"Wish nothing but the best to the Featherweight Goat" - Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar and other fighters pay their respects as Jose Aldo officially announces retirement from MMA
News recently broke of MMA veteran Jose Aldo retiring from the UFC after 20 fights in the multi-billion dollar promotion.
The King of Rio calls it a career 👑
Congratulations @JoseAldoJunior on a legendary run 👏 https://t.co/VvRQwFV0PO
The former UFC champion was the recipient of well-wishes and words of praise from the MMA community on Twitter.
Current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski uploaded a post wishing the best to Aldo, while referring to him as the GOAT of the featherweight division.
"Wish nothing but the best to the Featherweight Goat @josealdojunior."
Wish nothing but the best to the Featherweight Goat @josealdojunior 🙏
Former 145-pound king Max Holloway hailed the Brazilian as 'The King of Rio' and suggested him to enjoy retirement.
The King of RIO! What a career brother! Go enjoy retirement brother. Eat some açaí with cashew and powder milk for me 🤙🏻 @josealdojunior
Fellow Brazilian fighter Deiveson Figueiredo shared a post on Twitter where he talked about how Aldo motivated him to become a champion.
"Jose Aldo!!! Stronger than the world. Your story made me believe that it would be possible to be a champion!!! Thanks for everything friend."
José Aldo!!!
Mais forte que o Mundo.
Sua História me fez acreditar que seria possível ser um campeão!!!
Obrigado por tudo amigo. https://t.co/Ej4wV18XGc
Frankie Edgar shared a picture of himself and 'Junior' on Instagram and said it was an honor for him to share the octagon with Aldo.
Henry Cejudo shared a Tweet discussing how he was once training to fight Aldo in Brazil. Unfortunately, the bout was canceled due to COVID-19. Regardless, 'Triple C' went onto congratulate 'Junior' for a spectacular career and wished him a happy retirement.
I always wonder what could've been. I spent a whole camp training to fight Jose Aldo in Brazil, but COVID changed everything. I was looking forward to the challenge & crazy atmosphere.
Happy retirement to one of the greatest featherweights in MMA history @josealdojunior 👏🏽🇧🇷 https://t.co/I4fHHLBMgc
A few more tweets on Jose Aldo's retirement can be seen below:
One of the best to ever do it. Enjoy your retirement legend @josealdojunior
Congrats on an amazing career @josealdojunior 🙏🙏 https://t.co/2T4tmAaMr5
@UFCRosterWatch If @josealdojunior wants the last fight on his contract and wants to retire in Rio he has done more than enough for that company to deserve the opportunity
Jose Aldo is hailed as one of the best fighters to ever compete in the octagon
Many believe Jose Aldo to be one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the UFC octagon. 'Junior' faced off against most of the best athletes of his time and ended up on the winning side in many of those encounters.
During his run as a featherweight in the UFC, Aldo competed against names like Conor McGregor, Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, Chad Mendes, Chan Sung Jung and Ricardo Lamas.
'Junior' also racked up seven successful title defenses for his featherweight belt. However, after suffering four losses as a 145-pounder, the 36-year-old decided to move down to bantamweight.
Aldo lost his bantamweight debut against Marlon Moraes but was still awarded a title fight against Petr Yan at UFC 251. 'Junior' came up short on fight night as he was TKO'd by Yan in the fifth round.
'The King of Rio' then bounced back and built an impressive three-fight win streak against fighters like Marlon Vera, Rob Font and Pedro Munhoz.
In his last fight in the UFC, Aldo took on Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. The 36-year-old ended up losing the fight via unanimous decision.
Despite seven losses in the UFC, Aldo has built a great legacy for himself in the UFC. In the future, whenever there is talk of the best featherweights, Aldo's name will definitely be at the top of the list.