There is always going to be debate about who the greatest of all time is and this has become especially true when it comes to the featherweight division.
Some fight fans won’t remember the incredible achievements of Jose Aldo before he was knocked out by Conor McGregor at UFC 194.
For those who do, the Brazilian is one of the greatest of all time whose featherweight title reign and battles with the likes of Chad Mendes make Aldo an untouchable legend.
There has been some criticism regarding the way that he has been booked since returning from a brief retirement last year but when the ‘King of Rio’ was at his best, he dismantled every opponent that was put in front of him.
Aldo is now set to face Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 next month which will be over 15 years on from one of his most iconic performances which is still regularly cited today.
Jose Aldo demolished Urijah Faber with leg kicks in his first WEC title defense
On this day (April 24) in 2010, Jose Aldo was set to make the second defense of his WEC featherweight title in Sacramento, California.
After stopping both Cub Swanson and Mike Brown to win the gold, his next challenge would be to take on a hometown favorite who helped bring attention to the smaller weight classes in MMA.
By 2010, Urijah Faber was already a veteran with 26 fights under his belt having only suffered defeats to Mike Brown alongside a TKO loss to Tyson Griffin all the way back in 2005.
After submitting Raphael Assuncao at the start of the year, Faber went on to challenge Aldo in the main event of WEC 48, a card that also boasted a lightweight title fight between Benson Henderson and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Demetrious Johnson’s decision loss against Brad Pickett.
The defending champion went on to make a statement in the main event as Aldo started to become truly feared for his leg kicking game.
A total of 32 body and leg kicks sent Faber to the canvas on multiple occasions with him being unable to put any significant weight on either leg, with his left in particular was significantly damaged.
It was a near flawless performance from Aldo who retained his title via a unanimous decision with fans still questioning how Faber stayed in the fight at points having worn the damage for days after the contest.
To this day, the images of what Faber’s leg looked like after the fight still look unrealistic as it seems more likely that he’s been assaulted by several people armed with baseball bats.
From that moment on, any impressive display of leg kicks is sure to be compared to WEC 48 in Sacramento.
Jose Aldo went undefeated for a decade during his featherweight title reign
Jose Aldo’s dominant win over Urijah Faber in 2010 came halfway into his undefeated decade at the top of the featherweight division.
After beating Faber, Aldo would defend the WEC title one more time against Manny Gamburyan before he was signed to the UFC where he was immediately instated as the featherweight champion.
The Brazilian would rack up seven title defenses inside the Octagon before his incredible run came to an end at UFC 194 in December of 2015.
At 38-years-old, he will once again look to bounce back from a loss when he faces Aiemann Zahabi at bantamweight at UFC 315.