Ahead of UFC 307, Jose Aldo's championship flame burns brighter than ever

SALT LAKE CITY – Jose Aldo walked away from mixed martial arts as a legend of the game in September 2022 when he decided to retire.

Fast forward and Aldo is set to compete in the same building that housed what seemed like his final fight two years prior. Saturday at UFC 307, Aldo (32-8 MMA, 14-7 UFC) battles Mario Bautista on the pay-per-view main card at Delta Center.

Despite his previous retirement, Aldo said the championship flame burns bigger and brighter than ever inside him.

“I train so much, you don’t understand,” Aldo told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “Every single up-and-comer, all the new kids there, they look at me like, ‘This dude has accomplished everything. He’s done everything and he’s still giving his all, training like crazy.’ It is. It is another fighter that’s ignited. There’s a flame that’s burning brighter than before. That’s what it takes to be a champion.”

Aldo, 38, is considered by many to be the consensus greatest featherweight in MMA history. So what is there left to prove? What’s the motivation?

For Aldo, being a champion is not the final level of greatness.

“Being the champion is being a champion,” Aldo said. “It’s a legacy. It’s being able to look back. That’s why I train so hard. That’s why I keep at it. That’s the fire I want to show people. It’s the UFC testing me. They’re trying to see you prove yourself again and see if you really want it. How much do you want it? I want to be able to turn back and look back and say, ‘This is the legacy that I left.”

In his return fight in May, Aldo looked sharp when he defeated Jonathan Martinez by unanimous decision. Saturday’s fight vs. Bautista (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) marks the second in a row where Aldo, the much bigger name, tested himself against a rising young contender.

But that’s what this is to Aldo: it’s a big test. In his mind, the UFC wants to see where he’s at with each challenge, and it’s his job to show them he’s still the championship-caliber fighter he was years ago.

“They’re asking me for proof,” Aldo said. “They’re asking me to prove myself. I know for them they’re just putting them to see what’s going on. But I think for me, just like for example, like the last fight, just to prove how much I really want to come back. How much did I want that fight, right? So right now, I know for them, it’s a level. But for me, it’s another step toward an ultimate goal.”

Aldo’s first course of action will be to win. After that, “The King of Rio” hopes the promotion will view him as title-shot worthy.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Mario coming up, if it’s a champion, if it’s somebody on top of the rankings, it doesn’t matter,” Aldo said. “It’s another step toward the one thing I want. It’s a title shot.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.