Jose Aldo’s coach expects vintage form from the “King of Rio.”
Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) will end his retirement to take on Jonathan Martinez (19-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 301 (Pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) co-main event at Rio Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Aldo’s muay Thai coach, Emerson Falcão, previewed the bout vs. Martinez, who is on a six-fight winning streak.
“Aldo’s opponent is going to be Jonathan Martinez. He’s a tough opponent,” Falcao said on Episode 1 of UFC “Embedded.” “He has a good kick. He’s very versatile. So, we tried to build the camp around that.”
Aldo hung up his gloves after a frustrating loss to No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022. Prior to that, he won three straight over Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, but it didn’t take long for him to get the itch to compete in the octagon again – especially in his hometown.
UFC 301 marks the final fight on former featherweight champion Aldo’s contract, but Falcão ensures that the desire to put on a show is there.
“Jose Aldo is very well trained and, more importantly, motivated,” Falcão continued. “He’s looking for the knockout, wanting to fight, wanting to brawl. On May 4, we can only expect a brutal victory via knockout.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.
