José Aldo

José Aldo
Born	José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (1986-09-09) September 9, 1986 Manaus, Brazil
Other names	Junior, Scarface
Nationality	Brazilian
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st)
Division	Featherweight
Reach	70.0 in (178 cm)
Style	Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Fighting out of	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team	Nova União, Black House
Rank	black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	2004–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	19
Wins	18
By knockout	12
By submission	2
By decision	4
Losses	1
By submission	1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: October 1, 2010

José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒoˈzɛ ˈawdu]; born September 9, 1986) is a Brazilian Muay Thai fighter and mixed martial artist . He currently fights as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion, where he is the first and current UFC Featherweight Champion. Aldo was also the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion. He is currently ranked the #1 featherweight in the world and the #3 pound-for-pound fighter by Sherdog.

MMA career

Early career

Known by the nickname, "The Smiling Squirrel" Aldo fought his first professional MMA fight at the age of seventeen at EcoFight 1 on August 10, 2004. He fought fellow countryman and newcomer Mário Bigola, whom he defeated by knockout (head-kick) eighteen seconds into the first round. It would be Bigola's first and only professional fight.

Aldo fought fellow Brazilian, Hudson Rocha in his second fight for Shooto Brazil. The fight was ended by doctor stoppage at the end of the first round due to a cut over Rocha's left eye, caused by a flying knee thrown by Aldo, which was followed by a barrage of punches. Rocha was able to get back to his feet, only to be met with more strikes and a knee before Aldo kicked his legs out from under him.

Five months later he fought MMA neophyte Luiz de Paula at Shooto - Brazil 7. Aldo took de Paula down in the clinch early on in the fight. He quickly gained mount, where he rained down punches before transitioning to an arm-triangle choke, forcing de Paula to tap at 1:54 of the first round.

Aldo spent the next several years jumping from organization to organization. He next fought Vale Tudo and Shooto veteran Aritano Silva Barbosa, who had lost four of his last five fights, at Rio MMA Challenge 1 on May 12, 2005. Aldo landed two knees to the chin of Barbosa in the opening seconds of the fight, sending him to the canvas; where Aldo swarmed with punches. Barbosa tried for the single, but Aldo pulled away and threw two soccer kicks to the prone Barbosa before the referee stopped the fight at twenty seconds of the first round, awarding Aldo the victory via knockout. Less than two months later Aldo fought newcomer Anderson Silvério at Meca World Vale Tudo 12. He also defeated Silvério with soccer kicks, 8:33 into the first round.

Aldo then traveled to England, where he fought Micky Young at FX3- Battle of Britain on October 15, 2005. He defeated Young just 1:05 into the first round by TKO (punches).

Loss to Azevedo

Only a month later, Aldo fought respected Luta Livre black-belt Luciano Azevedo at Jungle Fight 5. Aldo won the first round, winning most of the exchanges with solid combinations and leg kicks and stuffing Azevedo's numerous takedown attempts (he was nearly taken down early in the round, but appeared to purposefully fall out of the ropes to force a restart from the referee), as well as landing a solid knee as Azevedo went for a takedown. Aldo shrugged off Azevedo's first few takedown attempts in the second, but was eventually taken down against the ropes by a double-leg. Aldo raised his hips up looking for triangles and other submissions, but Azevedo easily defended.

He soon passed to half-guard and side control. He then transitioned to full mount. Aldo quickly gave up his back and rolled into the ropes. The referee restarted the fight in the center of the ring, where Azevedo locked his legs around Aldo in a body triangle. Aldo controlled Azevedo's hands for several seconds before falling back into the corner of the ring, where Azevedo was able to secure the fight-ending rear-naked choke 3:37 into round two. The loss was not only Aldo's first as a professional, but the only defeat he has suffered in his career so far.

Rebound

Aldo rebounded in his next fight against the then-undefeated Thiago "Minu" Meller at Gold Fighters Championship I on May 20, 2006, winning a majority decision in a very close fight. Round one could have gone either way, with Aldo getting two takedowns (both times getting into half-guard) and cutting Meller's right eyebrow with a left hand; while Meller went for two armbars, nearly hyper-extending Aldo's right arm in the first attempt before Aldo was able to escape. Aldo won a lackluster round two, again taking Meller down and landing some hammerfists. A seemingly exhausted Aldo stalled against the ropes much of the third round, holding Meller in the clinch. Both landed some solid strikes in the few exchanges there were in the round.

Pancrase

In his last fight before joining the WEC, Aldo fought Pancrase veteran Shoji Maruyama in the Pancrase 2007 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals. Aldo won a unanimous decision, dominating Maruyama standing and on the ground. In the first exchange Aldo landed a front kick to Maruyama's body, sending him to the canvas. He was able to land the cleaner shots in exchanges, where he connected with leg kicks and knees while in the clinch. He took Maruyama down almost at will with trips and body-locks; whereas Maruyama failed in all his attempts to get Aldo to the mat. On the ground he was able get side control and top and back mount.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Aldo made his debut for mixed martial arts promoter World Extreme Cagefighting on June 1, 2008 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. In his debut with the organization he defeated renowned fighter Alexandre Franca Nogueira at WEC 34. Aldo won his fight on June 7, 2009 at WEC 41 against Cub Swanson via double flying knee eight seconds into the first round.

Aldo won the WEC Featherweight Championship against Mike Brown on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44. He won by TKO in the second round. He was able to get Brown in the back mount, where he punched away until the referee was forced to stop the fight at 1:20 of the round. José Aldo was the recipient of Fighter of the Year accolades for 2009 from both MMA Live and Sherdog.com.

