5 things you didn't know about Jose Aldo
Jose Aldo is widely considered to be one of the greatest featherweights in the history of MMA.
Aldo was the inaugural UFC featherweight champion. His success in the world's biggest MMA promotion is tremendous and that's regardless of his monumental loss against Conor McGregor in 2015. Aldo has been competing since 2004 and has fought in multiple organizations and across multiple divisions.
Continuing to adapt to the ever-changing and ever-evolving sport of MMA, Aldo now fights as a bantamweight. In a sport where champions and legends grow highly insecure about their status, 'Junior' is still grinding day in and day out, which speaks volumes about his dedication.
As we celebrate the legend that is Jose Aldo, let's take a look at five things you probably didn't know about the MMA legend.
#5. Jose Aldo started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu because it was free and involved soft mats
Jose Aldo was only a kid when he decided to transition from capoeira to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Thanks to his mentor Marcio Pontes, who offered scholarships to poor kids from the neighborhood, Aldo didn't have to pay anything.
It wasn't that capoeira was expensive, but Aldo, whose father was a bricklayer, couldn't afford even 10 reais ($1.77). Aldo's jiu-jitsu coach Marcio Pontes told MMA Fighting:
"Aldo had to leave capoeira because he had to pay a 10 reais fee. That's really cheap, but he didn't have that money at the time. He stopped playing capoeira and saw this opportunity to train jiu-jitsu."
Stopping by Pontes' gym turned out to be a life-altering event for Aldo, as it gave him a future that didn't involve favelas. What's more fascinating is the reason, apart from money, that made Aldo choose Brazilian jiu-jitsu over capoeira. A big part of his transition came due to the mats. Aldo said:
"I wanted to train jiu-jitsu instead of capoeira because the mat was soft. It was better than training capoeira on the hard floor. I started reading jiu-jitsu magazines, reading about the world champions, and becoming one of them became my goal."
Pontes made Jose Aldo sign up for a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in 1999. With a white belt at the age of 13, 'Junior' defeated three opponents on the same day. While he fell a little short of winning gold that day, it set him on the path to MMA glory.
Work in progress! #ufc https://t.co/4R5T5pWJSc