommended he should think about retiring in a recent interview.
“I think Aldo has every chance to become champion at bantamweight and start a new title run,” Pederneiras told Combate. “Now, will there will be motivation to keep doing that? … I would tell him to quit. I think Aldo has already conquered so much. It’s not going to be that last fight that is going to take away the legacy he has built in the sport. My biggest fear is when an athlete arrives at this final stage of their career and an injury might mess them up for the rest of their life.”
An eighteen-year MMA career coming to an abrupt and fairly startling end. After winning his first professional match in August 2004, Jose Aldo was chosen by the WEC, where he soon rose to the position of featherweight champion. Aldo maintained his 145-pound title when the WEC and UFC merged, successfully defending it nine times between the two organizations.
In 2015, Aldo lost the featherweight championship to Conor McGregor, but he swiftly won it back by defeating Frankie Edgar for an interim belt that would later be elevated to the undisputed title. That reign would be considerably shortened when Max Holloway deposed him as champion in 2017.
That would spell the end of the contender ship for many fighters. However, Jose Aldo made the unexpected choice to drop to bantamweight, where he was able to compete with a fresh batch of sharks at the top of the division. Prior to beginning a three-bout winning streak, Aldo would lose to Petr Yan in a July 2020 fight for the 135-pound title.
After losing to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278, Aldo’s chances of winning another title shot and his desire to compete in the UFC seemed to be over. Many supporters had hoped that Aldo will call it quits at the forthcoming UFC 283 event in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like we’ll receive that resolution.
Aldo ends his MMA career with a 31-8 record.