"Financially, I don’t need it" - Jose Aldo discusses why he turned down UFC and Dana White's long-term offer

MMA veteran Jose Aldo has revealed his reasons for declining a new long-term deal with the UFC.

Aldo is a bonafide legend of the game and is largely remembered for his undefeated run that stretched from 2006 to 2015 before he faced Conor McGregor. During that time, the Brazilian became the WEC featherweight champ and was later promoted to UFC champ. He went on to defend the throne a total of 9 times.

After his defeat to McGregor, Aldo then faced a difficult few years in the octagon as he went 6-6 in his next 12 fights, which included a run at bantamweight. The 37-year-old then called time on his career in 2022 after losing to Merab Dvalishvili, despite having one fight remaining on his contract.

Following a brief stint in boxing, it was then announced earlier this year that Jose Aldo would be making his return to the octagon for the final fight of his contract at UFC 301 against Jonathan Martinez. This led to fan speculation as to whether or not he had signed a new deal.

According to Aldo, however, he has not. Speaking in a recent interview with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, the veteran revealed he hasn't signed a new contract because he doesn't "need" to. He explained:

"Ultimately I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I can make myself back up to fight for the title. Financially, I don't need it. I wouldn't trade my health for any financial means. Back when I started talking with Dana, they offered me a longer-term deal with X number of fights, but I decided I needed to have this fight to prove to myself where I'm at."

Catch Jose Aldo's comments here (13:52):

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Jose Aldo discusses future post-UFC 301 comeback

Jose Aldo recently outlined his plans for the future, following his return, which is scheduled to take place at UFC 301.

After calling time on his MMA career in 2022, 'Junior' stepped into the boxing world and fought twice professionally, drawing his first bout and winning his second. He was then touted to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an exhibition bout. The fight, however, never came to fruition.

Speaking in a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Aldo discussed his future post-UFC 301 and revealed he's still interested in boxing. According to the Brazilian, he's hoping to feature on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Netflix card in July. He said:

"There's a big event on Netflix later this year, and hopefully, I can get on that. But we'll have to see. There's a lot of options floating."

Catch José Aldo's comments here (8:07):