UFC Removes Hall-Of-Famer From Roster, Fans React To Update

It’s official—no, really official.

Jose Aldo is no longer a part of the UFC’s active roster. While Aldo made it clear after his recent loss to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 that he was done competing in the Octagon and in mixed martial arts, it’s now been confirmed.

However, it hit different on Monday morning when this post dropped from UFC Roster Watch.

By the afternoon, the post was liked almost 12,000 times. It had nearly a million impressions and one of the first comments came from social media celebrity, Andrew Tate.

Others used memes of a despondent Aldo sitting in the Octagon following the controversial unanimous decision that saw him lose to Zahabi after the Brazilian legend missed weight.

Almost every comment was one of praise for one of the greatest featherweight champions and fighters—regardless of weight class—in mixed martial arts history. Normally when a fighter of Aldo’s ilk walks away, you hear comments on their career and situation from Dana White.

That hasn’t happened as of yet, but it would be interesting to hear what White has to say about one of the biggest stars in the promotion’s history.

Barring a highly unlikely return to the Octagon, Aldo, 38, walks away with a 32-10 record. He lost his last two fights to Zahabi and Mario Bautista, but I scored both of those fights for Aldo. He just didn’t get the nod from the official judges.

According to Tapology, Aldo is listed as the No. 7 MMA Striker of All-Time, the No. 3 Fan-Favorite fighter and the eighth greatest MMA Fighter of All Time.

Aldo was a perfect 8-0 with WEC and their reigning featherweight champion before the promotion was absorbed by the UFC. Aldo had seven finishes in those bouts, including memorable wins over Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, and Manny Gamburyan in a relentless 15-month run from June 2009 to September 2010.

Aldo made his UFC debut in April 2011 when he scored a unanimous decision win over Mark Hominick in a fight that earned him a Fight of the Night bonus. Aldo would begin his UFC career with a spectacular seven-fight win streak, with victories over Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes (twice), Frankie Edgar, Chan Sung Jung, and Ricardo Lamas.

Junior’s reign came to a crashing halt when he was knocked out by Conor McGregor in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015. For the remainder of his career, Aldo went 7-8.

Aldo was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023 during his first retirement. However, after competing in three boxing matches in 2023, he returned to the UFC with an impressive unanimous decision win over Jonathan Martinez in May 2024 in his native Brazil.

The victory positioned Aldo as a potential dark horse challenger for the UFC bantamweight title. Alas, his momentum was stopped with the losses to Bautista and Zahabi. Combined with the brutal weight cut ahead of the fight with Zahabi, Aldo chose to call it a career.

What’s Next For the UFC?

The UFC will be in Baku this weekend for a Fight Night event that figures to have a spirited crowd considering its a first for the region.

Here’s a look at the lineup of fights.

Main Card (ABC/ESPN+ at 3 PM ET)

• Light Heavyweight (205 lbs): Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
• Lightweight (155 lbs): Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
• Heavyweight (265 lbs): Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Lightweight (155 lbs): Myktybek Orolbai vs. Tofiq Musayev
• Lightweight (155 lbs): Nazim Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta

Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 12 PM ET)

• Featherweight (145 lbs): Muhammad Naimov vs. Bogdan Grad
• Welterweight (170 lbs): Seokhyeon Ko vs. Oban Elliott
• Middleweight (185 lbs): Ismail Naurdiev vs. Jun Yong Park
• Bantamweight (135 lbs): Darya Zheleznyakova vs. Melissa Mullins
• Bantamweight (135 lbs): Irina Alekseeva vs. Klaudia Syguła
• Flyweight (125 lbs): Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Azat Maksum
• Heavyweight (265 lbs): Mohammed Usman vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab