A soon to be fighting Aldo once planned on fighting three times this year before retiring, but now the former featherweight champion is planning on competing for at least seven more years.
“I will fight until I’m 40 years old.” Aldo told Ag Fight (via Lucas Rezende of Bloody Elbow). “I’m 33, so I have seven years of fighting left. I still dream of boxing, it’s going to happen pretty soon. You can be sure of that. But I’ll be fighting for even longer, this is my first fight at bantamweight on my way to become the champion. I might even go beyond 40. Outside of my career, I’ve never been one to go out, drink, party. I have a healthy body, that’s the point.”
If Aldo does stay with the new plan, it means that fans will see him fight until 2026 or possibly even later.
Aldo credits the move down to bantamweight as a big reason that he wants to continue fighting for many more years.
“What made me keep going is that, over the years, I didn’t want to do it anymore, but I talked to ‘Dede’ and he asked me to fight at bantamweight. I had this notion that it would be hard to make weight, diet, but it was the other way around. I feel strong, training is going well. Not even in the WEC I had this potential. That makes me believe I still have a lot to give and you can be sure I’ll fight for many years to come. If I feel well, fast, quick as ever, there’s no reason to stop now. I want to conquer bantamweight, make history, and then think of what to do next,” says Aldo.
UFC 245 takes place on Saturday, January 14 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
