Jose Aldo suggested that he was likely going to retire after his decision loss to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 just over a week ago, and now the 38-year-old has confirmed that he’s decided to hang up his gloves for good.
“No, I don’t see myself fighting,” Aldo said at a press conference this past weekend in Brazil. “When I went back [to the UFC in 2024], it wasn’t for money, it was for a purpose I had, a calling. I tried doing it and it didn’t work. I gave my all and was happy with everything I’ve achieved. There’s no fight that would make me come back. To put the gi, to spar, or do anything, only in five years. Thank God I’ll be almost 50 in five years, so there’s no possibility of fighting, there’s no calling.”
Aldo had initially retired specifically from MMA back in 2022 after a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC ended a three-fight winning streak and dashed his hopes of getting another bantamweight title shot.
The former featherweight champ had an ambition at the time to pursue a long-time interest desire t compete in the boxing ring, and in early 2023 he won an exhibition bout on the scorecards.
A few months later he made his pro-boxing debut against a familiar foe in Jeremy Stephens, who he had previously TKO’d in an MMA fight when they were both signed to the UFC. However, in a surprise outcome, Stephens took Aldo to a majority draw verdict.
That may have thrown a spanner in the works with regards to Aldo landing higher profile match-ups in the ring, and though he went on to win by unanimous decision in his next bout against an unheralded opponent, he didn’t step into the square circle again after that.
Instead, almost a year later he made a surprise return to the UFC and began his comeback brightly with a decision win over Jonathan Martinez, who was on a six-fight winning streak at the time. However, a split-decision loss to Mario Bautista followed by an unexpected loss to Zahabi earlier this month has now convinced him that it’s time to accept that his fighting days are over.
“No, I have another purpose in life, another path,” Aldo said when asked if any offer could tempt him to return. “Offer me any fight, wherever it is, I don’t want to. I don’t see myself fighting anymore, or training, or doing anything like that. Of course, I do see myself training here to help my friends. I know how hard that is, so if I can help in any way with the experience I have, I will help with all my heart. But to specifically put a gi or anything like that to fight, never again.”
While the latter stages of his career didn’t pan out how he’d hoped, Aldo still retires as a true legend of the sport, having been a former WEC featherweight champion, who went on to become the UFC’s inaugural king of that division and successfully defended his belt seven times, as well as also winning the interim title agai.
Along the way ‘The King Of Rio’ defeated the likes of Frankie Edgar (x2), Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes (x2), The Korean Zombie and many more, and retires with an overall record of 32-10.
