Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight king and all-around combat sports legend, Jose Aldo, will be back in action inside of the boxing ring on July 2 at Shooto Boxing 2 from inside the Upper Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aldo will face Esteban Gabriel in the main event (h/t MMA Fighting).
Shooto Boxing president, Andre Pederneiras, announced Thursday.
Aldo has taken to boxing like a moth to a flame since his UFC retirement in late 2022. The future UFC Hall of Famer has always been one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts (MMA), but Aldo is continuously looking to push the envelope. In turn, Aldo is immersing himself in the world of boxing and hopes to string some impressive victories together.
Luckily, Aldo has picked up the sweet science and seems good enough to make a second career out of it. He has competed twice inside of the boxing ring since stepping away from MMA and has looked dangerous in both contests. Aldo captured a unanimous decision win over Emmanuel Zambrano this past February before fighting fellow UFC veteran, Jeremy Stephens, to a majority draw in his pro boxing debut at Gamebred Boxing 4 this past April.
Aldo, who turns 37 later this year, is hoping to stay undefeated inside of the boxing ring next month at the upcoming Shooto Boxing 2 event. It doesn’t like a ton of time to prepare for another fight, but Aldo’s opponent, Gabriel, is just 0-1-1 in his short pro career. Aldo should have no problem taking care of business in front of his home crowd and lining up another boxing match before year’s end.
Thoughts?
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
