It appears that MMA legend Jose Aldo has closed the book on his career after 18 years of excellence.
First reported by Combate, Jose Aldo’s team has negotiated his release from the UFC with one fight remaining on his contract. The promotion granted the release making Aldo free to pursue other avenues which may include a venture into the world of professional boxing.
The release comes just one month removed from his most recent outing, a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. That loss snapped a three-fight win streak that saw ‘Junior’ score victories over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, Pedro Munhoz, and Rob Font. At the time of his retirement, Aldo was the No. 6 ranked bantamweight in the UFC and is widely regarded as the greatest featherweight competitor in the history of mixed martial arts.
Finishing his career with a record of 31-8-0, Jose Aldo won 25 of his first 26 bouts, going on an incredible undefeated streak for more than 10 years. That streak would come to an end in a flash when Conor McGregor knocked him out just seconds into their UFC 194 bout. Since the loss to McGregor, Aldo had gone 6-6.
Happy Retirement to one of the best to ever do it. Arguably the greatest featherweight of all time (7 successful title def). Your resume speaks for itself. It has been a pleasure to watch you do battle sir. Won't be the same without you. #respect #ufc #mmatwitter @josealdojunior pic.twitter.com/5Ym7IQGRxP
— Mike R (@mitchards40) September 18, 2022
Jose Aldo Brought Fans Nearly Two Decades of Excellence
Signing with World Extreme Cagefighting in 2008, Aldo earned five-straight victories on his way to a featherweight title opportunity against Mike Brown. ‘Junio’ scored a second-round TKO to capture WEC gold at just 23 years old. Aldo famously defended his title in the main event of WEC 48, the promotion’s first pay-per-view event, against Urijah Faber. Shortly after, the WEC was absorbed by the UFC, and Aldo was promoted to inaugural UFC featherweight world champion. He successfully defended the title seven consecutive times under the UFC banner before being unseated by McGregor in 2015.
In 2019, Jose Aldo dropped to the bantamweight division where he was immediately booked in a title fight for the vacant bantamweight championship against Petr Yan. Aldo would go on to lose the bout via fifth-round TKO.
In more than 18 years of competition, Jose Aldo has earned notable wins over MMA icons including Cub Swanson, Manny Gamburyan, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, The Korean Zombie, and Jeremy Stephens.
