Seven months after his loss to McGregor, with the new champion in pursuit of the lightweight title and off on a side quest battling Nathan Diaz, Aldo returned to the Octagon at UFC 200 and dominated Frankie Edgar for a second time.
Any questions about whether the dethroned former titleholder was still going to be a factor in the weight class he ruled for a number of years were answered emphatically, as he rolled through the Toms River, New Jersey man in much the same way he had in their initial encounter more than three years earlier.
It may have been the most important victory of Aldo’s career, and was certainly the one, for me, that really cemented his legacy as an all-time great. He was on the short list before UFC 200, but when you bounce back from an embarrassing, emotional loss without missing a beat, by taking out a future Hall of Fame inductee like nothing happened, it forces you to really make sure to look at that setback through proper lenses.
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Just about everyone loses at one point or another, and Aldo would go on to lose each of his next two appearances and half of his dozen fights following the bout with McGregor, but very few pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get right back to being brilliant the way Aldo did.
You saw this again following his shift to the bantamweight division, which began with a narrow defeat to Marlon Moraes and a fifth-round stoppage loss to Petr Yan in a battle for the vacant title at UFC 251. Just when it looked like the Brazilian legend was reaching the end of his run as a contender and standout competitor, Aldo turns around and rattles off three straight wins over Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz, and Rob Font, beating each by unanimous decision to once again climb into title consideration.
