“A dancer dies twice—once when they stop dancing, and this first death is more painful” is what celebrated American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, had said. It’s true for all art forms, it seems, because right now, Jose Aldo seems to be going through a similar emotion. The former UFC featherweight champ, with 32-10-0 in his resume, and who is known as ‘The King of Rio’, has finally decided to put down his UFC gloves after the last loss against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315.

The last two losses were declared a “robbery” by many, including Joe Rogan, Conor McGregor, and Renato Moicano (Aldo’s past opponent, whom he defeated). However, Aldo is done with the sport, and he said so through an Instagram post. The 38-year-old shared some photos of his career and said, “The cage has always been my place. The Struggle, My Life. Today, I end this cycle with my soul at peace. I’m not going back because I have already fulfilled my purpose—with blood, sweat, discipline, and honor.” He also spoke about the true reason he was leaving the competitive world of fighting and spoke to Ariel Helwani about the same.

Jose Aldo’s translator said, “The reason the decision was made, I think, I wanted to give it all to just deliver to the fans and everyone, and it’s just that every time I got out, I needed to train, right? So I was getting to camp and  I was fighting with myself all the time. There would be moments I’d be crying, and just like my son, my daughter, taking them to school, and I just felt how much I was missing from their lives. I mean we’ve gotta say I made some good money to set up a good future for everybody, and now it’s more to be present in their lives and their career and not to eliminate that.”

Maybe he does not want to miss out on his children’s lives anymore but then he isn’t exactly in his prime either. He did mention that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two kids. The Hall of Famer also mentioned that he had a lot of health problems going into this fight at UFC 315. During his conversation with UFC Brazil, he said, “I had a muscle tear on the arm, I had something on the belly that I forgot the name of, down there, [from] kicking a lot. I had some problems. A virus infection, a bunch of things. The doctors [said], ‘Get him out of the fight,’ but I didn’t want to because in my head I knew this could be my last fight.”

However, he is still going to remain a source of knowledge for the new generation of fighters and is ready to help them. So maybe he might come back as a coach? He mentioned on Instagram that now he wanted to enjoy with his family and help the newcomers in this sport. Meanwhile, let’s see what veteran Daniel Cormier said about Aldo.

Daniel Cormier’s tribute to Jose Aldo

It feels like just yesterday the Brazilian was the king and supreme in the WEC. He was the 4th and final featherweight champion before the promotion blended with the UFC, and this move crowned him as the inaugural UFC featherweight king. ‘Junior’ successfully defended his strap 9 times until Conor McGregor dethroned him. Now that Aldo is stepping away from UFC after more than a decade,  Daniel Cormier decided to pay him a tribute.

He said on his Youtube channel, “When José Aldo got to the UFC and they made him the first featherweight champion of the world, it just felt right. If there was ever a person who deserved to be handed a belt when he arrived, it was José Aldo. He went on to defend that championship so many times. From the weight miss this week to the fight where he got so fatigued—he said he just doesn’t have it in him anymore…. It felt like that was the last time we would hear ‘Run This Town’ and see the great José Aldo walk to the Octagon.”

Even Aldo’s past rival McGregor gave him a small tribute on social media. He shared a video on Aldo that declared the latter a ‘featherweight GOAT’. The Irishman put a caption simply reading ‘Jose Aldo last night’ beside an emoji of two eyes. So what do you think? Will Aldo come back as a mentor? Or will he spend time with his family and stay away from MMA? Tell us in the comments below.