Jose Aldo will likely enter the octagon for the final time on Jan. 21 to compete at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his longtime manager and coach Andre Pederneiras told Combate.
Pederneiras confirmed that the former two-time UFC featherweight champion has only one bout left on his contract with the promotion and sees the upcoming card in Rio de Janeiro as a great opportunity to “close” his career after losing a decision to Merab Dvalishvili in August.
Pederneiras admits, however, he has advised Aldo “to retire a long time ago,” more specifically around the interim title win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, when the company wouldn’t book a rematch with Conor McGregor.
“He didn’t need it since that fight, much less now,” Pederneiras said. “I’d tell him to stop. I think Aldo has already conquered a lot and it won’t be this last fight [against Dvalishvili] that will take away his legacy in the sport.”
Pederneiras said he will discuss with Aldo his plans for the future and meet the UFC on Sept. 24 in Las Vegas to understand what the company has planned for the Brazilian. The Nova União leader said he likes the idea of facing Dominick Cruz next, but doesn’t think the fellow UFC and WEC legend would agree to fighting in Brazil.
Even though he thinks Aldo should retire right now, Pederneiras agrees that leaving without completing his deal would leave him “locked” in a contract and unable to return to compete in other sports if he chooses to in the future, such as professional boxing and Muay Thai.
“I’ve seen many retire and want to fight years later,” Pederneiras said. “Most of them are like that. Thales [Leites] left the UFC, fought his last fight against Hector Lombard, [and said] ‘brother, I don’t want this sh*t anymore’. Two, three years have passed, and now he’s calling me to get him a fight. I’ve seen that my whole life. And it will happen with him.”
