LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White has nothing but nice things to say about Jose Aldo.
Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) announced his retirement from MMA this week, parting ways with the UFC while he still had one fight remaining on his contract. His final bout came in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili last month at UFC 278.
Aldo, a former long-time featherweight champion, ended his UFC tenure at bantamweight where he challenged for the title once and scored big wins over Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font. White praised Aldo for all his accomplishments and is happy to welcome him back in any capacity.
“We love him,” White told reporters at the DWCS 55 post-fight press conference. “This will always be his house. I told him, ‘If you ever need anything here or you ever want to go to an event, this is always your house.’ This is a guy that, from the WEC to the UFC, helped build the sport, this brand and Brazil for us. So we love him, and we always will. He’s made a great life for himself down there, too, and done some great things and made a lot of money, and I couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
White was also asked about his favorite Aldo moment. He picked Aldo’s knockout win over Chad Mendes at UFC 142 where he retained his featherweight title in his hometown of Rio and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“I think the fight was in Rio when he jumped out of the octagon and jumped into the crowd, and the crowd was carrying him around, and the place was going nuts,” White said. “It’s one of my favorite Jose Aldo moments.”
