Jose Aldo didn’t have the best 2015.
The former UFC featherweight champion hadn’t fought all year before he was unceremoniously dethroned from his 145 lb perch by Conor McGregor in December.
But the Brazilian’s career to date has not gone unrecognised by Forbes, who have named him in their list of 30 athletes under the age of 30 as 2016 gets underway.
Aldo is the only fighter to make the list this year, while there is also only one footballer – Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.
It certainly seems odd when you look at the success of reigning champions in MMA.
One would have imagined that the phenomenon of Conor McGregor would have been recognised, considering he is the biggest draw in the UFC right now.
“Even with his UFC 194 loss, Aldo would still make any comprehensive list of great UFC fighters,” Forbes wrote. “He was the defending featherweight UFC champion and was ranked No. 1 in official UFC pound-for-pound rankings. He also went a decade without losing a match since 2005 and reigned as a world champion for 6 years.”
Aldo joins the likes of Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones who were named on the list in 2014 and 2015 respectively so maybe 2017 will be the year for ‘The Notorious.’
The full Forbes 30 under 30 list can be found here.
