Retired Aldo skips jiu-jitsu camp entirely, backs tennis and footvolley to beat Vera in grappling rematch

Jose Aldo steps back into competition on Sunday in Quito, Ecuador, 17 months after retiring from MMA, facing Marlon Vera in a submission-only grappling rematch under Hype promotion rules — and he has done almost no jiu-jitsu to prepare.

“I’ve been playing tennis and footvolley, brother,” Aldo told MMA Fighting ahead of his flight to Ecuador. “It’s been more than a year since I last set foot in a gym. That’s why I’m going. Man, I did jiu-jitsu my whole life, I used to compete every weekend, so… Everyone saw me in the UFC as a striker, but I’ve always been a high-level grappler. I’m in good shape.”

Aldo first defeated Vera by decision in 2020 inside the UFC octagon, a result that marked his first win as a bantamweight. Their rematch will be contested over eight minutes under submission-only rules, a format Aldo appears entirely relaxed about despite the obvious conditioning gap between the two men.

Vera has fought three times in the UFC since Aldo’s final octagon appearance, including a recent knockout win over Charles Jourdain, and earlier this year grappled Jean Silva to a draw in Sao Paulo. Aldo, by contrast, has been playing sport three times a day — just not the sport most directly relevant to Sunday’s contest.

His training partner Jofre, the sole figure assisting with what Aldo loosely calls his “camp,” has reportedly spent weeks trying to push the former featherweight champion back onto the mats. Aldo is unmoved. “He’s the one that’s worried, he keeps wanting to push me to train,” Aldo said with a laugh. “I say, ‘Come on, training is exhausting. Let’s train when we get there.’ It’s 10 minutes, no problem.”

Aldo revealed he had twice turned down earlier Hype offers — first a match against Jean Silva in Rio de Janeiro in March, then another in Sao Paulo a month later — before accepting this one. He noted that friends reacted with disbelief when he disclosed his fee for the eight-minute bout.

The venue presents its own challenge. Quito sits at 9,350 feet above sea level, an altitude Aldo is familiar with from watching Brazilian footballers struggle there in international fixtures. He is not concerned. Nor, he insists, is Vera’s submission pedigree — 10 wins by submission in MMA — a source of anxiety, with one notable exception.

“I respect Marlon, I know what kind of physical condition he’s in,” Aldo said. “I respect him and I know the quality of the athlete, but I spent my entire life doing jiu-jitsu. It’s not about underestimating the opponent. Now, if you put me in there with Mica Galvão, with someone from the jiu-jitsu world, then I’d say, ‘Fuck, then he’ll run right through me.’ Now, a UFC fighter… Oh, if it’s Charles [Oliveira]. Charles is so good at jiu-jitsu, he’s a submission specialist. Okay, fuck, then I really have to train.”