José Aldo

Some Lesser Known Facts About José Aldo

• When Aldo was a baby, his elder sister accidentally dropped him onto a barbecue, leaving a permanent scar on the left side of his face.

  

• He was a victim of constant bullying due to his facial scar. He later learnt Capoeira, a dancelike martial art of Brazil, which he later quit due to financial problems.

• His father also did not earn much as a bricklayer hence he often slept without any eating any food.

• He later started learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under trainer Marcio Pontes who gave him free training.

• In 2001, he moved to Rio de Janeiro where he started training under Andre Pederneiras at Nova Uniao gym. He used to sleep in the gym as he did not have the money to rent a room.

  

• He made his professional MMA debut at a mere age of 17.

• Before martial arts took over his life, Aldo’s dream was to become a professional footballer. He has participated in many charity football games because of his passion towards the sport.

• His first promotional competition was EcoFight 1. In his first fight, he knocked down Mário Bigola in 16 seconds in the first round.

• He later fought and won many matches in Shooto Brazil and Meca World Vale Tudo 12.

  

• On 15 October 2005, he defeated Micky Young in the FX3-Battle of Britain match in 1 minute 5 seconds by TKO (punches) in the first round.

• In November 2005, he moved to the lightweight division for the match against Luta Livre black belt Luciano Azevedo at the Jungle Fight 5 tournament which he lost. It was the first defeat of his professional career.

• On 1 June 2008, he debuted in the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and won the fight against Alexandre Franca Nogueira.

• On 20 November 2010, he became the first-ever UFC featherweight title belt winner after WEC merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

  

• On 14 January 2012, he defeated Chad Mendes by a KO (Knockout) in the final second of the first round in UFC 142 at Farmasi Arena, Rio de Janeiro. After winning the fight, he sprinted into the crowd which became one of the best moments as a champion.

• On 12 December 2015, he lost to Conor McGregor via a knockout in 13 seconds in the first round which was his first loss as a featherweight fighter and ended the winning streak of 15 matches. Aldo defended his title seven consecutive times before losing the match.

  

• According to the pound-for-pound ranking system, Aldo is the second-best fighter in the entire UFC.

• On 18 September 2022, he retired from UFA but made a comeback in 2024 and fought Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301.

  

• During his retirement from UFC, he remained active in the fighting circuit as a boxer.

  

• In March 2024, he became the brand ambassador of Patex Ecosystem, the first blockchain ecosystem targeting Latin America for cryptocurrencies.

  

• He is an animal lover and has a pet dog.