Former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion Jose Aldo will compete in his first non-title fight this Saturday since joining the promotion back in 2011, as he takes on Jeremy Stephens in a three-round tilt at UFC on Fox 30.
Although Aldo is just 31 years-old, the former world champion has already settled on retiring once his current UFC contract runs its course. The 14-year professional mixed martial arts veteran began his career back in 2004 and currently has just three fights left on his UFC contract, and the Brazilian is looking to end his career on a high note:
“No, I don’t think so,” Aldo said during a scrum session Wednesday of signing another UFC contract. “It doesn’t cross my mind to sign a new contract after.”
“I think it’s easier because you know it’s coming near the end, so you have to give your all because you don’t want to go out on a loss, you want to go out on top. It’s a lot easier seeing the end of the tunnel and working harder because you know it’s coming to the end,” Aldo told Brazilian reporters on Wednesday. “When you’re starting there’s that euphoria, but I remain the same. I dream of being champion and dream going out as champion. That’s my biggest motivation.
“I take much pride in winning; I don’t accept losses, so I’m always going after that. The day I lose this fire, I think it’s time for us to stop.”
Aldo (26-4) was undoubtedly the best featherweight in the world for his decade long reign over both the World Extreme Cagefighting and UFC’s 145 pound weight class. A fight of the year performance against Chad Mendes at UFC 179 was the apex of his championship run, but a 13-second knockout loss to rival Conor McGregor in 2015 was followed up by two more stoppage losses to Max Holloway, with another victory over Frankie Edgar sandwiched in between.
The 31 year-old has now fought 30 times as a professional, taking some serious damage along the way, but was a trailblazer when it comes to the lighter MMA weight divisions. For Aldo, that legacy is more than enough for him:
“I think I leave a good legacy for new athletes who are coming up. There are new people at featherweight, bantamweight, lightweight, any other weight class that is inspired by the legacy I’m leaving.”