We Love Him And We Always Will: Dana White Comments On Jose Aldo’s Retirement

In the course of last week, one of the biggest events that have happened in mixed martial arts is the retirement of featherweight legend Jose Aldo, and Dana White has opened up on bidding adieu to his former 135-pound titlist.

Dana White says he “couldn’t be happier” for Jose Aldo and his family

José Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) ended his career this week and since then he has won the most varied tributes from the MMA community. This past Tuesday, at the DWCS 55 post-fight press conference, it was Dana White’s turn to praise the former two time featherweight champion. The UFC chief highlighted the importance of Aldo for the sport and to strengthen the brand in Brazil, and also stressed that the UFC will forever be the home of the Brazilian.

“We love him,” said White, “This will always be his house. I told him, ‘If you ever need anything here or you ever want to go to an event, this is always your house.’ This is a guy that, from the WEC to the UFC, helped build the sport, this brand and Brazil for us. So we love him, and we always will. He’s made a great life for himself down there, too, and done some great things and made a lot of money, and I couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”

At the age of 36, Aldo retired with a successful career in MMA, marking 31 wins and eight losses. He remained undefeated for nearly ten years in the sport, between May 2006 and December 2015.

During that time, he became the WEC featherweight champion, where he won all eight of his fights. The promotion was later merged with the UFC, when Aldo became the UFC’s inaugural Featherweight champion and even made seven successful title defenses. It was also during this period when Aldo knocked out Chad Mendes with a knee at UFC 142, in January 2012, in Rio de Janeiro- a fight which remains Dana White’s favourite.

“I think the fight was in Rio when he jumped out of the octagon and jumped into the crowd, and the crowd was carrying him around, and the place was going nuts,” White added, “It’s one of my favorite Jose Aldo moments.” [H/T MMA Junkie]

According to a tweet shared by Aron Bronsteter, Dana White further emphasized his love for ‘Junior’: “We love him and we always will.”

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