According to cbssports.com, Jose Aldo is finished with MMA, the 36 year old was given his release from his UFC contract with his coach, Andres Pederneiras, marking the end of his legendary career. The UFC seemed to confirm that Aldo was retiring from MMA via a tweet on Sunday afternoon. ESPN and Brazilian outlet Combate were the first ones to report the news. Aldo still hasn’t spoken on the matter, although he did post a photo of himself and his wife celebrating the birth of their child on social media. Aldo was removed from the fighter rankings on Sunday, indicating he is no longer active on the roster.
Aldo had one of the best runs in MMA when he came onto the scene with WEC in 2008, winning 15 straight fights, including a run as featherweight champion that carried over to the UFC when WEC was ultimately absorbed into the promotion. The run had Aldo winning over names such as Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes (twice), Frankie Edgar and the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
After a 13 second knockout loss to Connor McGregor in 2015, Aldo was able to bounce back to win the interim featherweight crown with a second win over Edgar. Two TKO losses to Max Holloway followed after that.