With Jose Aldo hanging up the gloves after a storied career as UFC and WEC featherweight king, Jafel Filho feels extra responsibility when it’s his time to enter the octagon.
A teammate of Aldo at Nova União, Filho takes on Allan Nascimento at UFC Vegas 107 on Saturday. Filho told MMA Fighting that other members of the Rio de Janeiro team now have to carry that flag to the top to keep the legacy alive.
“He helps everybody,” Filho said of Aldo. “Aldo retired, and we stop to think about many things. I remember that early in my career, all I wanted was to see Aldo one time, and now I can call Aldo a brother. I got emotional and cried [when he retired] of gratitude that I was able to share and witness moments in parts of his career, and also be able to help him in some camps. I’ve never seen anyone smarter and more dedicated than him in training. Now our responsibility has doubled because Aldo has carried the name of the team for many years, and now it’s up to the new generation to carry that legacy.”
Filho was emotional watching Aldo retire earlier this month at UFC 315 in Montreal, and remembers the day Aldo said the flyweight talent had what it takes to become UFC champion one day.
“He called me one day after training and said, ‘‘Pastor,’ let me tell you one thing: you have great chances at becoming champion of this weight class. Your game, the way you fight is a bit different,’” Filho said. “That stuck with me because it never crossed my head that I would be next to him, I just wanted to see him, and now he’s looking at me and saying this, ‘Jafel, you can do it too’, and giving me that [push]. Wow. It was like a switch turned in my head on the day he said that. ‘Yeah, I can do it too. I want to. Let’s go!’”
Filho’s next UFC assignment comes just over a year after his latest showing, a bonus-winning first-round submission over Ode Osbourne at the UFC APEX. He was scheduled to face Nascimento in August 2024, but Nascimento withdrew from the Fight Night card just days ahead due to illness.
Filho focused on the birth of his child and then returned to action for a grappling win over top-ranked UFC flyweight Amir Albazi in December, anxiously waiting for a UFC bout ever since.
For a moment, Filho thought that UFC would book him versus Albazi given the fact he defeated him at ADXC, but the promotion opted to revisit the Nascimento match instead. Meanwhile, Albazi headlines the Aug. 2 UFC show at the APEX opposite Tatsuro Taira.
Filho and “Puro Osso” have had the vast majority of their MMA wins come via submission, with 25 tapouts in 36 victories combined, and the Nova União talent hopes to secure his third straight finish in the UFC after forcing Daniel Barez and Osbourne to tap in back-to-back fights.
“I believe my game is more aggressive than his,” Filho said. “I have 16 wins and only one came in a decision. I like to go in aggressively for the finish. I believe it’s gong to be a fun fight because we’re both well-rounded and complete. It may [end up being like a kickboxing match] but it could also be like a jiu-jitsu tournament. It’s going to be awesome to test myself against a grappler of his level. I respect him a lot, but it’s going to be great to fight him.”
“I’ve watched Allan for a long time because he was the name of the division for years in Brazil and I’ve always looked up to him, and now he’s in my way and we have to surpass that [obstacle]. This fight could easily have happened many years ago in Brazil, but it’s great that it’s happening now in the UFC.”
