Leonardo Santos, TUF Brazil winner and Nova Unio teammate: To me, the best Jose Aldo moment was his first UFC fight against [Mark] Hominick in Canada, when the UFC opened the featherweight division and Jose Aldo entered as champion since he was the WEC champion. He put on a MMA masterclass in this
Philipe Lins, UFC heavyweight: Jose Aldo, the King of Rio! One interesting fact that people dont know is that we lived together early in our MMA careers. I spent a few days in Rio, two weeks really, and learned so much from him even though it was such a short period of time. He works so hard, [so
Matheus Nicolau, UFC flyweight and Nova Unio teammate: Hes one of my idols in MMA. One of my great memories of Jose Aldo wasnt from a fight, but the moment I met him at Nova Unio. I was just a kid, 18 years old, arriving from Belo Horizonte, and remember vividly the first day I got there, the e
emember we were promoting an event in Vitoria da Conquista and signed fighters from all over the country. [Andre] Dede Pederneiras called us and asked to give this kid Jose Aldo a fight. We only had Edelson [Pinto] and Erivan [Conceio], professional boxers, and he told us, Give him a boxing mat
ver forgot was his level of confidence in him. From there he won in Japan, beat Pequeno [Alexandre Nogueira], and he became champion in the WEC and UFC. Thats when the world heard about Jose Aldo, the kid that Dede Pederneiras said would beat anyone, in any weight class, in any sport.
We had a close fight, a tough one, and I came out victorious, but a lot of people [disagreed]. No hard feelings. Its great for an athlete to see what Jose Aldo has done in the sport and one day fight him and defeat him. Jose Aldo is an idol for all of us. He definitely is one of the greatest of al
C. He fought wrestlers, and no one could take him down. Everybody has good takedown defense at Nova Unio because of him. My fight with Joe Solecki, one of the most important fights of my career, I was doing a single leg takedown defense I learned watching Jose Aldo, and knocked [Solecki] out.
Jennifer Maia, UFC flyweight: Jose Aldo was a great fighter. One of the greatest moments in his career was when he jumped the cage in Rio to celebrate with the people. Fighters know how awesome it is to feel the love from the crowd and all you want to do is celebrate. He leaves with a great legacy
Juliana Velasquez, former Bellator flyweight champion: I want to thank Jose Aldo for everything hes done for Brazilian MMA. He was great inspiration for me. Im sure he will continue to inspire many others to come even though hes retired. Thank you very much, Jose Aldo.
Jessica Delboni, Invicta FC atomweight champion: Jose Aldo is retiring but leaving such a wonderful legacy behind. Jose Aldo is a phenomenal athlete and has done a lot for the sport. The last fights hes had, the losses dont affect his career. I admire him because he was always focused and has suc
Kleber Koike, RIZIN featherweight: Jose Aldo is one of the guys I looked up to my entire career as one of the best featherweights. You cant talk about MMA and not mention Jose Aldos name. Hes a legend of the sport. His fight with Chad Mendes was memorable. Im a fan of this guy. Its a pity that
Elizeu Zaleski, UFC welterweight: He inspired so many athletes with his humbleness and desire to be the best. He will be missed. Jose Aldo will be a winner in everything he does. I can only thank him for everything hes done for the sport. Im grateful for having fought in his UFC card.
