“The King of Rio” hung them up and as news broke of this, many fighters, personalities, and media members took a nostalgic journey down memory lane.
A consensus all-time great, Jose Aldo left a lasting impacts on fighters and followers of MMA since he burst into the national spotlight in 2008. Sunday, news surfaced of his retirement.
Read below what the MMA community had to say about the first UFC featherweight champion ever retiring from mixed martial arts.
Lauren Murphy
I’m so glad I got to see one of his fights and walkouts live. One of the GOATS of MMA. What a career. https://t.co/1kiQVdduEw
— Lauren Murphy (@LaurenMurphyMMA) September 18, 2022
Billy Quarantillo
Don’t know if this is it, but If so was a pleasure meeting and training with @josealdojunior 2015 on tuf – absolute legend @fightpicsgohard 💯 pic.twitter.com/6iDrsTOTP3
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) September 18, 2022
Adrian Yanez
If it's true that he retired.@josealdojunior you're one of my favorite fighters and an absolute legend. Enjoy retirement, thank you for all the memorable moments 🙏
— Adrian Yañez (@yanezmma) September 18, 2022
Terrance McKinney
Happy retirement to Jose Aldo one my favorite fighters growing up 🙏🙏🙏
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) September 18, 2022
Evy Rodrigues
Obrigada por tudo @josealdojunior 🙏🏻
Foi uma honra poder acompanhar sua carreira nesses 11 anos cobrindo MMA. Te disse da última vez que a gente se encontrou no aeroporto e repito agora: o mundo é todo seu. O legado que você deixa é gigante! pic.twitter.com/CJrjDp51iM
— Evy Rodrigues (@vevyrodrigues) September 18, 2022
Luke Thomas
Aldo holds wins at 135 and 145 over:
Font
Munhoz
Vera
Moicano
Stephens
Edgar (2x)
Mendes (2x)
Lamas
Jung
Florian
Hominick
Gamburyan
Faber
Brown
Swanson
Mickle
Perez
Brookins
NogueiraAnd others. First ballot Hall of Famer if ever there was one.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) September 18, 2022
Cris Cyborg
If @josealdojunior wants the last fight on his contract and wants to retire in Rio he has done more than enough for that company to deserve the opportunity
— CrisCyborg.com Boxing Sept 25th (@criscyborg) September 18, 2022
Mads Burnell
One of the best to ever do it. Put the featherweight division on the map 👑🙌 https://t.co/VDOak2nX9s
— Mads Burnell (@Burnellmma) September 18, 2022
Gaston Reyno
Se retira Jose Aldo, uno de los mejores dentro del Octágono, y de los más queridos por todos afuera.
GRACIAS POR TANTOS MOMENTOS INOLVIDABLES GUERRERO! 🙌🏻👑🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/ePgQCWaCpI— Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (@gastonreyno) September 18, 2022
Amy Kaplan
My absolute favorite Jose Aldo moment, and my favorite photo I’v taken of the former champion. ❤️ happy retirement Jose! pic.twitter.com/gPvyM9NOGh
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) September 18, 2022
Nolan King
Leg kicks. Title defenses. Takedown defense. Run This Town.
The greatest featherweight this sport has ever seen.
Thanks for the memories, @josealdojunior. 🫡 https://t.co/WPiYBVnRp2
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) September 18, 2022
Proposal: The #UFC should give Jose Aldo one final "Run This Town" walkout at #UFC283 in Rio this January. pic.twitter.com/m40P8WIu5Y
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) September 18, 2022
Matthew Wells
Put him in the HOF this weekend. https://t.co/ulpgy65JEr
— Matthew Wells (@MrMWells) September 18, 2022
Joe Giannetti
What a 🐐, enjoy retirement @josealdojunior thanks for all the memories before & while I grew up in the sport👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/aDbjB07ulz
— Joe Joe Giannetti 💀 (@Giannettimma) September 18, 2022
Mike Bohn
Legendary career. Aldo goes out with the longest title reign in UFC featherweight history (1,848 days), t-most UFC/WEC featherweight wins (18), most finishes (11) and most knockouts (11). https://t.co/jopBYit8Uu
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) September 18, 2022
John De Jesus
Damm the king is gone #longlivetheking #aldoneverdies #ufc https://t.co/3Xzw9BDRIX
— John De Jesus (@JohnDeJesusMMA) September 18, 2022
Simon Samano
“End of an era” gets thrown around a lot. This truly feels like it.
