Mixed martial arts is a brutal and unforgiving sport.

There are very few fighters who have competed in years past or are presently active who have not the accepted the stone cold gaze of the sport's true face, just as fighters of the future are guaranteed to learn the reality of its measure.

Time will forever wait for no man and a slew of additional pre-packaged cliches sum things up in simple ways. Just because they are indeed cliches, it doesn't mean they lack truth in their purpose.

On the flip side, the road to to the inevitable breaking point can be filled with glory, fame and phenomenal moments where that reality is suspended in amazing turns that make us believe we are watching the exception to the rule, and the bitter downturn won't be so sharp.

Watching Jose Aldo compete over the past decade there were plenty of moments where the Brazilian phenom made us believe that ending would never materialize. With vicious leg kicks, laser precision punches and fluid athleticism which allowed him to unleash double flying knee knockouts and superman punches off the cage, the man who would become king and define excellence in the lighter weight classes wowed the masses at every turn.

And because of his seemingly limitless talents inside the cage this writer became a card carrying member of the Jose Aldo appreciation club.


Photo Credit: © Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

I remember tuning in back in 2009 to watch the up-and-coming Brazilian wrecking machine face Cub Swanson under the WEC banner. Aldo had finished the first four opponents he'd squared up with inside the little blue cage, but the Palm Springs native figured to be a test of a different measure. Swanson had found victory in all but two of his 14 showings as a professional and showed massive amounts of potential along the way.

With their respective successes bolstering hype a potential showdown with champion Mike Brown or former king Urijah Faber (I can't be the only one who figured Faber would reclaim that belt can I?) the WEC upped the ante by making Aldo vs. Swanson an official title eliminator. Both men had everything to gain and lose as the cage door locked behind them and I buckled in believing we were about to watch the upstart talents go to war.

Instead, we were made witness to eight seconds of brilliance on Aldo's behalf.

The Nova Uniao representative blistered and folded Swanson up with a highlight reel flying double knee which took numerous reviews in slow motion to even get the most basic grip on what had just transpired.

Landing crisp knockouts are hard enough at the highest level of the sport, but to dispatch a capable foe like Swanson and to do so as the result of perfect timing, otherworldly reflexes and reaction time and a knowledge of speed and spacing well beyond his years; Aldo proved in those fleeting seconds we were witnessing a different type of monster.

He was cold and calculated, yet at the same time easy natured and bright eyed. Aldo's poverty-stricken background made his championship turn and eventual dominance across two promotions a storybook for the modern era and it was a tale many never wanted to conclude.

But they all do in mixed martial arts, and in Aldo's case there was a new monster waiting at the end.


Photo Credit: © Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

By the time the only man to ever hold the UFC featherweight title ran into Irish superstar Conor McGregor at UFC 194 in December of 2015 he'd already notched 15 consecutive victories and successfully defended his title on nine straight occasions. That level of dominance put him amongst the most vaunted of champions and carved out a legacy of excellence that appeared damn near impossible to tarnish.

But nothing is ever truly safe in mixed martial arts, and a 13-second knockout which came as the result of perfect timing, otherworldly reflexes and reaction time and a knowledge of speed and spacing well beyond his years allowed McGregor to level the reigning champion and propel his status to the cosmos all in one shot.

And while it came as a shocking turn for Aldo, the fighter promised the setback was nothing more than a fluke rather than a sign of an era drawing to a close because that's what is always said in those moments. The former titleholder guaranteed he would bounce back to fell his greatest foe and reclaim prominence because that's what is always said in those moments.

Yet, if Aldo had proven anything over his time atop the featherweight ranks it was that he couldn't and wouldn't be measured with the rest of the fighters in the fold. He wasn't a fighter to be judged or held to the scrutiny of fading champions of the past and he'd earned the right to be given those allowances on the fringe.

When Aldo defeated Frankie Edgar in their rematch at UFC 200 to claim interim gold he took a big step toward proving he was still at the peak of his powers, and when the interim label was swapped for the undisputed tag because of McGregor's exodus to the lightweight division, that stride stretched further.


Photo Credit: © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Nevertheless, where Aldo had been heralded for so many years prior as being the one and only without comparison, suddenly the conversation shifted. He was a man holding a title many believed he did not earn and the blowback and negativity that poured sat sour with him. Aldo was a fighter who had garnered nothing but respect for his fighting talents and having that respect come in short supply didn't sit well with him.

In order to reclaim his spot in full he'd need another showdown with the brash-talking Irishman, but McGregor became a ghost that could not be vanquished. And when the SBG leader crumpled Eddie Alvarez to earn his second title in a new weight class Aldo's personal storybook added a grim chapter where the castle he'd occupied for so long had that ghost he once chased several pages earlier settle in for a lifetime haunt.

That said Aldo needed to press on with his career despite circumstance and the title he carried meant a unification bout against newly minted interim champion Max Holloway needed to take place. The young Hawaiian killer had been cleaning out the division of contenders for the past four years and a collision with Aldo would bring a new stamp of legitimacy in a post-McGregor world.

In defeating Holloway Aldo wouldn't be able to exorcise McGregor's ghost entirely, but it would change the tune of the running story arc in his career. Though it never left, a victory at UFC 212 would further return the legitimacy may felt had faded and allow Aldo to go hunting for his greatest rival or other super fights at a higher weight class.

But that's not how the story would turn in Rio de Janeiro.


Photo Credit: © Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Despite a hot start that showed the Aldo of legend and lore was still breathing fire, that heat would eventually burn him up as Holloway rebounded and smothered him with punches and pressure toward the end of the second round. In a Diaz-esque turn, Holloway began to stalk and slap the reigning champion at every turn until a three punch combination pressed Aldo's buttons flush and left him dazed on the canvas.

The Brazilian striker attempted to fight his way out of the quicksand but a Holloway flurry of unanswered shots forced the referee to step in and stop the fight.
And just like that it was over.

The 30-year-old former king sat wobbled, bloodied and battered as the former prince rose to become king before his eyes. The Aldo who walked out of the cage at the end of UFC 212 looked nothing like the wild-eyed kid who back-flipped his way around the cage after defeating Mike Brown all those years back to get his hands on the championship belt that made his long shot dream come true initially.

But then again, they never do.

While Aldo's book is far from being finished and there are still more chapters to write, with one for certain being the reality waiting for all fighters still lingering in the distance. Yet, just because several installments saw a dip in the greatness and excellence of the past, that should not take away from what was carved in stone in the years before and written with the dominance of very capable and talented fighters night after night.

In mixed martial arts we tend to choose to look at stories as a whole, when in reality we focus on the most entries to fix our minds upon. Jose Aldo is the same man who proved to us his abilities were much more than our minds could even handle, and that alone should allow him the reverence of being something we hold special.
But that's not something we always do, but I'm hoping we can in this case.

Aldo gave us greatness for years, and in a sport where downturns come fast and furious, we should hang onto the phenomenal when we see it.

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