José Aldo

Background

José Aldo was born on September 9, 1986, in Manaus, Brazil. As an infant, Aldo was accidentally dropped onto a barbecue by his older sister, leaving a permanent scar on the left side of his face. Throughout his infant years, he was keen on football and wanted to become a professional. His aspirations were supported by his father. But Aldo grew tired of getting beaten up in fights on the street, thus starting to train capoeira to learn ways to defend himself better in brawls. Aldo used to train capoeira on the streets after the classes, once gaining attention of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer. He invited Aldo to try one session of jiu-jitsu and after the session, Aldo decided to leave capoeira to start training jiu-jitsu. At the age of 17, Aldo moved from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro having only his clothes with him and determination to train mixed martial arts there until he achieved something in the sport. He is a teammate and training partner of former UFC Bantamweight champion Renan Barão at Nova União.

Early career

Known by the nickname "junior mac", José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior fought his first professional MMA fight at the age of 17 at EcoFight 1 on August 10, 2004. He fought fellow countryman and newcomer Mário Bigola, whom he defeated by knockout (head kick) eighteen seconds into the first round. It would be Bigola's first and only professional fight.

Aldo fought fellow Brazilian Hudson Rocha, in his second fight for Shooto Brazil. The fight was ended by doctor stoppage at the end of the first round due to a cut over Rocha's left eye, which was caused by a flying knee thrown by Aldo followed by a barrage of punches. Rocha was able to get back to his feet only to be met with more strikes and a knee before Aldo kicked his legs out from under him.

Five months later he fought MMA neophyte Luiz de Paula at Shooto – Brazil 7. Aldo took de Paula down in the clinch early on in the fight. He quickly gained mount, where he rained down punches before transitioning to an arm-triangle choke, forcing de Paula to tap at 1:54 of the first round.

Aldo spent the next several years jumping from organization to organization. He next fought Vale Tudo and Shooto veteran Aritano Silva Barbosa, who had lost four of his last five fights, at Rio MMA Challenge 1 on May 12, 2005. Aldo landed two knees to the chin of Barbosa in the opening seconds of the fight, sending him to the canvas where Aldo swarmed with punches. Barbosa attempted a single leg takedown, but Aldo pulled away and threw two soccer kicks to the prone Barbosa before the referee stopped the fight at twenty seconds of the first round, awarding Aldo the victory via knockout. Less than two months later Aldo fought newcomer Anderson Silvério at Meca World Vale Tudo 12. He also defeated Silvério with soccer kicks, 8:33 into the first round.

Aldo then traveled to England, where he fought Micky Young at FX3- Battle of Britain on October 15, 2005. He defeated Young just 1:05 into the first round by TKO (punches).

Loss to Azevedo

Only a month later, in November 2005, Aldo fought respected Luta Livre black belt Luciano Azevedo at Jungle Fight 5. Aldo won the first round, winning most of the exchanges with solid combinations and leg kicks and stuffing Azevedo's numerous takedown attempts (he was nearly taken down early in the round, but appeared to purposefully fall out of the ropes to force a restart from the referee), as well as landing a solid knee as Azevedo went for a takedown. Aldo shrugged off Azevedo's first few takedown attempts in the second, but was eventually taken down against the ropes by a double leg. Aldo raised his hips up looking for triangles and other submissions, but Azevedo easily defended.

Azevedo soon passed to half-guard and side control. He then transitioned to full mount. Aldo quickly gave up his back and rolled into the ropes. The referee restarted the fight in the center of the ring, where Azevedo locked his legs around Aldo in a body triangle. Aldo controlled Azevedo's hands for several seconds before falling back into the corner of the ring, where Azevedo was able to secure the fight-ending rear-naked choke 3:37 into round two. The loss was Aldo's first as a professional.

