8 things that you may not know about Jose Aldo Jr.

#2 Football was his first love

Jose Aldo is a self-confessed football fanatic and supports Flamengo and Chelsea FC

While MMA fans may make the natural association between Brazil and Jiu-Jistu, many other people over the world would ideally connect the country with the overload of footballing talent that it is customarily reknowned for.

Growing up in the streets of Manaus, Jose Aldo was no different as his first love and passion was indeed the beautiful game. Like troves of other children who hone their skills playing street football in Brazil, Aldo’s love affair with the game began early and could have blossomed further had fighting not interceded and diverted the course of his destiny.

By his own admission, he played football for quite a few schools and clubs in Brazil and was fairly successful at it, until he realised that the fights that used to arise from footballing rivalries were his true subject of interest. Sure enough, his coach coaxed him away from football and towards a career in fighting, and the rest as they say, is history.