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Jose Aldo had seemingly planned to retire at the end of 2019, previously stating that he wanted to ride out his contract and fight for the title in his last bout before retirement. However, that turned out to be more of a negotiation tactic and Aldo has since signed a multi-fight deal in the UFC.
The first of that will see him face Marlon Moraes in his Bantamweight debut - a move that many have been skeptical about as the Brazilian has had struggles cutting weight to 145 before. Either way, he weighs around 152 pounds now and has been devouring two pounds of salad a day to try and make 135.
When talking to the media at the gym ahead of UFC 245, Aldo was asked about his retirement and if it's looming anytime soon. The former Champion shut down any talk of retirement and said that he plans to fight for another 7 years till he's 40 (H/T Bloody Elbow).
“I will fight until I’m 40 years old. I’m 33, so I have seven years of fighting left. I still dream of boxing, it’s going to happen pretty soon. You can be sure of that. But I’ll be fighting for even longer, this is my first fight at bantamweight on my way to become the champion. I might even go beyond 40. Outside of my career, I’ve never been one to go out, drink, party. I have a healthy body, that’s the point.”
Aldo revealed that it was his head coach Andre Pederneiras that convinced him to make the move to Bantamweight. He said that the weight cut isn't as grueling as he thought. He said that not even in WEC did he have this kind of potential, which makes him believe that he still has a lot left to give. He said that if he feels healthy, there's no point in stopping now. His goal is to become the Bantamweight Champion and then "think of what to do next".
It's interesting how Aldo mentioned the possibility of boxing. It's going to be hard to be able to do it while under contract with the UFC but if UFC does get into Boxing (something that's been rumored for a while), then Aldo may make the transition.
Either way, he's happy and healthy and we're going to be seeing the Brazilian legend for a few more years to come.
