Jose Aldo officially announced his retirement last week, closing the book on an 18-year career during which he compiled a 31-8 record, including a 13-7 in the UFC.
I think Aldo is the greatest featherweight champion in UFC history, having defended the title seven times from 2011-2014 against top contenders like Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, and Chang Sung Jung. Those seven defenses still stands as the division record. Despite no formal wrestling background, he routinely thwarted takedown attempts with celerity, and then used his excellent striking repertoire to outpoint his opponents.
Unfortunately, Aldo lost the belt in the most anticipated fight of his career when he was brutally knocked out by heated rival Conor McGregor. But that one loss shouldn’t tarnish the legacy of one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.
The thing is, Aldo didn’t let that loss define him. Instead, he demonstrated his resilience as a fighter and human being.
After losing to McGregor, Aldo won the interim title by beating Frankie Edgar in a rematch at UFC 200. He then lost back-to-back title fights to Max Holloway, which could have easily been another moment when Aldo decided to walk away from the sport.
Instead, he forged on by beating Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano before losing to current champion Alex Volkanovski. That prompted a drop in weight class to bantamweight, which was far from an enviable task as a fighter in his thirties. Most martial artists ascend weight classes as they age because their bodies can no longer endure the agonizing struggle involved in shedding those pounds. But Aldo moved down and remained just as competitive.
He lost a controversial decision to Marlon Moraes in his 135-pound debut before giving Petr Yan a competitive challenge for the title. After that he notched three consecutive wins over Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz, and Rob Font before losing his last fight to Merab Dvalishvili.
Looking at Aldo's resume, you'll notice that he always tested himself against the best champions and contenders. To consistently beat such a high caliber of opposition is one of many reasons why Aldo is considered one of the best to ever compete in MMA.
If you look at Aldo's career, it essentially breaks down into three phases: World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), UFC champion, and post-UFC champion. The phase I want to focus on is the first one because that was prime Aldo, when he was a devastating and marauding force.
In his WEC run from 2008-2010, Aldo went 8-0 with seven stoppages. Compare that to his run as UFC champion, which included only two stoppages out of seven title defenses, one of which resulted from Korean Zombie dislocating his shoulder.
In the WEC, Aldo was young, reckless, and uninhibited. He brutalized his opponents with ruthless leg kicks, knees, and punches, including the likes of Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, and Manny Gamburyan. Considering the UFC stints those fighters went on to have, that is an underrated run of victories.
Faber was the only one to go the distance with Aldo in the WEC, and his legs were pulverized like a birthday piñata in the process. Watching and hearing the sounds of those leg kicks will make anyone wince, and it's a testament to Faber's grit that he went the distance that night.
To all the MMA fans reading this, young and old, I leave you with the following highlight video to remember Aldo. It paints a visceral picture of the King of Rio at his most violent. And if you want to read more, check out this great piece by Shaun Al-Shatti.
I wish the best in retirement to a legend of the sport.