If a fighter of the UFC It can be said that it is a legend, a living myth, is José Aldo Júnior. Bicampeón of the pen weight, division in which the defenses record has and also consecutively (7), since 2019 he decided to change division and try new challenges, entering the gallery weight. With 38 yearshe still dreams of a new titular opportunity to taste glory again.
The year before the pandemic It was, according to his intentions, the one who It had to mean his withdrawalAlthough he saw that he had rope for a while. And is that next Saturday, May 10 against Aiemann Zahabi In UFC 315 it will be the ninth time that the Brazilian has climbed into the octagon since then.
Conor McGregor finished José Aldo’s first reign at the UFC
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“Have you eaten today? And did you do it yesterday?”
The often and veteran fighter of Manaus (The capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas), a member of the Hall of Fame since 2023, grew in a poor family. The misery of his family was such that on many occasions, when he was going to train, they asked him if that day in question had eaten or if he had done so in the previous day.
In fact, before hearing at the UFC he was champion in Wec (company that would be absorbed by Dana White’s company in 2006). At that time, he said that his dream, which pushed him to improve and reach the top was “Have my own home.”
‘Stronger than the world’: its history, taken to the cinema
Such is his influence on the world of sport that his figure has transcended the merely sports: in 2016 he premiered Stronger than the world (Stronger than the world), a feature film that reviews his life.
The actor José Loreto It gives life to the fighter in a film of just under 2 hours, led by Afonso Poyart who wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the Brazilian … but that he saw the light months after his defeat against Conor McGregor In December 2015, which would cost him the title.
“Look at the past … It was difficult for me, but I overcome everything I happened,” The fighter explained in the promotional acts that coincided with the premiere. “It is impossible not to cry”said the popular fighter. Excited, he congratulated the director and the protagonist cast revealing that “my relationship with my father, hero and villain, is really beautiful in the film.”
Two years after the premiere (and perhaps when no one expected), the film was nominated for international Emmy, in the category of best television or television film. However, Aldo’s success would not be replicated by his biopic, and the prize went to Man in an Orange Shirta BBC proposal.
Sport and politics: Aldo, a recognized ‘Bolsonarista’
For a while to this part, the Brazilian former champion has exhibited a public support relationship towards the ultra -rightist Jair Bolsonaroformer president of Brazil. His, however, is not an isolated case, since many fighters of the company have recently shown their support for Donald Trumpwho has Dana White among her circle of friends.
Aldo has publicly expressed his support for Bolsonaro on several occasions, especially during the 2018 and 2022 presidential campaigns. At that time, the fighter was seen with t -shirts of the then president and, regularly, shared messages on social networks by supporting both his management and his ideology.
Issues such as security, the defense of traditional values (both are devout Christians) and a strong nationalism, three pillars of Bolsonaro’s speech, were defended by cape and sword by Aldo.
Although they are not considered to have a very close personal relationship, Aldo was received by Bolsonaro in official acts and has participated in events related to the government or in support of its policies.
One of the most popular (and recent) was just over two years ago, at the beginning of 2023, when Brazil lived convulsed days after the victory (and the return to power) of Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva. The former ultra -conservative director decided to leave the country one day before the end of the year of 2022 to avoid being subject to criminal investigations by the police.
A few days later, the photographers caught him in the luxurious mansion that Aldo is close to Disney Worldin Orlando (Florida), wearing comfortable clothes. The former champion house was a temporary shelter for the politician, which in June 2023, when he had already returned to the country, was disabled to occupy public office until 2030 by order of the Supreme Electoral Court.
Although this usually went unnoticed, there was a voice that won this decision of Aldo.
Larissa Pachecorecognized PFL and lesbian champion, was not cut in statements to the specialized environment Bloody Elbow. “It seems to me that they have forgotten where they come from (referring to Aldo and other athletes who grew up in poor families) … José Aldo, for example, has an incredible life story. Then it reaches the top and begins to seem that it has always been part of the elite … I do not say that he thinks like that, but I see it. I can never look at those fighters who support Bolsonaro and say that I am one of them. How could I forget everything I have lived? My struggles. I can’t do it, ”he said.
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