How long was Jose Aldo featherweight champ? Taking a look at the UFC icon's title reign

Jose Aldo is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. The Brazilian athlete has garnered widespread laudation for his longevity and dominance against the world's most elite combatants.

Aldo made his professional MMA debut in Aug. 2004. He's competed in the bantamweight (135-pound), featherweight (145-pound), and lightweight (155-pound) divisions in his career.

After a submission defeat early as an MMA pro in his lone lightweight bout, Aldo went on an 18-fight unbeaten streak. He notably reigned as the featherweight champion in the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) and later in the UFC.

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How long was Jose Aldo featherweight champ?

Jose Aldo made his WEC debut in June 2008 and captured the WEC featherweight title by defeating Mike Brown via second-round TKO at WEC 44 (Nov. 2009). He successfully defended the WEC title twice, beating Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan.

Additionally, after the UFC acquired the WEC, Aldo was promoted to the status of UFC featherweight champion. He successfully defended his UFC featherweight throne seven times. His first UFC title defense witnessed him beat Mark Hominick via unanimous decision at UFC 129 (April 2011).

The Muay Thai wizard then bested Kenny Florian by unanimous decision at UFC 136 (Oct. 2011) and Chad Mendes via first-round KO at UFC 142 (Jan. 2012). Aldo defended his featherweight belt against former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, beating him by unanimous decision at UFC 156 (Feb. 2013).

The MMA great followed that with a fourth-round TKO victory over Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163 (Aug. 2013).

Jose Aldo beat Ricardo Lamas by unanimous decision at UFC 169 (Feb. 2014) and then bested Chad Mendes via unanimous decision in their rematch at UFC 179 (Oct. 2014). The Mendes rematch was Aldo's final successful title defense as the UFC featherweight kingpin.

'The King of Rio' put his UFC featherweight title on the line in a grudge match against then-interim UFC featherweight titleholder Conor McGregor at UFC 194 (Dec. 2015). Aldo ended up losing the featherweight title via first-round KO in just 13 seconds.

Jose Aldo then rebounded by beating Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision in their rematch to capture the interim UFC featherweight title at UFC 200 (July 2016). Aldo was then promoted to UFC featherweight champion, as McGregor didn't defend his belt for a significant time.

However, Aldo lost the UFC featherweight title against then-interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. Holloway beat him via TKO in back-to-back fights in 2017. Per the UFC's official website, Aldo's title reign as the UFC featherweight champion is listed as having lasted 1,848 days.

'The King of Rio' subsequently ventured into the UFC bantamweight division and even competed for the bantamweight title. Nevertheless, Aldo was unable to win it, as he fell via fifth-round TKO against Petr Yan in their bantamweight title clash at UFC 251 (July 2020).

Aldo has gone 3-1 since that matchup. His most recent fight ended in a unanimous decision defeat against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 (Aug. 2022). The MMA icon announced his retirement from MMA in Sept. 2022.

The 37-year-old forayed into boxing in the ensuing months but is now primed to end his MMA retirement and return to the octagon. Jose Aldo is scheduled to fight Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight bout that'll co-headline the UFC 301 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 4, 2024.