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In the eyes of many MMA fans, Jose Aldo is the greatest featherweight of all time. Though he would eventually suffer numerous defeats inside the UFC octagon, his legacy is firmly established as one of the most dominant champions during his athletic prime.
While many young fans recognize Aldo for his infamous loss to Conor McGregor, the Brazilian still owns the record for most featherweight title defenses in Zuffa-owned promotions. Undefeated from 2006 to 2014, Aldo first became a champion with WEC in 2009 and kept the title following the UFC merger until his eventual loss to McGregor at UFC 194.
How many title defenses did Jose Aldo have?
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In the middle of his legendary 18-fight win streak, Jose Aldo first claimed the featherweight title at WEC 41 with a TKO win over Mike Brown. 'The King of Rio' would defend the belt twice under the WEC banner against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan and be the promotion's final 145-pound champion, as they would merge with the UFC in 2010.
The win over Gamburyan served as the UFC's essential inaugural featherweight title fight, thus making Aldo the division's first champion in the promotion. Following the change of scenery, Aldo would remain dominant, defending his title seven more times across four years.
In the official UFC record book, Aldo is credited with seven title defenses in the promotion but technically defended his original WEC championship nine times. Both numbers still stand as records in 2024, with Alexander Volkanovski second on the list with five UFC featherweight title defenses.
Who did Jose Aldo defend his title against in the UFC?
In his 11-year career in the UFC, Jose Aldo's quality of competition is among the best in MMA history. Through 20 fights with the promotion, Aldo only lost to two fighters who were not UFC champions: Merab Dvalishvili and Marlon Moraes.
Aldo began his UFC career at 7-0, all defenses of his featherweight title. His inaugural Octagon appearance came at UFC 129 with a decision win over Mark Hominick. The Brazilian's most notable title wins came against Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar, but Aldo also defeated Ricardo Lamas, Chan-Sung Jung, and Kenny Florian while reigning over the division.
