Alexander Volkanovski leaves a nine-word message for Jose Aldo after latter's MMA retirement

Alexander Volkanovski paid tribute to Jose Aldo in the aftermath of the featherweight legend's retirement from the sport. Volkanovski, who currently sits atop the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, hailed 'Junior' as the greatest featherweight of all time.

'The Great' wrote on Twitter:

"Wish nothing but the best to the Featherweight Goat @josealdojunior [folded hands emoji]"

The end of Jose Aldo's legendary 18-year career was first reported by Combate and later confirmed by MMA Fighting. 'Junior' also reportedly negotiated his UFC release with one fight left on his contract. Aldo's retirement news comes less than a month removed from his unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278.

Aldo became the inaugural UFC featherweight champion after the company's takeover of WEC in 2011. The Brazilian went on to defend his strap seven times before losing it to Conor McGregor in iconic fashion in 2015. Although 'Junior' went on to become interim champion and later got promoted to undisputed titleholder, he did not find success at 145 lbs for much longer.

A move down to bantamweight earned him a shot at the vacant title against Petr Yan, which he lost via fifth-round TKO. 'The King of Rio' bounced back with three consecutive victories over elite bantamweight contenders before his recent loss to Dvalishvili.

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The was a lot of speculation about Jose Aldo's retirement recently

While he was riding a three-fight win-streak going into the bout, Jose Aldo's loss to Merab Dvalishvili made him irrelevant in the bantamweight title picture. Post-fight, the Georgian claimed that Aldo had clearly talked about retiring while speaking to him inside the octagon.

Aldo's long-time coach Andre Pederneiras later dismissed retirement rumors, claiming to have not received any such information from his pupil personally. However, in a more recent interview with Combate, four days before the news of Aldo's retirement, Pederneiras stated that he would advise his fighter to hang up his gloves. The Nova Uniao chief said:

“I would tell him to quit. I think Aldo has already conquered so much. It’s not going to be that last fight that is going to take away the legacy he has built in the sport. My biggest fear is when an athlete arrives at this final stage of their career and an injury might mess them up for the rest of their life.” h/t Bloody Elbow