Jose Aldo’s pick for the Greatest of all time in MMA never even made it to the UFC

Most MMA pros discuss the mixed martial artists they admire but it’s not often that a list has a lot of variety. Usually it’s between Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and even Khabib Nurmagomedov.

UFC legend Jose Aldo had an entirely different take. The Brazilian GOAT recently retired and named himself along with several other athletes as his inspirations.

Jose Aldo has officially retired from mixed martial arts and was released by the UFC. The former UFC featherweight champion had been contemplating his retirement and he finally made up his mind and retired on September 18 in the fall out from the birth of his second son.

When it comes to debating the Greatest of All Time in MMA, Jose Aldo is often being left out. People often name either Khabib Nurmagomedov, Jon Jones, or Georges Sti-Pierre as the GOATs. However, Aldo has his own list.

In an interview with Brazilian show ‘Cara a Tapa, the 36-year-old talked about his trajectory in MMA and his achievements. When asked about who is the greatest mixed martial artist, Aldo was sincere and believes that he is at least the best one from Brazil.

“Easy, it’s me (the greatest in history). It’s not ‘bullshit’. I won the title twice and went down a category. Could have given an extension to fight for the title again. I respect everyone’s career, but I’m the best. And I did where I worked for sh*t. “

“For me, it’s me. I went for a new challenge, I went down in category and I was lining up everyone. I fought for the title, lost and recovered. It was going well until I stumbled. I’m the greatest in history.” Aldo said.

However, when talking about the best in the world, Aldo did not name himself. Aldo admitted that Fedor Emelianenko was a huge inspiration.

“Of achievements like that, [there is] Demetrious Johnson, who is a [lighter] weight that nobody talks about because he is tiny. But Georges (St-Pierre) was also a big name. But for me, [it’s] Fedor. For me, he’s one of the icons. When the guy stayed 10 years [undefeate]), I said: ‘Damn, I want to beat this guy’s record.