#1
Jose Aldo
(UFC Champion)
Summary: Very Strong ground game
Fighter Info
Nickname: | Junior |
From: | Manaus Brazil |
Fights Out Of: | Brazil |
Age: | 24 |
Height: | 5' 7" ( 170 cm ) |
Weight: | 145 lb ( 65 kg ) |
Known by the nickname, "Junior" Aldo fought his first professional MMA fight at the age of seventeen at EcoFight 1 on August 10, 2004. He fought fellow countryman and newcomer Mário Bigola, whom he defeated by knockout (head-kick) eighteen seconds into the first round.[4] It would be Bigola's first and only professional fight.
Aldo fought fellow Brazilian, Hudson Rocha in his second fight for Shooto Brazil. The fight was ended by doctor stoppage at the end of the first round due to a cut over Rocha's left eye, caused by a flying knee thrown by Aldo, which was followed by a barrage of punches. Rocha was able to get back to his feet, only to be met with more strikes and a knee before Aldo kicked his legs out from under him.[5]
Five months later he fought MMA neophyte Luiz de Paula at Shooto - Brazil 7. Aldo took de Paula down in the clinch early on in the fight. He quickly gained mount, where he rained down punches before transitioning to an arm-triangle choke, forcing de Paula to tap at 1:54 of the first round.[6]
Aldo spent the next several years jumping from organization to organization. He next fought Vale Tudo and Shooto veteran Aritano Silva Barbosa, who had lost four of his last five fights, at Rio MMA Challenge 1 on May 12, 2005. Aldo landed two knees to the chin of Barbosa in the opening seconds of the fight, sending him to the canvas; where Aldo swarmed with punches. Barbosa tried for the single, but Aldo pulled away and threw two soccer kicks to the prone Barbosa before the referee stopped the fight at twenty seconds of the first round, awarding Aldo the victory via knockout.[7] Less than two months later Aldo fought newcomer Anderson Silvério at Meca World Vale Tudo 12. He also defeated Silvério with soccer kicks, 8:33 into the first round.
Aldo then traveled to England, where he fought Micky Young at FX3- Battle of Britain on October 15, 2005. He defeated Young just 1:05 into the first round by TKO (punches).
Only a month later, Aldo fought respected Luta Livre black-belt Luciano Azevedo at Jungle Fight 5. Aldo won the first round, winning most of the exchanges with solid combinations and leg kicks and stuffing Azevedo's numerous takedown attempts (he was nearly taken down early in the round, but appeared to purposefully fall out of the ropes to force a restart from the referee), as well as landing a solid knee as Azevedo went for a takedown. Aldo shrugged off Azevedo's first few takedown attempts in the second, but was eventually taken down against the ropes by a double-leg. Aldo raised his hips up looking for triangles and other submissions, but Azevedo easily defended.
He soon passed to half-guard and side control. He then transitioned to full mount. Aldo quickly gave up his back and rolled into the ropes. The referee restarted the fight in the center of the ring, where Azevedo locked his legs around Aldo in a body triangle. Aldo controlled Azevedo's hands for several seconds before falling back into the corner of the ring, where Azevedo was able to secure the fight-ending rear-naked choke 3:37 into round two. The loss was not only Aldo's first as a professional, but the only defeat he has suffered in his career so far.
Aldo rebounded in his next fight against the then-undefeated Thiago "Minu" Meller at Gold Fighters Championship I on May 20, 2006, winning a majority decision in a very close fight. Round one could have gone either way, with Aldo getting two takedowns (both times getting into half-guard) and cutting Meller's right eyebrow with a left hand; while Meller went for two armbars, nearly hyper-extending Aldo's right arm in the first attempt before Aldo was able to escape. Aldo won a lackluster round two, again taking Meller down and landing some hammerfists. A seemingly exhausted Aldo stalled against the ropes much of the third round, holding Meller in the clinch. Both landed some solid strikes in the few exchanges there were in the round.[In his last fight before joining the WEC, Aldo fought Pancrase veteran Shoji Maruyama in the Pancrase 2007 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals. Aldo won a unanimous decision, dominating Maruyama standing and on the ground. In the first exchange Aldo landed a front kick to Maruyama's body, sending him to the canvas. He was able to land the cleaner shots in exchanges, where he connected with leg kicks and knees while in the clinch. He took Maruyama down almost at will with trips and body-locks; whereas Maruyama failed in all his attempts to get Aldo to the mat. On the ground he was able get side control and top and back mount.
Aldo made his debut for mixed martial arts promoter World Extreme Cagefighting on June 1, 2008 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. In his debut with the organization he defeated renowned fighter Alexandre Franca Nogueira at WEC 34. Aldo won his fight on June 7, 2009 at WEC 41 against Cub Swanson via double flying knee eight seconds into the first round.
Aldo won the WEC Featherweight Championship against Mike Brown on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44.[15] He won by TKO in the second round. He was able to get Brown in the back mount, where he landed a barrage of punches, ending the fight at 1:20 of the round.[16] José Aldo was the recipient of Fighter of the Year accolades for 2009 from both MMA Live and Sherdog.com.[17]
Aldo faced former title holder Urijah Faber on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48. Aldo defeated Faber via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 50-45[18]). Aldo was able to use effective leg and body kicks (a total of thirty-two[19]) to stifle Faber, sending him to the canvas several times with solid kicks. For the remaining 1:40 of the fourth round Aldo trapped Faber in the crucifix, peppering him with punches and elbows. Aldo did not engage most of the fifth (although he did land a body shot that nearly crumpled Faber). This was Aldo's first decision win in his WEC career.[20][21]
Aldo defended his title against Manvel Gamburyan by KO at 1:32 of the second round on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51.[22]
Aldo and his camp have often mentioned his desire to eventually make the move up in weight to the lightweight division (155-pound limit). Having rolled through all of his opposition in the WEC featherweight class, the UFC offered Aldo a fight against Kenny Florian, who has challenged for the UFC lightweight title. Aldo and his camp declined the fight, instead deciding to remain at featherweight for the time being to defend his WEC belt.
On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.[24] Aldo became the inaugural UFC Featherweight Champion, receiving the first ever UFC featherweight title belt on Saturday, November 20, 2010.[25] His first defense was set to take place at UFC 125 against Josh Grispi.[26][27] Aldo was forced to withdraw from UFC 125 after suffering a neck injury[28] just three days after receiving his UFC belt.[29] Dustin Poirier stepped in to take his place and fought Grispi at UFC 125.[30]
Aldo made his first title defense against Mark Hominick on April 30, 2011 at UFC 129 by defeating the Canadian by a unanimous decision in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.[31]
Following UFC 129, Dana White mentioned in the post-fight press conference that Aldo could face Chad Mendes as soon as UFC 133. However, Aldo will be sidelined until September or October recovering from injuries.
