Retiring Jose Aldo made huge mark on MMA world

Early Sunday morning it was reported by Combate that former undisputed UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo was retiring from mixed martial arts at age 36, despite having one fight left on his contract.

Beginning in 2004, Aldo brought a combination of striking and speed to the cage, the likes of which had not been seen before. Aldo’s career began with a 10-1 run before signing with World Extreme Cage Fighting in June of 2008. Aldo continued his rise through MMA, challenging Mike Brown for the Featherweight title at WEC 44 in November 2009. Aldo defeated Brown by second round TKO to become champion at age 23. As WEC Featherweight Champion, Aldo made the first two of his nine career title defenses, claiming victories over UFC Hall of Famer Uriah Faber and Manny Gamburyan.

When the WEC merged with the UFC in 2010, the UFC then built the Featherweight division around Aldo, where the “King of Rio” was immediately crowned champion. Aldo made his UFC debut, as well as his first Featherweight title defense versus Mark Hominick in April 2011 at UFC 129. The first of 21 UFC fights for Aldo came versus Hominick by decision. Aldo made six more title defenses at Featherweight with victories over some of the UFC’s best including Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung, the “Korean Zombie.”

Aldo’s reign lasted a UFC record 2,037 days or 5 1/2 years. The most memorable moment of Aldo’s time a top the Featherweight division may have come in his last title defense in a rematch with Chad Mendes, in Rio De Janeiro, Aldo’s hometown, in October 2014 at UFC 179. After defeating Mendes by decision, Aldo ran out of the cage to celebrate with his fans and waded through the crowd.

Aldo’s Featherweight belt was ripped away from him in quick order at UFC 194 where he faced Conor McGregor. McGregor knocked Aldo out with just one punch in 13 seconds. After coming up short in two more title opportunities versus Max Holloway, Aldo made the move down to Bantamweight in 2019. After early struggles, Aldo revitalized his career and rattled off three consecutive wins versus Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font.

In August at UFC 278 as Aldo struggled to deal with the pressure of Merab Dvalishvili, despite being ranked the No. 6 Bantamweight in the world, the chance of a title shot for Aldo was likely gone. With that being said, Sunday’s retirement announcement came as a surprise to many. The assumption was that Aldo would fight one final time in Brazil at UFC 283 in January 2023. This was not the case as Aldo’s release was granted by the UFC, and Aldo ends his career as arguably the greatest Featherweight of all time and a lock to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Aldo’s chapter in the history books comes to a close with an overall record of 31-8. In his retirement from the UFC, Aldo expressed his wishes to pursue “Other potential opportunities in combat sports.” Whatever Aldo decides to do next; he will go down as one of the most iconic figures in combat sports.