UFC 301: Jose Aldo Reveals Motivation behind Comeback, Declining $1M Offers from Promotions

What is the former featherweight champion fighting for at 37 years old?

Feb 2, 2019; Fortaleza, Brazil; Jose Aldo (red gloves) reacts to fight against Renato Moicano (blue / Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

(Image via Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports)

It's better late than never for Jose Aldo.

The job's not yet finished for the former UFC Featherweight Champion who still dreams of being the best in the world ahead of his 38th birthday. Aldo reinserts himself in the bantamweight division this weekend where he will take on Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event of UFC 301.

Aldo is right where he belongs, fighting in front of his home crowd in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We last saw "The King of Rio" in Salt Lake City, where he retired from MMA after a unanimous decision to current #1 contender Merab Dvalishvili in 2022. Aldo stayed busy though in boxing, fighting three times before turning back to the UFC.

Aside from whether or not the sport has moved past him, one of the biggest questions being asked is why is Aldo fighting again after having such a legendary career in the Octagon? The UFC Hall-of-Famer explains what keeps him going at this stage.

"It was almost a little bit surprising to myself, too," Aldo told CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri of his return. "I had been focused on boxing, and then I took some vacation at the end of last year. Then, in January, I started talking to my coach about possibly making a comeback. But, I always wanna be the champion. I always wanna fight for that belt. So my body's good, and I'm still ready for it.

"I needed my time off, and I had my time off. I recovered. Now I'm back in and of course, fighting for the belt and and becoming the champion, becoming the best. That's, of course, what my goal will be... That's gonna be make a difference as well, my boxing level in there. But, just the desire of wanting to come back and wanting to put on a show, I think that's that's gonna say a lot."

Aldo became UFC Featherweight Champion in 2010 and regained the title in 2016, losing it to Max Holloway the following year. With the title out of reach at 145lbs, Aldo shrunk down to the bantamweight division in 2019 to begin anew.

The Brazilian still has yet to cross double-champ status off his bucket list, falling short of the vacant bantamweight title against Petr Yan and then to Merab Dvalivishvili in a last-chance title eliminator bout. Should he beat #13 ranked Jonathan Martinez, Aldo could get that much closer to a championship setting once again.

For his opponent Martinez, he has the chance to make a name for himself over Aldo and extend his winning streak to 7.

"I feel like winning this will be bring me closer to the top," Martinez told UFC.com. "I'll be on a seven-fight win streak and I think Merab [Dvalishvili] is another one that has it like that, too. So, hopefully they'll see me and compete with one of those guys up there."

"The Dragon" will be the final fight of Aldo's current UFC contract. There's been much speculation that Aldo wants to complete his deal and go elsewhere with his combat sports career, perhaps chase after paydays in boxing. While that's not off the table, the former champ intends to stay in the promotion he found great success in, despite being offered hefty sums from other promotions.

"This is my last fight on my contract. When I started talking to Sean [Shelby] and Dana [White] back in January, we had talked about signing a new deal. But, I decided against it because I wanna go in there, and I need to show them. I need to show myself and everyone where I'm at, what I can still do, and how I can still perform," Aldo cleared up.

"We have a lot of offers. We could have a a boxing match lined up pretty quickly if we wanted to do that as well. So, I told them, let's wait. Let me go in there and put on a performance, and then we'll talk after that to see if we'll renew a deal or not. We've been reached out by other organizations and offered big $1,000,000 purses and and things like that, but it's really not a a a matter of financial decision. I needed to have that break. I wanted to pursue my dream of boxing, and now I'm coming back. I never really thought of fighting MMA anywhere else other than the UFC. So, we just have to see where I'm at right now with this fight and and kind of see where I'm gonna go from there."

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