Hope he’s happy in retirement. https://t.co/rcdqA9acv3
— Simon Samano (@SJSamano) September 18, 2022
Megan Olivi
Obrigado & Parabéns to the legend, the kindest, THE King of Rio @josealdojunior 👑 https://t.co/DcPlSLKTsx
— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) September 18, 2022
Gilbert Burns
👑 👑👑👑👑 ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 @josealdojunior https://t.co/RznvKYKI37
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) September 18, 2022
Caposa
23-year-old José Aldo. A deadly combo of speed and skills far ahead of his time. The featherweight GOAT and one of the greatest fighters MMA has ever seen. NINE title defenses, not seven. Mark that down in his HOF induction. @josealdojunior pic.twitter.com/Jsv9U9w5oj
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) September 18, 2022
MMA Junkie
Jose Aldo's legendary MMA career ended today with his retirement, and he leaves behind a legacy that will be hard to match. 🏆
Full story: https://t.co/OyTfOrENZZ pic.twitter.com/0O6LGOpzPt
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) September 18, 2022
John Morgan
It’s rare to reach the level of universal love and respect among your peers that @josealdojunior did. Legend doesn’t even seem like a strong enough word.
Honored to have covered his career from the WEC days. Jose came from the humblest of beginnings and truly became a king. 👏🏻👏🏻
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) September 18, 2022
Ricardo Ramos
Dan Hardy
Coach Sean Madden
As one chapter ends, a new one begins. Congrats to a true legend of the sport. @josealdojunior 👑 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/zTv8FQkw1E
— Sean Madden (@SeanM_Striking) September 18, 2022
Jose Aldo
Gabriel Miranda
@josealdojunior obrigado pelo legado e pela inspiradora trajetória! #Campeão #Lenda #UFC #MMA https://t.co/mbkGw0p2YO
— G A B R I E L ▫ F L Y 🇧🇷 (@GabrielFlyMMA) September 18, 2022
Igor Araujo
Jose Aldo informou o UFC, que vai se aposentar.
Um dos maiores de todos os tempos.
Eu lembro dele em um campeonato de jiujitsu, de faixa roxa, lutando com um kimono todo sujo e vencendo. Eu tambem lembro dele campeão do UFC.
Uma lenda @josealdojunior lutou muito. 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/uwpBLbrSYl— Igor Araujo (@igoraraujojj) September 18, 2022
Cody Gibson
Aldo was someone who I could just watch film on over and over and always learn something new. He ruled over the featherweight division. Even when he began to decline, he continued to be competitive at the top of the bantamweight division for years. Thank you 🙏 @josealdojunior https://t.co/hHyTS9oTAb
— Cody Gibson (@TheRenegade559) September 18, 2022
Carlos Mota
legend @josealdojunior 🇧🇷🏆 pic.twitter.com/EIPniuKf92
— Carlos mota tizil (@mota_tizil) September 18, 2022
RJ Clifford
Jose Aldo, the destroyer of men, giggling like a child trying on his first suit over a decade ago. A poor kid from the favela laughing endearingly at the absurdity that is suit shopping. Legend. pic.twitter.com/MnMs5OORo0
— RJ Clifford (@RJcliffordMMA) September 18, 2022
Arnold Allen
What an amazing career @josealdojunior had, watching him smash people to bits in his swim shorts is one of the things that inspired me to get into mma, legend pic.twitter.com/u28keQUcIR
— Arnold billy allen (@Arnoldbfa) September 18, 2022
Henry Cejudo
I always wonder what could've been. I spent a whole camp training to fight Jose Aldo in Brazil, but COVID changed everything. I was looking forward to the challenge & crazy atmosphere.
