But this summer in Houston, Aldo looked different, yet alarmingly recognizable. He looked like the offensive dynamo that ruled the 145-pound weight class for nearly six years.
He looked like the Jose Aldo of old.
“Now everyone is saying that I’m climbing up the rankings again, and it’s thanks to the Navy,” explained Aldo, who takes on Rob Font in a critical bantamweight pairing that headlines Saturday’s return to action at the UFC APEX. “I was getting a little unmotivated, thinking of what I would do after fighting. I didn’t have the same ambition to climb into the Octagon, to put on great fights.
“But from the moment I stepped foot in here and met the team — met the Lieutenant and Commander Marcelo — everyone has been giving me good energy.”
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It’s understandable that the fire inside Aldo began to dwindle, given that he competed at the top of the featherweight division for more than a decade, first winning the WEC title in November 2009.
But after more than 30 professional appearances and coming up short in a collection of matchups against the next wave of talent in the 145-pound ranks, the 35-year-old looked like any number of accomplished fighters that had been to the mountaintop and were now starting their descent down the other side.
He made the decision to change weight classes and drop to bantamweight in hopes of kick-starting a new chapter in his career, but initially sputtered, dropping a split decision to Moraes before getting stopped in the fifth round of his championship clash with Yan.
That’s when he knew he really needed to shake things up if he wanted to continue competing at the highest level in the bantamweight division.
