Top MMA fighters of the decade, 2010-2019: Jose Aldo ranked No. 9

The 2010s, arguably the most important decade in the history of mixed martial arts, is coming to a close. One reason why the past 10 years have been so pivotal to the sport is the sheer talent that exists across all divisions – men and women, from flyweight (which didn’t even exist until February 2012) to heavyweight. Simply put, the number of great fighters to grace cages and rings across the world never has been higher.

Here at MMA Junkie, we’ve put together a staff-wide, composite ranking of the top 10 fighters of the past decade, which we’ll reveal Monday-Friday until Dec. 27. Today, we reflect on No. 9: Jose Aldo.

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No one has held the UFC featherweight title longer than Jose Aldo.

The first 145-pound champion in the promotion’s history, Aldo (28-6 MMA) kicked off the 2010s with back-to-back WEC title defenses.

Following his unanimous decision win over Urijah Faber at WEC 48, Aldo closed out his 2010 with a second-round TKO of Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51.

After the UFC officially absorbed WEC in later 2010, Aldo was named the promotion’s inaugural featherweight champion.

His title status became official at a ceremony held prior to UFC 128 in March 2011, making him the youngest champion in the promotion’s history, a record that would be broken days later by Jon Jones.

Aldo made his promotional debut one month later, in the co-main event of UFC 129. The Toronto event shattered the UFC’s attendance record. Despite absorbing the boos from the better half of the 55,724 fans in attendance, Aldo bested Canadian favorite Mark Hominick over the course of five rounds.

Having taken numerous blows from Aldo, Hominick sported a humongous facial hematoma post-fight. The freakish swelling quickly went viral.

In his sophomore title defense at UFC 136 in October 2011, Aldo chopped down “TUF” original Kenny Florian en route to victory. The win propelled Aldo into one of the most prolific bouts of his career.

Competing in his native country of Brazil for the first time since 2007, Aldo faced Chad Mendes in the UFC 142 headliner in January 2012.

As the clock wound down in Round 1, Aldo threw a “Hail Mary” knee that floored Mendes and ultimately ended the fight. An ecstatic Aldo running through the cage door, jumping into the crowd, and being hoisted up by the Rio faithful are images that will live on forever.

Over the span of his next three title defenses, Aldo knocked off contender after contender. In the span of 12 months stretching from February 2012 to February 2013, Aldo defeated Frankie Edgar, Chan Sung Jung, and Ricardo Lamas.

Recycling challengers, Aldo circled back around to Mendes. At UFC 179 in October 2014, Aldo and Mendes rematched in a fight for the ages. When the “Fight of the Year” candidate had concluded, Aldo’s UFC title was wrapped around his waist for the seventh time.

The next 14 months were likely the most watched of Aldo’s career – all leading up to his first career UFC loss.

After months and months of build-up, trash talk, and even a failed booking, Aldo took on bitter rival Conor McGregor at UFC 194 in December 2015.

We all know what happened.

It took 13 seconds for Aldo’s four-and-a-half year UFC title reign to come to an end.

Over the next four years, Aldo had his ups and downs. He won the interim featherweight title against Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July 2016.

Back-to-back ground-and-pound losses to Max Holloway made 2017 the first time Aldo ever lost two fights in the same calendar year.

Just when everyone was about to count Aldo out for good, he proved them wrong. In July 2018, Aldo was an underdog against Jeremy Stephens. “Junior” proved the oddsmakers wrong when he ended Stephens’ night in the first round thanks to a hellacious body shot.

The stoppage was Aldo’s first win inside the distance in almost five years. So what did Aldo do from there? He followed it up with another TKO in his next fight. In February 2019, Aldo swarmed Renato Moicano and picked up a second-round TKO.

Aldo would lose his next fight against eventual UFC champion Alexander Volkanovksi, leading us to his most recent outing at last weekend’s UFC 245.

Once again, the doubters were out in numbers. And once again, Aldo proved them wrong.

With seemingly the whole world criticizing his drop to bantamweight, Aldo put on one of the most technically sound, aggressive fights of his career against the No. 1 contender Marlon Moraes.

Even though Aldo dropped a close split decision, many believe the judges got it wrong – including UFC president Dana White. The fight got the attention of double champ Henry Cejudo, who seemingly deemed “The King of Rio” as next in line.

Here we are. It’s been over eight years since his UFC debut and the boundaries of Aldo’s capabilities still haven’t been defined.

If we’ve learned one thing over the past decade, it’s that no one is safe. Even the fighters who reach MMA’s highest peaks suffer losses. Aldo is no exception.

He hasn’t been perfect, but Aldo has been damn close. He’s proven to be a timeless fighter, who embodies a crossroad between an already-accomplished legend and an ever-evolving student of the game.

His leg kicks, takedown defense, speed, and jab are among the best in MMA history.

What Aldo accomplished over the past decade is simply amazing. He’s fifth all-time in Zuffa title-fight wins with eight, fourth all-time in longest single title reigns at 1,848 days (2,073 if you include his time as WEC champ), and sixth all time in most title defenses in UFC history with seven – all of which are featherweight records.

It’s one thing to achieve greatness. It’s entirely more impressive to maintain greatness. Aldo’s consistency has elevated him to 145-pound GOAT status in the eyes of many – myself, included.

That’s why Jose Aldo is No. 9 on MMA Junkie’s “Top 10 Fighters of the Decade.”