Tag Archives: BJ Penn

Jose Aldo to be Inducted Into UFC’s Hall of Fame

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Jose Aldo is head to the Hall…

The 36-year-old Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, the longest-reigning featherweight champion in UFC history, will be inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame later this year.

Jose AldoAldo retired from the UFC in September, one month after losing to Merab Dvalishvili in a highly ranked bantamweight fight. Had Aldo won that fight, he might have moved on to fight for a UFC title one more time.

Although he officially retired from MMA and was removed from the UFC’s rankings, Aldo has left the door open to competing in a boxing match.

Born in Manaus, Brazil, Aldo rose to 145-pound superiority in the WEC, where he won his first major championship by knocking out Mike Brown in 2009. He defended the title twice before the UFC brought the division into its fold and crowned Aldo its first-ever featherweight champ.

Aldo (31-8) won 18 consecutive fights from 2006 to 2014 and defended the UFC featherweight title a record seven times. His championship run came to a close in 2015, when he suffered a stunning 13-second knockout to rival Conor McGregor. He reclaimed the title seven months later by defeating Frankie Edgar, but lost it a second time in his next fight to Max Holloway.

Still widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time, Aldo dropped to the 135-pound bantamweight division in 2019 to try to win a second belt. He challenged Petr Yan for the vacant belt in 2020 but lost via fifth-round TKO.

Aldo joins the UFC Hall of Fame’s “modern wing” of fighters that includes Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Ronda Rousey, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier.

Alvarez to Fight Conor McGregor to Retain His UFC Lightweight Title

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Eddie Alvarez is preparing for a highly anticipated Big Apple bout…

The 32-year-old half-Puerto Rican mixed martial artist and current UFC Lightweight Champion will face off against Conor McGregor in the lightweight championship headline UFC 205 bout on November 12 at Madison Square Garden.

Eddie Alvarez

UFC officials confirmed the 155-pound title fight to ESPN on Monday. The UFC 205 pay-per-view is historic because it marks the promotion’s first trip to New York since a 1997 ban on professional mixed martial arts was lifted earlier this year.

McGregor (20-3), the current featherweight champion, will attempt to join BJ Penn and Randy Couture as the only fighters in UFC history to win titles in multiple weight classes. Per UFC president Dana White, McGregor will retain his featherweight championship through UFC 205, meaning he has the chance to become the first ever to hold those belts simultaneously.

“This is the fight the fans wanted, and I’m excited that our very first event at Madison Square Garden will be headlined by Eddie Alvarez defending the lightweight title against Conor McGregor,” White told ESPN. “This card has three world title fights and is the best card in UFC history.”

Alvarez (28-4) won the title in a first-round knockout over Rafael dos Anjos in July. The Philadelphia native also has held a 155-pound title in Bellator MMA. Alvarez publicly campaigned for a fight against McGregor, even though White briefly targeted a bout between Alvarez and Khabib Nurmagomedov.