When it comes to the Brazilian mixed martial arts scene, UFC veteran Jose Aldo will pick himself over any of his compatriots as the greatest fighter to have emerged from the country.
I respect everyone’s history, but I’m the best: Jose Aldo
Brazil has been one of the cradles of MMA fighters. From the esteemed Gracie family to the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Cris Cyborg, Charles Oliveira, Amanda Nunes, Wanderlei Silva… the country has produced some of the biggest and most legendary names in the sport and with zero questions, Jose Aldo is one of them.
Hailed as the greatest featherweight of all time, Aldo is a former and inaugural UFC featherweight champion and currently competes in bantamweight, where he is ranked sixth and is climbing the ladders to a title shot. Aldo was last seen in action against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278, a fight which he lost via unanimous decision.
However, when it comes to naming the greatest fighter to emerge out of Brazil, ‘Junior’ declares himself above the rest.
“That’s easy, myself,” said Aldo on the YouTube talk show Cara a Tapa, “I won the title twice, dropped my weight, and I could very well get an opportunity to fight for the title again.”
The 36-year-old, who was the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion, became the UFC’s first ever Featherweight titlist following the UFC-WEC merger in 2010 and reigned as champ for four years. In 2016, he once again won the interim Featherweight tirle and was later promoted to undisputed status.
“I respect everyone’s history, but I’m the best. I took on a new challenge, I lowered my (weight class), I lined up everyone, I did it for the title, I lost, I recovered again and I was doing well until I stumbled again. I’m the (best Brazilian) in history.”
While Aldo has no doubt in his mind about being the GOAT of Brazilian MMA, he does admit that the argument gets more difficult on the global scale, as the likes of Demetrious Johnson and GSP are in conversations. However, Aldo does name Fedor Emelianenko as his GOAT of MMA.
“Of achievements like that, (there is) Demetrious Johnson, who is a (lighter) weight that nobody talks about because he is tiny. But Georges was also a big name,” Aldo said. “But for me, (it’s) Fedor. For me, he’s one of the icons. When the guy stayed 10 years (undefeated), I said: ‘Damn, I want to beat this guy’s record’” added Aldo. [H/T Sherdog]
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