“The place was going nuts”- Dana White chooses THIS MOMENT as his favourite Jose Aldo memory

“The place was going nuts”- Dana White chooses THIS MOMENT as his favourite Jose Aldo memory

Jose Aldo (L) with Dana White (R)

The king of Rio, Jose Aldo “Junior” has retired. Considered one of, if not the greatest featherweight ever to live, the Brazilian hung up his gloves with a 31-8 record.

Jose Aldo is one of the most lithe and wispy fighters to have ever showcased his skill inside the octagon. However, what really defines his legacy is him not giving into the Conor McGregor loss, coming back and regaining the featherweight title almost instantly.

Now, Dana White has had his say on which display of the Brazilian legend is his favourite. Speaking to the press in the aftermath of the DWCS episode on Tuesday, he said, “I think the fight was in Rio when he jumped out of the octagon and jumped into the crows, and the crowd was carrying him around, and the place was going nuts. It’s one of my favourite Jose Aldo moments.“

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The moment described by White is when Jose Aldo managed to TKO Chad Mendes at 4:59 of the 1st Round in 2012, thereby defending his title. Jose Aldo would meet Chad Mendes again in 2014; this time, he would win by decision.

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An up and down run at Bantamweight prompted Jose Aldo’s retirement

Jose Aldo (R) against Rob Font (L) at bantamweight
Jose Aldo (R) against Rob Font (L) at bantamweight

After beating Frankie Edgar in 2016 to retain the featherweight title, Jose Aldo was beaten by Max Holloway twice and the belt was snatched off of his hands by the Hawaiian native.

He did rack up a few wins and suffered a few losses, which signalled to him a change needed. Hence, he made his bantamweight debut against Marlon Moraes.

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One look at his record showcases that although he had his successes, he could never really engineer a serious enough title challenge at 135 pounds. After his loss to Moraes, Jose Aldo took on Petr Yan at Abu Dhabi, in 2020, on the UFC 251 undercard. Giving him a bit of breathing room, as a new entrant to the division, fans did not blast him much for his 5th round TKO loss to Yan.

Despite the loss, he racked up three extremely impressive wins against Marlon “Chito” Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font. All of the three wins were unanimous decision victories, meaning that Aldo outclassed all three opponents, hardly giving away a single round to each fighter respectively.

Going by these wins alone, the bantamweight’s run would seem genuinely contender worthy. The problem was facing up-comer Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. While Aldo did not really look his age, Dvalishvili stuck him to the cage, hardly allowing him any manoeuvring area. The Georgian took the unanimous decision victory over Aldo.

Jose Aldo (L) enroute to a loss against Merab Dvalishvili (R)
Jose Aldo (L) en route to a loss against Merab Dvalishvili (R)

At this point, it felt like Aldo’s title ambitions had been extinguished. While he is only 36, he has achieved everything he set out to achieve in the division and the sport. We wish him the very best in whatever he chooses to do next, in his career and life.

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