Happy retirement to one of the greatest featherweights in MMA history @josealdojunior 👏🏽🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/I4fHHLBMgc
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) September 18, 2022
Cub Swanson
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 https://t.co/kTgRx31HLT
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) September 18, 2022
Manny Gamburyan
Ariel Helwani
Jose Aldo’s greatest legacy, IMO, aren’t the title defenses, the wins or the KOs. It’s that he didn’t let the 2015 loss to McGregor define him. Many would have let that moment break them. Not Aldo. He worked his way back & even found success in 2 weight classes. Absolute legend.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 18, 2022
Lerone Murphy
BREAKING NEWS: Mcgregor vs Aldo Bare knuckle boxing
— LERONE MURPHY (@LeroneMurphy) September 18, 2022
Max Holloway
The King of RIO! What a career brother! Go enjoy retirement brother. Eat some açaí with cashew and powder milk for me 🤙🏻 @josealdojunior
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) September 18, 2022
UFC
The King of Rio calls it a career 👑
Congratulations @JoseAldoJunior on a legendary run 👏 pic.twitter.com/VvRQwFV0PO
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2022
Josh Gross
Whether or not @josealdojunior fights again, it's always the right time to appreciate his greatness. The night Aldo stopped Mike Brown to win the WEC belt, I interviewed him over the phone and closed my story for Sports Illustrated like this: pic.twitter.com/efsIznPKwM
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) September 18, 2022
Frankie Edgar
Alexander Volkanovski
Wish nothing but the best to the Featherweight Goat @josealdojunior 🙏
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) September 18, 2022
Vince Morales
Daaaaamn https://t.co/ES30jhvKgk
— Vince Morales (@vandetta135) September 19, 2022
Brian Kelleher
Favorite Jose Aldo fight ?
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) September 18, 2022
Matt Brown
Jose was easily top 5 all time great. Wanted to see more fights from him https://t.co/7VKZqFvaxA
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) September 19, 2022
Cody Durden
😥 Legend of the sport. https://t.co/zUyFql4zGW
— Cody Durden (@Cody_Durden) September 18, 2022
Jared Vanderaa
Enjoy Retirement https://t.co/CDTP3BsfEy
— Jared Vanderaa (@Jaredvanderaa) September 18, 2022
MacMally
-born into poverty with 3 siblings
-started helping his dad at work at age 6
-bullied at school
-sister threw him on a BBQ giving him a permanent facial scar
Jose Aldo could have been a super villain but instead goes down as one of the greatest, and humblest to ever do it. 👑
— MacMally 🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) September 18, 2022
Marc Goddard
Having reffed @josealdojunior several times over his incredible career including one of the most memorable fights of all time vs Chad Mendes in Brazil.l, I have nothing but respect & fond memories. Always a professional & a bona fide legend. Enjoy your retirement Jose! Thank you pic.twitter.com/87BXybfDqT
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) September 18, 2022
Damien Brown
What a legend
Enjoy retirement @josealdojunior 👏🏼 https://t.co/UyUsp9qO3w
— Damien Brown (@beatdown155) September 18, 2022
Deiveson Figueiredo
Marc Raimondi
Benito Lopez
You’ve been my favorite fighter since I was teenager Ive always looked up to your fighting style, story and how you over came everything. Thanks for the lifetime of inspiration and staying true to who you are. Enjoy retirement! 🐐 @josealdojunior
— Benito Lopez (@Savage_530) September 19, 2022
Anthony Pettis
Congrats on an amazing career @josealdojunior 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/2T4tmAaMr5
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) September 19, 2022
Ryan Spann
One of my favorite fighters. It was an honor to fight on a Rio card with The King of Rio. https://t.co/RAeT8Ic00F
— Ryan Spann (@Superman_Spann) September 18, 2022
Petr Yan
One of the best to ever do it. Enjoy your retirement legend @josealdojunior
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) September 19, 2022
B.J. Penn
One of the greatest to ever do it. Happy retirement @josealdojunior, see you soon my brotha 🤙🏽 https://t.co/NUcYg6lY6L
— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) September 19, 2022
