The legendary Jose Aldo continued his hall-of-fame career after returning to active competition against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 on Saturday night.
Aldo (32-9) doesn’t have much lacking from his legendary resume. The former longtime UFC featherweight champion has beaten the who’s who at 145 pounds. Upon returning to the UFC he dropped down to bantamweight, but a rough weight cut at UFC 315 forced this bout up to 145.
Zahabi (12-2) jumped on this opportunity very quickly. The 37-year-old Canadian has been in the UFC since 2017 and holds wins over Pedro Munhoz, Javid Basharat and Aoriqileng to name a few. The fight against Aldo would be the biggest of his career.
Round 1 Aldo came out in his old muay thai stance making fans wonder if we’d finally get to see those old school kicks. Zahabi stayed on his bike trying to not be a stationary target for the hall of famer.
Aldo had a clear speed advantage getting in close and landing a knee to the body before throwing a combo up top. Zahabi tried to take the middle, but Aldo wouldn’t allow it. Zahabi began to get more aggressive, but Aldo’s counters were working so well that he was a step behind most of the round.
Zahabi decided to take the last 45 seconds to come after Aldo and he landed his shots. Aldo was able to counter him very well however so it likely wasn’t enough to get him the round.
Round 2 Zahabi came out and right away went with a knee to the body forcing Aldo to the fence. Aldo was able to put the jab on Zahabi who landed two illegal knees to the groin. Unintentional so no points where taken away.
Aldo did a great job of ripping Zahabi to the body who found his jab in the round. Lot of movement from Zahabi in this one, but Aldo was able to negate it with his own very subtle movement.
Round 3 Zahabi must have felt he was down because he came out aggressive. Aldo matched the pace at first landing on Zahabi plenty. Aldo was able to hurt Zahabi and then went off like a madman trying to get the finish, but Zahabi was able to survive and hurt Aldo.
Aldo shot in but ended up on his back and spent the rest of the fight in full survival mode with Zahabi on top of him. He was able to do it and the fight went to the scorecards.
Jose Aldo spoke with Daniel Cormier and said his body couldn’t handle the grind anymore. He announced his retirement right then and there. The King Of Rio walks away for the last time.
Official Result: Aiemann Zahabi def. Jose Aldo via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3)
