Jose Aldo is plotting a return to the Sweet Science following his UFC 301 clash against Jonathan Martinez.
Aldo (31-8) announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in September 2022 and has since competed twice in boxing. “Junior” fought fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Jeremy Stephens to a majority draw in April 2023 before scoring his first boxing win against Esteban Gabriel Espindola via unanimous decision in July.
It was recently announced that Aldo will be coming out of retirement to take on the surging Martinez (19-4) in a bantamweight tilt at UFC 301 on May 4. While speculations were already floating, Aldo confirmed that the bout in front of his home crowd of Rio de Janeiro is the last one on his UFC contract. The former UFC and World Extreme Cagefighintg featherweight champ is subsequently eyeing a return to pugilism and has already informed the UFC of it.
“That’s basically what I told the UFC a few months ago. I want to do this fight, see where I’m at, see how I do, see how I perform and then I can make a decision,” Aldo told MMA Junkie. “I’m looking at maybe a big boxing fight somewhere down the line this year. But we’ll revisit that with the UFC once that fight is done with Jonathan Martinez.”
Aldo hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision loss against Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022, which snapped a three-fight winning streak. Meanwhile, Martinez is riding a six-fight winning streak and is coming off a technical knockout win over Adrian Yanez via leg kicks; his second victory via the same technique. A master of leg kicks himself, Aldo isn’t shy to trade blow for blow.
“He’s a very tough opponent and I think he has two wins by leg kicks, but I’m a specialist at what I do and you’re always going to face people that do that same thing that you do. But that’s what I’m known for, my leg kicks. And I’m really prepared to go in there and do my best and do what I train to do.”
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