José Aldo breaks silence on 'bad marriage' in final UFC fight: 'Why compete?'

José Aldo said goodbye to MMA in UFC 315 (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

The biggest name in the history of the UFC featherweight division (up to 65,7 kg), José Aldo, faced a melancholic farewell. By unanimous decision of the judges, the 'King of Rio' was defeated by Aiemann Zahabi, at UFC 315. After much questioning from fans, the Hall of Famer explained, in a recent interview with Canadian journalist Ariel Helwani, the reason for accepting the fight against the prospect.

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“There are no regrets. I'm just grateful to Sean Shelby for organizing the fight, because it's always going to be a spectacle, regardless of the opponent. Whether it's a young, promising fighter, I'm always ready. I don't worry about myself or what I can do. I know I can deliver and I've always been prepared," Aldo explained to Ariel Helwani.

During the interview, the former champion once again reinforced his philosophy of not turning down fights. According to the UFC star, choosing fights with veterans would be giving up on the challenge.

“I always told my coach: if I'm doing super fights against older guys, it means I'm not there. It means the dream of being champion doesn't exist. I trained, I worked and I wanted to be champion. If I fought a guy like Cruz, maybe people would see it as: 'These guys are older'. Why set up the fight? Just for people to watch? That's outside the dream of wanting to be champion,” said the 'King of Rio'.

“I basically told people, ‘If I don’t beat the rookies, if I don’t overcome these challenges, why am I here? Why compete?’” Aldo concluded. “Because I want to be a champion, and I want to be the best. So I’m very grateful to Sean Shelby and the matchmaking.”

José Aldo had already announced retirement once. The last fight would have been the defeat to Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022. Two years later, the legend decided to return to the octagon. In his return, he won Jonathan martinez by decision in UFC 301. Since then, he suffered two defeats until he finally decided to leave his gloves on the octagon canvas. Before Zahabi, Aldo was defeated by mario bautista.