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This week has seen UFC fans stunned by the announcement that the legendary Jose Aldo will be making his return to the octagon in May to take on Jonathan Martinez.
Jose Aldo hung up his gloves in 2022, so at the age of 37, is this comeback ill-advised, or a good idea? Remarkably, it might be closer to the latter than the former, despite the Brazilian's advanced age.
Here are five reasons why Jose Aldo's return from retirement could be a masterstroke.
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#5. Jose Aldo will give UFC 301 a much-needed boost
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UFC 300, which is set to take place in April, looks like one of the most stacked cards to be produced in recent years.
Unfortunately, the nature of this event appears to have had a negative effect on UFC 301, which is scheduled for Rio de Janeiro on May 4. Due to the amount of stars competing at UFC 300, to say the card for UFC 301 is thin would be an understatement.
When a flyweight title headliner between Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg was announced last week, it sounded like the event would be instantly skippable. However, the return of a legendary former champion like Jose Aldo changes that instantly.
Not only will Aldo add interest to the event when it comes to piquing the interest of casual fans, but he should help to sell the event in Brazil, too. After all, Aldo was once well-known as the 'King of Rio'.
A Jose Aldo fight will instantly energise the event, particularly for the live crowd, making it far less skippable than it was prior to his addition. In this case, it's the UFC who've pulled a masterstroke of sorts.
#4. There's no shame in Jose Aldo's loss to Merab Dvalishvili
The last time UFC fans saw Jose Aldo in action, he was pretty comprehensively defeated in a three-round bout in September 2022 by Merab Dvalishvili.
The fight saw Dvalishvili largely overpower Aldo in the clinch, and while he didn't come close to finishing the Brazilian, the general consensus was that Father Time had caught up with the former titleholder.
Since then, of course, Dvalishvili has gone from strength to strength. He followed up his win over Aldo with an even more comprehensive victory over another former champion in Petr Yan, and most recently dispatched Henry Cejudo.
For all intents and purposes, there's a chance that 'The Machine' might be the best 135-pound fighter in the world right now.
What does that mean for Aldo? Well, put simply, it means that suddenly, his final bout could be viewed in a different light.
Rather than being an embarrassing loss that pointed to him being past his best, it could simply be seen as part of Dvalishvili's irresistable rise up the ranks.
Essentially, there's no shame in anyone losing to 'The Machine', meaning that Aldo may have more left in the tank than that bout suggested. Therefore, he could surprise people with this comeback, making it a masterstroke.
#3. Jose Aldo holds relatively recent wins over some high-level bantamweights
Usually, when a legendary fighter retires, they do so off the back of a nasty run of defeats. However, that wasn't quite the case for Jose Aldo.
Sure, he lost to Merab Dvalishvili in his final bout, and also fell to Petr Yan in 2020, but between those fights, he won three bouts in a row.
Most importantly, though, the Brazilian wasn't defeating scrubs in those fights, either.
Aldo took out Marlon Vera, who just fought for the UFC bantamweight title, Pedro Munhoz, and Rob Font. All three men are currently ranked in the top 15 at 135 pounds, and all three were largely dominated by Aldo.
Sure, all of those fights took place around three years ago, but when you consider Aldo's absence following his retirement, it doesn't feel that long ago. And none of those fighters have slipped from relevancy since.
In conclusion, then, the chances are that Jose Aldo retired when he still had plenty in the tank - something that he may well be able to prove with this comeback.
#2. Jonathan Martinez may be a beatable opponent for Jose Aldo
If Jose Aldo's return bout was set to come against one of the top five bantamweights in the world right now, then UFC fans would probably be justified in worrying about the legend's chances.
However, with no offense intended, Jonathan Martinez isn't quite on that level, at least not yet.
'The Dragon' is definitely a fine fighter. He's currently riding a six-fight win streak, and holds victories over highly rated fighters like Adrian Yanez and Said Nurmagomedov.
However, he's never beaten a truly elite-level opponent, and his best win is either Yanez or Cub Swanson, who was more past his prime than Aldo at the time of their bout.
Is this fight a gimme for the Brazilian? Of course not; Martinez is certainly a dangerous and hungry opponent who will be looking to make his name off the back of Aldo's legend.
However, this fight is probably closer to Urijah Faber's return fight with Ricky Simon than say, BJ Penn's ill-advised comeback against Rory MacDonald.
There's every chance, then, that despite Martinez's talents, that Jose Aldo wins this bout impressively. If he does so, even if he retires again afterwards, his decision to come back will prove to be a good one.
#1. There are fresh and potentially less dangerous fights on the table for Jose Aldo
There's no disputing that the UFC can be a very dangerous place for ageing, legendary fighters. The promotion loves to build up younger talents off the back of its older stars, and often doesn't seem to care if the older fighter gets hurt in the process.
However, if Jose Aldo's return fight against Jonathan Martinez goes well, there's actually no real need to match the Brazilian up with more dangerous prospects.
Instead, the former featherweight kingpin has a handful of fresh and far less dangerous potential fights on the table with fellow legends - fights that could easily be intriguing to the casual fan.
Both Henry Cejudo and Dominick Cruz, two former bantamweight titleholders, are still ticking around in the top 15 at 135 pounds. Neither man has faced Aldo before, and both fights would be both exciting and fairly matched, too.
The same could also be said for former flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo, who moved up to 135 pounds last year but is only one year youngerr than Aldo.
If Aldo were to move back to 145 pounds, then a clash with ageing veteran Edson Barboza could be insane to watch, and even Yair Rodriguez would be a fun opponent.
If the UFC is willing to buck their usual trend, then, not only could this comeback be lucrative and worthwhile for Jose Aldo, it could also be good for the promotion, too.
