José Aldo To Be Inducted to UFC Hall of Fame 2023 Modern Wing
Brazilian Legend José Aldo is set to be inducted into the Modern Wing of UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
The announcement came during UFC 283 PPV on Saturday in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Aldo becomes the 10th fighter to be inducted into the modern wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. He will be the first Brazilian Fighter in the modern wing and the third Brazilian Fighter in UFC Hall of Fame overall.
Jose Aldo’s pro-MMA debut came in 2004 EcoFight back in Brazil against Mario Bigola. He made his way into WEC 2008 where he went on to win WEC Featherweight Championship. Aldo was promoted to UFC Featherweight Champion when UFC brought WEC in 2010.
Aldo went on to defend that title 7 times successfully in succession which remains a record until this day along with most featherweight title defenses overall. Aldo’s winning run came to a shocking end when Conor McGregor defeated him in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015.
Aldo became the interim Featherweight Champion by beating Frankie Edgar when McGregor was inactive and was later promoted to full-time champion. However, a pair of losses to Max Halloway ended his journey with the featherweight title.
Aldo then transitioned to bantamweight in December 2019 and even challenged Petr Yan for the title at UFC 251 in 2020 unsuccessfully. He ended his bantamweight run with a 3-3 record with his last bout being a loss against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 PPV in August 2022.
With one more fight left in his UFC contract, Jose Aldo announced his retirement in September 2022 and was released by UFC. He ended his career with an overall MMA record of 31-8 and a combined WEC & UFC record of 21-7. He is currently in discussion to transition to boxing in the final days of his career as a fighter.
UFC Hall of Fame 2023 ceremony is expected to take place during International Fight Week in July 2023. A date is not confirmed yet. Aldo is the first fighter to be inducted into Class of 2023.
