Being a former two-time champion, people were hoping that Dana White and Co. would give a proper sendoff to Hall of Fame legend Jose Aldo after his last fight in Canada at UFC 315. After returning to the UFC following a brief boxing stint, ‘Junior’s second run hasn’t been a memorable one as he decided to cap off his career after Aiemann Zahabi handed him a defeat a couple of weeks ago. “I don’t see myself fighting,” Aldo said in an interview following his last UFC fight.

Well, he may not have gotten a proper sendoff from Dana White’s promotion, but he got that recently in his hometown of Sao Paulo. The Brazilian legend would be given the deserved respect by his peers at Nova Uniao, with his family and friends present at the event. Moreover, his wife, Viviane Pereira, also spoke about the journey of a couple of decades together, with an important revelation about the former 2-time featherweight champion.

According to Jose Aldo’s wife, ahead of one of his earlier fights, where he suffered his first MMA loss, the former UFC champion was in no condition to compete at all. He was ill, so it would have been better if he hadn’t taken the chance and fought with that condition. However, Aldo and his family weren’t in a good financial position like they are now. Moreover, they lived in the favelas, and that motivated ‘Junior’ to go ahead and fight for his family.

“I’m very emotional — since the fight, really. I’m with Aldo for 20 years now. I got to live it all, from the first loss to Luciano Azevedo over in Manaus. I remember he was battling high fever, but we had no money at home,” Jose Aldo’s wife stated, as reported by ‘MMA Fighting’. “We lived in the favela, and he said, ‘I have to fight because I need that money.’ After that, he said, ‘I lost because I went after the money. From this day, I’ll never chase money.’ And that’s how it was done. From that day, we never fought for money, but money came for us.”

Now, things have changed for the Aldo household. They are living a better and comfortable life, as the former UFC star became one of the best ever in MMA. That opened other doors, like a move that was made after Aldo’s life. His wife claims to have taken charge of the whole family while the former champion was focusing on his career. And at the end of his career, the struggle was worth it.

“We’ve achieved so much more. There was a movie made after him, of his life. Two beautiful kids we have. A career with highs and lows. Only I know what we went through at home. Only I know the painful part. I protected him from everything. All he had to do was fight,” Jose Aldo’s wife added. “All the rest, the problems and any difficulties, it was up to ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] and I…  Most people only see the good part, but it was very hard to get where he’s got. And I’m proud of you. You have no idea how proud I am.”

Well, Jose Aldo has finally decided to put mixed martial arts behind him. So now, maybe he’ll be diving into boxing again, or so some people thought. It appears that Aldo isn’t keen on competing as a professional athlete anymore. Here’s what he had to say.

Jose Aldo now wants to focus on the ‘other things’

When Jose Aldo came back to the UFC and paused his boxing career, he was not motivated by the money. After all, there’s more to be made in boxing, with several new avenues, like influencer boxing, popping up. Aldo would have surely scored a fight against YouTubers just like Jake Paul. However, his aim behind the return was to add more chapters to his legacy. But now that his UFC career is done, the 38-year-old has no intentions of getting into boxing again. Instead, he wants to take care of the many businesses he’s built in the past few years.

“I made the decision right then and there, win or lose, independent of the result, I was sure of what was gonna happen,” Jose Aldo told Ariel Helwani. “As you know, I stopped for boxing for a brief period of time and then there was something in my heart that touched me to go back to the UFC. I didn’t do it for the money. I did it to continue my story and my history because if it was for the money, I would have gone to another organization and got more money for it… I’m not fighting again. I have other things going on for me.” 

Jose Aldo may not have gotten a proper UFC sendoff, but his achievements and feats will always remain in the promotion’s history. His legacy includes more than just being the rival that Conor McGregor beat to become the undisputed featherweight champion. It remains to be seen what lies ahead for Aldo, and also, if we can ever see him as an analyst in the UFC’s broadcast team. Who knows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.