According to Brazilian sources Raphael Marinho and Zeca Azevedo, MMA legend Jose Aldo Junior has retired from the sport. This comes after a mutual agreement with the UFC to end Aldo’s contract, which had just one fight remaining.
Jose Aldo Retires From Mixed Martial Arts
28 days after a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278, Jose Aldo has seemingly confirmed his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts aged 36.
Dvalishvili previously told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that Aldo had confirmed his retirement to Merab personally in the cage. However, no statement from Aldo or his team followed this, leaving fans confused.
We now seem to have the official confirmation, though, as well-known Twitter account @UFCRosterWatch swiftly posted on Aldo’s removal from the official UFC ranking pool.
Shortly after the tweet, a piece on Aldo’s retirement came from Combate, written by reputable Brazilian sources Raphael Marinho & Zeca Azevedo. They detailed that the release had come after a request from the Brazilian for his contract to be terminated.
Pedernerias: ‘I Would Tell Him to Stop’
A contributing factor to Jose’s retirement could have been advice from his head coach, Andre Pedernerias, who recently admitted he’d rather Jose walk away from the sport.
“I think Aldo has already conquered so much. It won’t be this last fight that will take away the legacy he has built in the sport.”
“My biggest fear is when an athlete gets to that last stage of their career and an injury could ruin them for the rest of their life.”
What do you make of Jose Aldo Junior’s retirement?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