Aldo faced former title holder Urijah Faber on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48. Aldo defeated Faber via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 50-45). Aldo was able to use effective leg and body kicks (a total of thirty-two) to stifle Faber, sending him to the canvas several times with solid kicks. For the remaining 1:40 of the fourth round Aldo trapped Faber in the crucifix, peppering him with punches and elbows. Aldo did not engage most of the fifth (although he did land a body shot that nearly crumpled Faber). This was Aldo's first decision win in his WEC career.

Aldo defended his title against Manvel Gamburyan by KO at 1:32 of the second round on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51.

Aldo and his camp have often mentioned his desire to eventually make the move up in weight to the lightweight division (155-pound limit). Having rolled through all of his opposition in the WEC featherweight class, the UFC offered Aldo a fight against Kenny Florian, who has challenged for the UFC lightweight title. Aldo and his camp declined the fight, instead deciding to remain at featherweight for the time being to defend his WEC belt.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Aldo became the inaugural UFC Featherweight Champion, receiving the first ever UFC featherweight title belt on Saturday, November 20, 2010. His first defense was set to take place at UFC 125 against Josh Grispi. Aldo was forced to withdraw from UFC 125 after suffering a neck injury just three days after receiving his UFC belt. Dustin Poirier stepped in to take his place and fought Grispi at UFC 125.

Aldo is expected to make his first defense against Mark Hominick on April 30, 2011 at UFC 129

Personal life

José Aldo was not very well off growing up, as WEC general manager Reed Harris states, "They were telling me that Wagnney Fabiano would be at the gym, and José would show up, and Wagnney would say, 'Have you eaten today or yesterday?' If not, they would go get him some food. That's how poor he was." When asked in an interview by the WEC what his motivation is, Aldo replied "My personal desires. My dream, my goal is to own my own house. This dream motivates me more and more as I get closer to fulfilling it".

Aldo received a scar on the left side of his face as a child, when his sisters rolled him into a barbecue pit while his mother was distracted, which lead to him gaining the nickname "Scarface".

Aldo is married. His wife has a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and has fought twice professionally in Muay-Thai. In Brazil, he is well known for his fighting talent and for being a fanatic football (soccer) supporter of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and English club Chelsea F.C..

Championships and awards

• World Extreme Cagefighting
  • WEC Featherweight Championship (One time, final)
  • Knockout of the Night (Three times)
  • Most consecutive wins in the WEC (Eight)

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Featherweight Championship (One time, current, first)

• Sherdog
  • 2009 Fighter of the Year [1]

• World MMA Awards
  • 2010 Charles "Mask" Lewis Fighter of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

19 matches	18 wins	1 loss
By knockout	12	0
By submission	2	1
By decision	4	0

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
—	—	Mark Hominick	—	UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields	April 30, 2011	—	—	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Defending UFC Featherweight Championship
Win	18-1	Manvel Gamburyan	KO (Punches)	WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan	September 30, 2010	2	1:32	Broomfield, Colorado, US	Defended WEC Featherweight Championship; Later promoted to UFC Featherweight Champion
Win	17-1	Urijah Faber	Decision (Unanimous)	WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber	April 24, 2010	5	5:00	Sacramento, California, US	Defended WEC Featherweight Championship
Win	16-1	Mike Brown	TKO (Punches)	WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo	November 18, 2009	2	1:20	Las Vegas, Nevada, US	Won WEC Featherweight Championship, Knockout of the Night.
Win	15-1	Cub Swanson	KO (Double Flying Knee & Punches)	WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber II	June 7, 2009	1	0:08	Sacramento, California, US	Knockout of the Night
Win	14-1	Chris Mickle	TKO (Strikes)	WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia	March 1, 2009	1	1:39	Corpus Christi, Texas, US
Win	13-1	Rolando Perez	KO (Knee and Punches)	WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone	January 25, 2009	1	4:15	San Diego, California, US	Knockout of the Night
Win	12-1	Jonathan Brookins	TKO (Strikes)	WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown	November 5, 2008	3	0:45	Hollywood, Florida, US
Win	11-1	Alexandre Nogueira	TKO (Elbows)	WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver	June 1, 2008	2	3:22	Sacramento, California, US
Win	10-1	Shoji Maruyama	Decision (Unanimous)	Pancrase: 2007 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals	July 27, 2007	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	9-1	Fabio Mello	Decision (Unanimous)	TopFC 3	May 2, 2007	3	5:00	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	8-1	Thiago Minu	Decision (Majority)	GoldFC 1	May 20, 2006	3	5:00	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss	7-1	Luciano Azevedo	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Jungle Fight 5	November 26, 2005	2	3:37	Manaus, Brazil
Win	7-0	Micky Young	TKO (Punches)	FX3: Battle of Britain	October 15, 2005	1	1:05	Reading, England
Win	6-0	Phil Harris	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	UK-1: Fight Night	September 17, 2005	1	N/A	Portsmouth, England
Win	5-0	Anderson Silverio	Submission (Soccer Kicks)	Meca Vale Tudo 12	July 9, 2005	1	7:33	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	4-0	Aritano Barbosa	KO (Soccer Kicks)	Rio MMA Challenge 1	May 12, 2005	1	0:22	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	3-0	Luiz de Paula	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	Shooto Brazil 7	March 19, 2005	1	0:56	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	2-0	Hudson Rocha	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	Shooto Brazil: Never Shake	October 23, 2004	1	5:00	São Paulo, Brazil
Win	1-0	Mario Bigola	KO (Head Kick and Soccer Kick)	EcoFight 1	August 10, 2004	1	0:18	Amapá, Brazil

See also

• List of current mixed martial arts champions

External links

• WEC Page
• Professional MMA record for Jose Aldo from Sherdog
• Jose Aldo BJJ Heroes Page