UFC great Jose Aldo retires from MMA after a glittering 18-year career
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UFC legend Jose Aldo retires from MMA after a stellar career in which he reigned as champion for five years… with former rivals Max Holloway and Alex Volkanovski paying tribute to the ‘featherweight GOAT’ on social media
- Jose Aldo held the UFC featherweight title for five years between 2010 and 2015.
- He has now decided to retire from MMA after a brilliant 18 year career
- Former enemies Max Holloway and Alex Volkanovski paid tribute to him
- Volkanovski has described him as the ‘featherweight GOAT’ on Twitter
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Brazilian great Jose Aldo has withdrawn from MMA after negotiations for an early release from his UFC contract.
His last fight came last month when he lost a unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278.
He was supposed to have another fight with the UFC, but he has decided to end his Octagon career now and walk away from the sport he has been blinded by for the past 18 years, with the UFC announcing the news on Sunday.
Jose Aldo has decided to retire after a brilliant 18 year career in the sport
He will probably be remembered as one of the best fighters the UFC has ever seen
The king of Rio calls it a career. Congratulations @JoseAldoJunior on a legendary run,” the UFC tweeted.
Aldo’s stellar career began in 2004 and he quickly became a dominant force in the featherweight division.
He was promoted to UFC champion in that weight class in November 2010 and went on to make seven successful defenses of his title.
His five-year reign came to a dramatic end when he was defeated in just 13 seconds by Conor McGregor in December 2015, which was only his second loss in 27 professional fights at the time.
Aldo would lose six of his next 12 fights, including consecutive defeats to Max Holloway in 2017.
Aldo held the UFC featherweight title for five years from 2010-2015, defending it seven times
He was also defeated in 2019 by current featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski and challenged for the vacant bantamweight title in 2020 but was stopped in the final round by Petr Yan.
The 36-year-old ends his career with a record of 31-8 and will likely be remembered as one of the best mixed martial artists the UFC has ever seen.
Former foes Holloway and Volkanovski have since paid tribute to Aldo after confirming his retirement.
Max Holloway greeted Aldo on Twitter, telling his former rival to ‘enjoy retirement’
Aldo has also been labeled the ‘featherweight goat’ by current champion Alex Volkanovski
Holloway tweeted: ‘The king of RIO! What a career brother! Enjoy your retirement brother. Eat me some açaí with cashew nuts and powdered milk.’
“I only wish the featherweight goat the best,” Volkanovski added.
Whether Aldo will renounce all martial arts for good remains to be seen. He has been linked with possibly trying boxing in the past, and this could be an option for him now that he has left the UFC.