UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo is open to re-entering the boxing ring again in 2027.
The former UFC featherweight champion compiled a boxing record of 2-0-1 after retiring from MMA in 2022, prior to his UFC return in 2024, and revealed he had discussions with Spaten Fight Night officials earlier this year about possibly headlining their most recent card in August. The event was ultimately topped by Glover Teixeira vs. Shogun Rua.
“I even messaged Dana [White],” Aldo told MMA Fighting. “But [Spaten] needed an answer right away because they were running out of time when we talked, and I was on vacation in Cancun at the time. They needed a quick answer and it took too long, so I even let it go, you know? So today, if there’s an opportunity, I’ll go after Hunter [Campbell], Mick [Maynard], and ask for permission. Even before, when I stopped, Dana himself had told me that if there was any [boxing] offer, they would let me do it, no problem.”
According to Aldo, there’s a “high chance” he boxes on the next Spaten Fight Night show in 2027. Aldo scored two boxing wins in Brazil with a majority draw with Jeremy Stephens in between, and later returned to the UFC to beat Jonathan Martinez and again retire with decision defeats to Mario Bautista and Aiemann Zahabi.
“Thank God, athletes are well compensated at Spaten, so that’s very good,” Aldo said. “It’s no coincidence that any athlete who comes in, for the amount they offer you, you fight. Unlike any other event that comes up and says you’re going to fight an influencer or something like that. Please, come on. Spaten is totally different, so I talked to them a lot. The thing is, I have to ask the UFC for permission because I have three fights left on my contract there, and I don’t know when those three fights are going to expire. So that was it. But I came very close.”
Aldo worked as color commentator for Globo TV on the Spaten broadcast and was again approached by Spaten officials backstage in Sao Paulo, with Olympic judoka Flavio Canto and jiu-jitsu legend Kyra Gracie pushing for a return on a future show.
“I was with Flavio and Kyra just now and they were saying, ‘You’re our target now. You’re our target,’” Aldo said with a laugh. “We joke around about it and stuff. But we’ll see. We’ll see. There are still a lot of things that can happen until next year, right? Usually they always hold the event around the same time of the year. If everything lines up properly, I can do a fight like that.”
“Boxing is much more possible for us to do, because I know I’m going to make a lot more money,” he continued. “That’s what matters. If an opportunity comes up, like it did, whenever one comes up I say, ‘For me to fight, it’s this much.’ If you don’t want it, I don’t care. I want X amount. If you want me to fight, it’s this much. If you don’t, brother, you can leave me here because I’m happy taking care of my family, being a regular family man.”
Aldo said he didn’t get to the point of discussing potential opponents but likes the idea of revising the historic Nova União vs. Team Alpha Male rivalry, booking boxing matches against Chad Mendes or Urijah Faber, or even face off with Anthony Pettis, a superfight the UFC couldn’t deliver back in 2013. In the end, however, getting Aldo in the squared circle will be a financial effort.
“The first question everyone always asks when we’re at these events is, ‘Do you miss fighting?’ I say, ‘No.’ So, for me, that’s a chapter that’s closed,” Aldo said. “I go there, have fun, laugh, joke around. And congratulations to the people who like feeling that, but not me. I spent my entire life doing this, fighting, training, dieting, so I stopped doing all of that nowadays, thank God, and I’m very satisfied with myself. I was able to become champion, I was able to defend the title and establish myself as champion for a long time. I don’t have that anymore. But, like I told you, money talks.”