Rebound

Aldo rebounded in his next fight against the then-undefeated Thiago "Minu" Meller at Gold Fighters Championship I on May 20, 2006, winning a unanimous decision in a very close fight. Round one could have gone either way, with Aldo getting two takedowns (both times getting into half-guard) and cutting Meller's right eyebrow with a left hand. Meller went for two armbars, nearly hyper-extending Aldo's right arm in the first attempt before Aldo was able to escape. Aldo won a lackluster round two, again taking Meller down and landing some hammerfists. A seemingly exhausted Aldo stalled against the ropes much of the third round, holding Meller in the clinch. Both landed some solid strikes in the few exchanges there were in the round.

Pancrase

In his last bout before joining the WEC, Aldo fought Pancrase veteran Shoji Maruyama in the Pancrase 2007 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals. Aldo won a unanimous decision, dominating Maruyama standing and on the ground. In the first exchange, Aldo landed a front kick to Maruyama's body, sending him to the canvas. He was able to land the cleaner shots in exchanges, where he connected with leg kicks and knees while in the clinch. He took Maruyama down almost at will with trips and body-locks; whereas Maruyama failed in all his attempts to get Aldo to the mat. On the ground Aldo was able to get side control as well as top and back mount.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Aldo made his debut for mixed martial arts promoter World Extreme Cagefighting on June 1, 2008 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. In his debut with the organization he defeated renowned fighter Alexandre Franca Nogueira at WEC 34. Aldo won his fight on June 7, 2009 at WEC 41 against Cub Swanson via double flying knee eight seconds into the first round.

Aldo won the WEC Featherweight Championship against Mike Brown on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44. He won by TKO in the second round. He was able to get Brown in the back mount, where he landed a barrage of punches, ending the fight at 1:20 of the round. José Aldo was the recipient of Fighter of the Year accolades for 2009 from both MMA Live and Sherdog.com.

Aldo faced former title holder Urijah Faber on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48. Aldo defeated Faber via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 50-45). Aldo was able to use effective leg and body kicks (a total of thirty-two) to stifle Faber, sending him to the canvas several times with solid kicks. For the remaining 1:40 of the fourth round Aldo trapped Faber in the crucifix, peppering him with punches and elbows. Aldo did not engage most of the fifth (although he did land a body shot that nearly crumpled Faber). This was Aldo's first decision win in his WEC career.

Aldo defended his title against Manvel Gamburyan by KO at 1:32 of the second round on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51.

Aldo and his camp have often mentioned his desire to eventually make the move up in weight to the lightweight division (155-pound limit). Having rolled through all of his opposition in the WEC featherweight class, the UFC offered Aldo a fight against Kenny Florian, who has challenged for the UFC lightweight title. Aldo and his camp declined the fight, instead deciding to remain at featherweight for the time being to defend his WEC belt.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Aldo became the inaugural UFC Featherweight Champion, receiving the first ever UFC featherweight title belt on Saturday, November 20, 2010. His first defense was set to take place at UFC 125 against Josh Grispi. Aldo was forced to withdraw from UFC 125 after suffering a neck injury.

UFC Featherweight Champion

Aldo made his first title defense against Mark Hominick on April 30, 2011, at UFC 129 by defeating the Canadian by a unanimous decision in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.

Aldo had his second title defense against Kenny Florian on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136, where he won by unanimous decision.

Aldo next faced Chad Mendes on January 14, 2012, at UFC 142, Aldo won via KO in the final second of the first round.

After a series of injuries and opponent change-ups, Aldo faced former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar at UFC 156. Aldo retained his belt via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47). The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors. This performance resulted in Aldo setting the record for most championship bouts, including his original title plus three defences.

Aldo was expected to face Anthony Pettis on August 3, 2013, at UFC 163. However, in mid-June Pettis pulled out of the bout citing a knee injury and was replaced by Chan Sung Jung. Aldo defeated Jung via fourth round TKO, finishing Jung with a flurry of strikes after Jung suffered a dislocated shoulder while throwing an overhand right.

On February 1, 2014, at UFC 169 Aldo defended his title by defeating Ricardo Lamas by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).

