The “King of Rio” Jose Aldo received an official final sendoff in front of his home fans Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
During the main card of UFC Fight Night: Oliveira vs. Gamrot, the organization had the mixed martial arts legend walk to the Octagon for one final time.
Aldo walked to the cage with his signature walkout song playing and a pair of UFC gloves in hand.
Once in the cage, he placed the gloves in the centre to signify he is officially retired from the sport.
The 39-year-old had lost three of his past four fights dating back to 2022 and most recently dropped a decision to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 in May. Although he didn’t officially announce his retirement then, he did acknowledge he didn’t think he could keep competing at the highest level.
This technically isn’t Aldo’s first retirement — he was previously inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023 following a brief retirement in 2022 — but this one is official.
Aldo was the WEC featherweight champion before the UFC enveloped that organization in 2011. He was the inaugural UFC 145-pound champion and holds the record for most total and most consecutive featherweight title defences in UFC history.
He lost his title to Conor McGregor in 2015 and had been competing primarily at 135 pounds since 2019.
