Jose Aldo Wins Impressively as Retirement Looms

FORTALEZA, BRAZIL - FEBRUARY 02: (R-L) Jose Aldo of Brazil knees Renato Moicano of Brazil in their featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at CFO Centro de Formacao Olimpica on February 2, 2019 in Fortaleza, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)In the lead up to UFC Fortaleza, many of the talking points surrounding Jose Aldo read like a eulogy. These sentiments likely stemmed from his recent announcement that he will be retiring after he completes the three fights remaining on his UFC contract. In combat sports, retirement talk oftentimes indicates a fighter doesn’t have his or her head completely in the game. Having one foot out the door, some might presume said fighter is no longer among the elite. Whether Aldo’s fighting ability is declining is up for debate. But in his co-main event slot against Renato Moicano, Aldo proved that he’s still one of the top active featherweights in the UFC. In fact, one could argue the only fighter ahead of him is the champion he was superseded by, Max Holloway.

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