What truly shaped Conor McGregor’s UFC legacy? While many point to his blockbuster bout with Floyd Mayweather, the real turning point was his iconic clash with Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title. That fight had it all — bitter rivalry, the weight of national pride, and the fall of a ten-year unbeaten reign. ‘The King of Rio’ stood tall, with the world behind him, while McGregor played the villain. But in just 13 seconds at UFC 194, everything changed. That moment made McGregor a legend. Now, nearly a decade later, as Aldo announces his permanent retirement from MMA, the heat of their feud has cooled. In a surprising turn, McGregor has come forward with heartfelt respect for his former foe.

The former two-time featherweight champion stepped into the Octagon for the final time against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315, which took place on May 10 in Montreal. There had been no indication that Aldo was considering retirement, but after a closely contested — and somewhat controversial—defeat, he decided it was time to hang up his gloves for good. Announcing his retirement from sports, the UFC HOFer walked off the stage, leaving the Octagon and the world of fighting behind his back.

Everyone knew Aldo’s ultimate retirement was inevitable, but no one expected it to come so soon. Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, and many others have come forward to bid farewell to the living legend. Even Conor McGregor reached out with a farewell message for Aldo. The former dual weight champion took to his Instagram handle to share a fan-made video of Aldo and captioned it with, “Jose Aldo last night.” So, does that mean Aldo is officially retired from sports forever? Well, after his UFC 315 endeavor, ‘Scarface’ held a press conference at Nova Uniao’s training center Saturday to confirm he’s not returning to any form of combat sports ever.

“There’s no fight that would make me come back. To put the gi, to spar, or do anything, only in five years. Thank God I’ll be almost 50 in five years, so there’s no possibility of fighting, there’s no calling,” said the former two-time featherweight champion as he shunned down any rumours of his comeback. The last time Aldo walked away from the world of fighting was back in 2022, when he had a three-fight winning streak snapped by future UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili. After the defeat, he transitioned to boxing, where he won two fights and even scored a draw against Jeremy Stephens. Soon after, he was re-signed to the UFC.

With a career record of 32 victories and 10 defeats, Jose Aldo began his professional fighting journey back in 2003. After more than two decades of competition, the UFC Hall of Famer has finally laid down his gloves. As he steps away from the sport, the entire UFC and combat sports community has one message for the legend: ‘Thank you.’ Interestingly, Aldo might have lost his last fight against Aiemann Zahabi, but it was a controversial one as well.

Alexander Volkanovski calls out judges for scoring the UFC 315 fight against Jose Aldo

By the end of Round 2, it was clear that the Brazilian was exhausted. Round 3 began as a toss-up. Aldo seriously hurt Zahabi after dropping him with a head kick, but the Canadian survived the blow and rallied from top position to fight back against Aldo. ‘Scarface’ had completely depleted his gas tank by this point. When the final bell rang, it was the Canadian whose hand was raised. However, according to Volkanovski, Aldo was closer to finishing Zahabi.

While having a conversation on his YouTube handle, Volkanovski argued, “I want to talk about the Aldo fight. Obviously, reasonably fair, I get it. But when you talk about damage, I know he ended up very tired on the bottom in that third round. Aldo won Round 1, but they gave the other two to his opponent. The second one, again, very close. Aldo slowed down a little bit in the end of the second round, so maybe that’s why they edged that round to the other guy. I want to talk about the third round.”

He further added, “It was clear Aldo pretty much the whole way through that round. I think even the start of that, but in the middle of it, when he hurt his opponent, and when we talk damage, it doesn’t get any more damaging than that. He rocked him, dropped him with a punch, then dropped him with a crazy kick. Credit to him not going asleep. I don’t know how he stayed awake from that. That was a proper soccer kick to the head. “

Volkanovski has fought José Aldo and went the distance with him, so he certainly knows what kind of fighter Aldo is. For him, witnessing this downfall must be difficult to grasp. Regardless, Aldo’s fighting days are over. With that in mind, what are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below.