Sherdog’s Top 10: Phenoms

Jose Aldo stands alone among the featherweights. | Photo: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com

8. Jose Aldo

Aldo has been so good for so long that the quickness of his rise to the top and his relative youth have been overlooked. The Manaus, Brazil, native moved to Rio de Janeiro as a teenager and was quickly taken under the wing of Nova Uniao impresario Andre Pederneiras, who put the youthful talent through his paces in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition before he turned 17 and then introduced him to MMA. By his 18th birthday, Aldo was already a fast-rising featherweight with a professional fight on his record.

Aldo’s rise as a prospect was not particularly quick by the standards of the sport, as it took him nearly four years to reach World Extreme Cagefighting. He was the underdog to Alexandre Franca Nogueira in his United States debut, but his demolition of the experienced and highly touted fighter quickly put him on the map. By November 2009, Aldo’s highlight reel had grown to epic proportions, with finishes Rolando Perez, Chris Mickle, future “Ultimate Fighter” winner Jonathan Brookins and the insane double-tap flying knee knockout of Cub Swanson.

The Brazilian’s utter destruction of Mike Thomas Brown made him the best featherweight on the planet, and his low-kicking masterpiece over Urijah Faber cemented that status. Aldo had yet to turn 24, and the best years of his career were still ahead of him. Now 28, he is still in his prime, is undoubtedly the greatest featherweight in MMA history and might just be the best fighter on the planet.

Number 7 » He was only 20 when he took his first professional fight, but his combination of incredible athleticism, killer instinct and vicious skills, both on the feet and on the mat, rapidly made him known as one of the very best prospects on the planet.