Jose Aldo may not go out in the lead, but if Saturday was the last chapter, we will see the former featherweight of the UFC, it was an appropriate shipment for a big one of all time.
Aldo announced his retirement on Saturday following a thrilling fight of three laps against Aiemann Zahabi in UFC 315 At the Bell Center in Montreal. After a hot return of Zahabi in the last minutes, the three judges marked the fight 29-28 in favor of Zahabi, sending Aldo to a sequence of two defeats.
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Subsequently, Aldo withdrew his gloves and announced his second retirement from the sport.
“I don't think I have it in me anymore,” said Aldo (32-10) through a translator. “It was not only a question of the weight cup and everything else. I just felt that there were so many things that happened. It was very difficult to go through all this. There was a point this week – it was a very difficult week – that I felt that I had no longer in me, I don't want to be part of the war and I am going through that. To see myself.
In particular, Aldo was unable to make the body weight limit on Friday, and the fight was passed to a featherweight affair.
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Already a member of the UFC renown temple, Aldo is largely considered to be one of the largest – if not THE The best feathered weights to always lace a pair of four ounce gloves. With the result of Saturday, the living legend went to 1-2 during its three fights since its return from a short-term retirement of the MMA in 2024.
Aldo, 38, looked like his vintage self at the start of his UFC sending. The former Brazilian champion dotted Zahabi (13-2) with nasty combinations and kept his Canadian counterpart on the rear foot for the majority of the opening round, standing in the pocket and exchanging hard fire with an imprudent abandonment. Aldo also torn Zahabi, 37, with the body early and often, but the pace has slowed down in the second round while Zahabi settled and began to move forward, chasing his own offense.
The action struck a fever field in a third chaotic round while Aldo exploded Zahabi with a steep right hand then a knee to the head, followed by a kick which sent Zahabi to spread on the canvas. Aldo continued the arrival with a fury of the old school, even by swinging Zahabi again with a facelift.
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Zahabi, however, survived, and immediately returned the tide in his favor, jumping on a blow to Aldo and the dam with punches and kicks. After having failed a despair of despair, Zahabi spent the last half of the round raining punches and elbows on the head of Aldo, out of his forehead and leaving the temple of the fame of the UFC coated with his own blood.
“It's incredible,” said Zahabi after his victory. “I did all the work, I accepted the fight. He was overweight from eight pounds, I still took him.
“I was shaken, for sure. I was a little disoriented. But my mind coach told me to prepare for these moments, so I just said to be recovering and winning the following exchange, recovering and winning the following 15 seconds.”
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Subsequently, Zahabi called the unique title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera for his next fight.
Zahabi is Firas Zahabi's younger brother, the chief coach of the famous Tristar gymnasium in Montreal. He now has a sequence of victories of six fights dating from 2021, which includes victories on Pedro Munhoz and Javid Basharat.
