Jose Aldo took another tough loss by decision at UFC 315 on Saturday night, and the Hall of Famer called it a career—for the second time. Aiemann Zahabi handed the Brazilian legend a controversial unanimous decision loss, and a dejected Aldo took his gloves off and called it a career.
“I don’t want to go into war all the time and go through this,” Aldo said through an interpreter after the fight. “I just don’t have it in my heart anymore. I think this is the last time you’re going to see me. I can’t do this anymore.”
Here is a look at the post-fight interview.
Tributes poured in after Aldo’s announcement from his peers and others in the MMA community.
It was a tumultuous week for Aldo. He had a rough weight cut. The fight with Zahabi was supposed to be a bantamweight fight, but Aldo couldn’t get down to 136 pounds. Zahabi agreed to fight at featherweight to save the spot on the main card.
Despite the weight cut issues, Aldo, 38, looked strong through the first two rounds. Many believe he won the fight. Even in the third round, Aldo had Zahabi hurt and seemingly on the cusp of being stopped.
However, an exhausted Aldo wound up on his back for the final two minutes of the round, and he was absorbing nasty elbows from Zahabi. By the end of the round, Aldo was a bloody and swollen mess, hoping he’d done enough to get the decision.
Alas, he had not. Aldo had previously retired from MMA and pursued a career in boxing. He made a comeback and experienced some success.
However, with the loss to Zahabi, Aldo is now on a two-fight losing streak.
With Aldo likely doubting his ability to consistently make bantamweight, and having seemingly closed the door on 145-pound ventures, one of the greatest fighters in history is likely done for good.
For his career, Aldo finishes with a record of 32-10. He began his rise to prominence with the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, where he put together a perfect 8-0 record with seven finishes.
His UFC career began similarly.
Aldo won his first seven fights with the promotion and pushed himself to or near the top of the pound-for-pound list. Unfortunately, Aldo ran into Conor McGregor in the prime of his rise.
McGregor dismantled Aldo during the pre-fight lead-up and subsequently embarrassed him in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in 2015. That seems like 25 years ago considering everything that has happened with both men since that pivotal fight.
Including that loss to McGregor, Aldo’s MMA record is 7-9 over the past 10 years. That’s far beneath the pace Aldo set for himself when he was arguably the best fighter in the world.
Because Aldo has already been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, there isn’t another layer of recognizing his greatness. Still, expect many mixed martial artists to acknowledge him next week as this likely permanent retirement sets in.
Here is a look at all of the results from UFC 315.
UFC 315 Results
- Co-Main Event: Valentina Shevchenko defeats Manon Fiorot by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
- Aiemann Zahabi defeats José Aldo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Natalia Silva defeats Alexa Grasso by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Benoît Saint Denis defeats Kyle Prepolec by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:35 of Round 2
- Mike Malott defeats Charles Radtke by KO (strikes) at 0:26 of Round 2
- Jasmine Jasudavicius defeats Jessica Andrade by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:40 of Round 1
- Modestas Bukauskas (30-27, 29-28) defeats Ion Cutelaba by split decision (30-27)
- Navajo Stirling defeats Ivan Erslan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault defeats Bruno Silva by KO (elbow) at 1:27 of Round 1
- Daniel Santos defeats JeongYeong Lee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bekzat Almakhan defeats Brad Katona by KO (uppercut) at 1:04 of Round 1
