MMA veteran and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo recently suffered a loss to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 and has decided to walk away from combat sports.
This isn’t the first time the fighter has hung up his gloves; however, it seems this might be the last, as the fighter is convinced he wants nothing to do with the cage anymore. In a statement issued after his fight in Montreal, Aldo said, “This may have been my last time inside the octagon.” The fighter revealed this in a press conference at Nova Uniao’s training center. He disclosed that his reason for finally letting go is due to his previous performance in the octagon.
“No, I don’t see myself fighting,” Aldo said. “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 on, 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.”
His first retirement was in 2022 after a three-fight winning streak. After his time in the cage, Aldo decided to try his hand at boxing, where he won two matches and drew with Jeremy Stephens. The fighter decided to make a comeback to the octagon, but things didn’t pan out as he wanted.
“No, I have another purpose in life, another path,” Aldo said. “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 on or anything like that to fight—never again.”
Aldo once ruled the featherweight division and was considered to be an unstoppable force in the weight class. Following his domineering performance in the octagon, the Brazilian icon entered the UFC Hall of Fame but decided to make a comeback as a bantamweight towards the end of his career.
The fighter has proven to be a formidable foe despite his days of dominance being in the past. Aldo leaves the sport with a record of 32-10 and a long list of notable victims—from Frankie Edgar to Urijah Faber to Chad Mendes to Mike Brown to Cub Swanson—and will now focus on being present at home with his wife and two kids.
