Jose Aldo wanted to be a football player, but he became a UFC legend. What is the story of the inspirational Brazilian fighter from the favela?

José Aldo retired in 2022. He has gone down in combat sports history as an undisputed legend and one of the best featherweight fighters. Yet as a child, he dreamed of making a living in football. His life story is very inspiring. What was his journey?

As a child, he dreamed of playing football, but circumstances didn’t allow him

José Aldo was born in Manaus, Brazil. Like many Brazilian athletes who have made it big, he grew up in a favela. His father was an alcoholic and his mother abandoned him and his family when he was 14.

“I was young, I didn’t understand what was going on. But it was hard to see my mother leave us and my parents divorce. But she always supported me, taught me good things. Sodid my father,” MMA Fighting quotes Aldo as saying.

His dream was to become a professional football player. His father also supported him in this. It was also the sport that helped him with distractions. However, he lived in a rough neighborhood where he faced bullies almost daily.

To learn how to defend himself, he started training in capoeira, a traditional Brazilian martial art. But he had to pay for it. Not much, but Aldo’s father couldn’t afford it. So he switched to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His trainers were like his parents. It didn’t even take much to get them to adopt him.

At 17, he made one of the decisions of his life. He moved from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro. All he brought to the Brazilian capital were clothes and a commitment to MMA, or mixed martial arts. And just like that, a clear goal was born – to really achieve something in MMA.

But Aldo didn’t have it easy in Rio. Violence and drugs were the order of the day in the favelas where he stayed. Because he didn’t have much money, was young and almost alone, he had to turn down and face invitations to join gangs. But he handled it all with bravado.

The road to the UFC was a sovereign one

When José Aldo started his professional career, he was absolutely sovereign. At the age of 19, he already boasted an excellent record, with 7 wins and no losses. With a record of 11:1, he then signed for the WEC.

The Brazilian fighter never lost a single time and went all the way to the title. The organization was eventually taken over by the UFC and Aldo was suddenly the rightful champion of the best organization in the world.

He deserves his legendary status like few others

Once a UFC champion, Jose Aldo faced some tough defenses. His phenomenal dominance was ended by Conor McGregor in 2015. However, the Irishman was unable to defend it and the Brazilian was given the opportunity to fight for the belt again. He did it and successfully.

However, he soon lost the belt to Max Holloway. Then, as 2018 was being written, Aldo’s fight with Jeremy Stephens came up, it was the first time in nine years that Aldo hadn’t challenged for the title.

Going into the McGregor fight, Aldo was on a streak of 18 straight wins. It could be said that this was the breakout fight of the Brazilian’s career. He was unable to build on his dominance after that. It was the second loss of his career, and unfortunately, he had more losses in the following fights.

But Aldo has nothing to be ashamed of. He’s only lost to great fighters. He was beaten twice by Holloway, and the Brazilian legend was beaten by Alexander Volkanovski, Marlon Moraes, Peter Yan and in the last fight of his career Aldo was not able to beat Merab Dvalishvili.

He finished his career at the age of 36 with an outstanding record of 31:8. He entertained combat sports fans for many years, ranking among the best fighters of all time. Rightfully so.

Source: UFC, Sherdog, Sportskeeda, MMA Fighting