Jose Aldo unretires with shock UFC 301 announcement

Jose Aldo, a UFC Hall of Famer, recently stunned the MMA community by announcing his comeback to the UFC Octagon for the UFC 301 card, set to occur in May, in his home country of Brazil.

Aldo, regarded as one of the most polished Featherweights of his era, retired from MMA with one fight left on his UFC contract on September 18, 2022.

Jose Aldo to make shocking UFC return

First reported via @AgFight on ‘X’, Jose Aldo is ready to make a return into the octagon against Jonathan Martinez, who is currently ranked #14 in the Bantamweight division. The fight is scheduled to take place on May 4, in Rio de Janeiro, on the UFC 301 card, the main event of which is Alexandre Pantoja vs Steve Erceg for the Flyweight UFC belt.

The MMA community has reacted to the decision of the 37-year-old Jose Aldo to return to the Octagon. Once feared as a Featherweight, fans are both puzzled and excited by Aldo’s comeback. Clips of Aldo’s dominant performances in the Octagon have resurfaced on MMA Twitter.

Following the birth of his son in September 2022, Jose decided to retire from the sport. The UFC allowed Aldo to compete in other combat sports. Aldo boxed three times in 2023, twice professionally and once in an exhibition bout, winning two matches and drawing against fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens.

Jose Aldo’s last UFC fight

Jose Aldo lost to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 279 in August 2022 via decision. Merab’s close decision win again Aldo broke his three-fight winning streak he had built over other bantamweight contenders like Marlon “Chito” Vera and Rob Font.

Jonathan Martinez, Jose’s next opponent, is currently on a six-fight win streak with his last fight being a very dominant knockout win over Adrian Yanez, back in October of 2023. Martinez won the fight via TKO in round two which earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Jose Aldo (31-8) is considered one of the top three UFC fighters in the rotation as the greatest featherweights in MMA, alongside names like Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. Jose has shared the cage with both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, as well as Conor McGregor, Frankie Edgar, and Urijah Faber. Aldo’s upcoming fight at UFC 301 will mark his 40th pro fight.