Aldo again was in talks to fight Pettis after defending his title against Lamas. At the post-fight press conference, Aldo expressed interest to move up and fight Pettis at 155 lbs. However, those plans were quickly refuted as Pettis was selected to serve as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 20.

A rematch with Chad Mendes was expected to take place on August 2, 2014, in the event headliner at UFC 176. However, in early July, Aldo pulled out of the bout with an injury. The rematch with Mendes was subsequently rescheduled and took place for October 25, 2014 at UFC 179. Despite getting dropped in the first round and being rocked in the third, Aldo scored two knockdowns of his own, one in the first and the other in the third and also rocked Mendes throughout the fight, winning four of the five rounds in the eyes of the judges thus taking the fight by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46). The win also earned him his third Fight of the Night bonus award, and was selected Fight of the Year by multiple MMA outlets.

Loss to McGregor and interim UFC Featherweight Championship

Aldo was scheduled to face Conor McGregor on July 11, 2015 at UFC 189. On June 30, Aldo pulled out of the fight due to a rib injury. Chad Mendes took his place and was defeated by McGregor for an interim title.

Aldo faced McGregor in a title unification match on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. He lost the fight via knockout 13 seconds into the first round resulting in his first defeat in over ten years.

Aldo faced Frankie Edgar in a rematch on July 9, 2016 at UFC 200 for the interim UFC Featherweight Championship. Aldo won the fight by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47).

Promotion to Featherweight champion

On November 26, 2016, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor was stripped of the title after winning the UFC Lightweight Championship, having not defended the Featherweight belt since December 2015. As a result, Aldo was promoted to Featherweight Champion.

Aldo is expected to face current interim featherweight champion Max Holloway in a title unification bout on June 3, 2017 at UFC 212.

Fighting style

Although Aldo is known primarily for his striking, his base is in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Throughout his career, he has shown acute technique on the ground, as he has been able to trap opponents in a crucifix position and submit well-versed grapplers. Aldo is also renowned for regularly winning his fights using little more than the fundamentals of Muay Thai. His Muay Thai often resembles the Dutch kickboxing style, as he has trained with Dutch kickboxing legend Andy Souwer since his fight with Mark Hominick. He employs an array of damaging knees, kicks and punches, as well as agile footwork and slick head movement. His leg kicks demonstrated in his fights against Urijah Faber, Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar, for example, were particularly powerful.

Aldo is regarded as having some of best takedown defense in all of MMA, as he has defended 91% of his opponents' takedown attempts. On September 28, 2014, at Nova União, under the tutelage of Mestre Roberto Leitão (10th Dan), Daniel F. A. Malvino "Pirata" (1st Dan), Marco Ruas (7th Dan) and Daniel D'dane (4th Dan), Aldo was awarded his black belt in Luta Livre. His Luta Livre instructor lineage is as follows: Roberto Leitão Sr. → João Ricardo N. de Almeida → Marco Ruas → José Aldo.

Aldo has both the most wins and knockouts in UFC and WEC featherweight history, has landed a total of 691 significant strikes in the UFC and the WEC, and holds the record for the longest winning streak in UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and Pride featherweight history, with fifteen consecutive victories.

Personal life

Aldo was very poor growing up, as WEC general manager Reed Harris states, "They were telling me that Wagnney Fabiano would be at the gym, and José would show up, and Wagnney would say, 'Have you eaten today or yesterday?' If not, they would go get him some food. That's how poor he was." When asked in an interview by the WEC what his motivation is, Aldo replied "My personal desires. My dream, my goal is to own my own house. This dream motivates me more and more as I get closer to fulfilling it".

Aldo is married to Vivianne Pereira, who is a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and has fought twice professionally in Muay Thai. Their daughter Joanna was born in 2012. Aldo is an avid Soccer fan, in Brazil, he is well known as a supporter of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and English Premier League club Chelsea FC.

Mixed martial arts

Grappling credentials