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Looking Back on Three-Division Legend’s Career

Originally posted on MMA Sucka | By Drew Zuhosky | Last updated May 12, 2025 7:44 PM ET

Jose Aldo has had a long, storied run in the sport of MMA. His time in the world of combat sports has spanned nearly 21 years time. When Aldo was just the tender age of 17, his time in competitive violence began at 145 lbs.

On Aug. 10, 2004, Jose Aldo made the walk to the cage for the very first time. That Tuesday night turned out to be a productive night at work for “Junior” in his native Brazil.

Squaring off against Mario Bigola, Aldo finished him in only a matter of seconds by way of a head kick. This was only the start of his eventual hall of fame career.

Jose Aldo: The Early Years

In the aftermath of his first-round stoppage versus Bigola, Aldo next turned his attention to a contest that October versus Hudson Rocha during Shooto Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

Although the fight lasted longer than his professional MMA debut, the end result was the same for him, with Aldo scoring a first-round stoppage, this one coming by way of TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage to run his record to 2-0. First-round knockouts would become habitual for him in the early days of his MMA career.

By the time that his record was 7-0, Jose Aldo had finished all of his opponents before the horn blared to end the first round.

Aldo Tastes Defeat for First Time, But Bounces Back

For Jose Aldo’s eighth professional appearance in MMA, he advanced to the 155-lb division, where he drew Luciano Azevedo in Jungle Fight 5, entering uncharted territory by going to the second round of a fight. This would prove to be an unsuccessful effort for him, getting submitted by way of a rear-naked choke.

He recovered quite nicely from sustaining the submission defeat, scoring victories in his next two fights after re-entering the featherweight ranks and capturing the attention of Japan’s Pancrase. From there, the 9-1 Aldo bested Shoji Maruyama (unanimous decision) in Pancrase 179 in Tokyo.

WEC Comes Calling for Jose Aldo, en Route to Championship

In June of 2008, Aldo joined the active roster of the late WEC, fighting Alexandre Franca Nogueira in his promotional debut. Much like his early MMA days, a finish would follow. He’d stop Nogueira in the second round of the fight.

Jose Aldo found himself on another hot streak in MMA, as by November of the next year, he’d claim the WEC Featherweight Championship by way of a second-round finish against Mike Brown, defending his title twice over, including a unanimous decision win over Urijah Faber. Upon the WEC ceasing operations in 2010, Aldo was elevated to the same championship in the UFC.

While in MMA’s No. 1 promotion in the world, he’d defend the 145-lb division’s strap seven times in succession before meeting “The Notorious” Conor McGregor in UFC 194 on Dec. 12, 2015. In the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of that year, McGregor unseated Aldo with a single punch in the opening round.

Jose Aldo Returns to Top of Mountain, Albeit Briefly

This marked Jose Aldo’s first loss in MMA in slightly over 10 years, but like he did following his defeat to Azevedo, he’d quickly return to the win column. During the landmark UFC 200 in July of 2016, he’d score the interim featherweight championship by way of a unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar.

Subsequent to the win, in light of McGregor never making an effort to defend the championship and moving to 155, Aldo was elevated to the permanent title at 145 again, but he’d lose it in his first defense to Max Holloway.

A rematch versus Holloway was booked for Dec. 2, 2017 in Detroit at UFC 218, with the latter going 2-for-2 in title fights against Aldo via third-round TKO. He’d stop Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano, respectively, by TKO in his next two fights before moving down to 135 in late 2019.

Jose Aldo’s Last Championship Bid and Last Winning Streak

Midway through a three-fight losing streak, Aldo challenged Petr Yan for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. This fight at UFC 251 was notable in that it was the first card in a month-long stay on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

This would prove to be his final bout for a championship belt, ending in defeat to Yan by fifth-round TKO, but he’d reel off three unanimous decision wins in succession between December of 2020 and December of 2021.

The final win in that stretch was Jose Aldo’s last UFC main event of the evening, beating Rob Font after 25 minutes of action. Following that contest, he’d go onto post a record of 1-3 in his last four fights, including a short-lived retirement from the UFC after his Aug. 20, 2022 contest versus Merab Dvalishvili. Upon going 1-0-1 in boxing, he’d come back to MMA in May of 2024, scoring a unanimous decision win over Jonathan Martinez in Rio de Janeiro during UFC 301.

11th-Hour Switch to Featherweight in Final Fight

On the night of May 10, 2025, Jose Aldo fought Aiemann Zahabi in UFC 315 in Montreal. Initially, this fight was to have happened at featherweight, but the day prior to the show, the UFC revealed that the tilt would be shifted to the featherweight ranks at the official weigh-ins.

In the run-up to the bout, Aldo had difficulties getting down to the bantamweight nontitle maximum of 136 lbs, weighing-in at 143 on the morning prior to the show, with Zahabi coming in at 142 lbs. The latter scored a unanimous decision victory and after the fight, Aldo removed his gloves, indicative of his second retirement from the sport.

“I don’t think I have it in me anymore,” Jose Aldo told the crowd at Bell Centre, through his interpreter in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “This was a tough week. It wasn’t just about the cutting of the weight and everything else, I just felt that there were so many things that happened. It was very tough to go through all this. There was one point this week, this was a very tough week, that I felt that I didn’t have it in me. I didn’t want to cut it anymore. My body said no, and I just don’t think I have it anymore.”