Jose Aldo to fight at UFC 301: Hall of Famer faces Jonathan Martinez in first fight since 2022 in front of his hometown Rio de Janeiro

Jose Aldo will return to the Octagon for the first time since August 2022 at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro.

On Saturday, Sao Paolo-based news agency Ag.Fight announced that the former featherweight champion would face Jonathan Martinez when the promotion returns to Brazil on May 4.

Aldo’s last fight ended in a decision loss to #1 ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. In July 2023, Aldo and fellow Brazilian legend Anderson Silva were inducted into the Hall of Fame. UFC fame.

The King of Rio’s career was highlighted by his 18-fight winning streak from 2006 to 2015, when he lost to Conor McGregor. The 13-second knockout allowed the Irishman to become the sport’s biggest star.

Despite the loss, Aldo regained featherweight royalty one fight later by defeating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.

He lost twice to Max Holloway, had back-to-back wins over Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano and lost to Alexander Volkanovski before dropping out of the 145-pound division.

As a bantamweight, Aldo is 3-3 with wins over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font. On the other hand, his losses came against Marlon Moraes, former champion Petr Yan and Dvalishvili.

Aldo holds a 31-8 record with 17 knockouts and one submission heading into his return to the Octagon.

He will face Martinez, ranked 14th in the bantamweight division. The southpaw is 19-4 in his career with nine knockouts. He is also coming off a six-fight winning streak.

On Friday, the UFC announced that Brazilian flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja will defend his title for the second time at UFC 301 against No. 10 Steve Erceg. Pantoja is 27-5, after five straight wins.