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José Aldo recently sat down with MMA Junkie for an interview, and disclosed his career path following UFC 301. He revealed that he almost found himself in the boxing ring with all-time great pugilist and pay-per-view draw, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Aldo, who retired from MMA two years ago at UFC 278, stunned the sport when he announced his return at UFC 301, bolstering a card that is set to take place on Brazilian soil. According to the former featherweight champion, he he now has several options awaiting him once he makes his octagon return. He said:
"That fight with Floyd Mayweather was basically all set and done. Ali [Abdelaziz] was the one that was negotiating that and I don't really know what happened, and it ended up not panning out for us to fight in Saudi Arabia. But 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."
Check out José Aldo's comments here (8:07):
The Brazilian's last professional bout was actually a boxing match against Esteben Gabriel Espindola on July 2, 2023. He won the fight via unanimous decision after six rounds, preserving his unbeaten streak in professional boxing. This was his second fight, with his professional debut coming against Jeremy Stephens.
The result of their clash was a draw, which contrasts their previous outing in the UFC, which saw Aldo win via first-round TKO after folding Stephens with a left hook to the body and following up with ground-and-pound.
José Aldo's last UFC fight
While José Aldo is set to return at UFC 301, his previous bout in the promotion was a bantamweight fight with the surging Merab Dvalishvili, whose overwhelming output and ceaseless activity froze the Brazilian. Aldo spent long spells of the bout warding off takedowns, while being pinned to the fence by Dvalishvili.
Check out José Aldo's loss to Merab Dvalishvili:
He ultimately lost a unanimous decision after three rounds, after which he made the decision to retire from MMA. However, he has since walked back on his retirement and will make his return to the octagon at UFC 301 in his native Brazil.
