Jose Aldo is scheduled to compete in his third professional boxing match on July 2.
In August 2022, Aldo lost a unanimous decision in an MMA fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. Shortly after suffering the loss, the former UFC champion decided to retire from MMA. With that said, he wasn’t done fighting, leading to his transition to professional boxing.
On February 10, the Brazilian legend made his professional boxing debut against Emmanuel Zambrano at a Shooto Brazil Boxing event. Aldo started his new venture with success, securing a unanimous decision win in the six-round bout.
Two months later, Aldo returned for his second boxing match. The 36-year-old was added to the Gamebred Boxing 4 event, which featured Roy Jones Jr. vs. Anthony Pettis in the main event. ‘Junior’ was tested in a six-round war against former UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens. Once the fight was over, both fighters had their hands raised as the fight was ruled a majority draw.
Aldo felt like he deserved to get the win against Stephens. Although the former UFC champion didn’t suffer a loss, he had his momentum halted, which was building toward a potential exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. ‘Junior’ now looks to get back on track at the beginning of next month.
Shooto Boxing president Andre Pederneiras confirms Jose Aldo will fight on July 2
Jose Aldo decided to return to the Shooto Boxing promotion for his third professional boxing match. The MMA legend has been matched up against Esteban Gabriel Espindola, who holds a record of 0-1-1, according to BoxRec. The promotion’s president, Andre Pederneiras, officially announced the bout with an Instagram post, which was roughly translated from Spanish:
“GUYS, MMA AND BOXING LOVERS, DAY 30/6 HAS SHOOTO BRASIL 118 , by BINGO EM CASA AND DAY 2/7 HAS SHOOTO BOXING, WITH THE RETURN OF NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, JOSE ALDO JR., THE GREAT CHAMPION WILL BE ON BACK TO UPPER ARENA, TO PLAY HIS THIRD FIGHT IN PROFESSIONAL BOXING, DON’T MISS IT, TICKETS ON SALE AT UPPER ACADEMY, TEL: 2553-3485 !!”
The July 2 event also features a pair of UFC veterans in the co-main event, as Hernani Perpetuo has been matched up against Leonardo ‘Leleco’ Guimaraes. Both fighters went 0-2 in the UFC before parting ways with the promotion.
