Sherdog’s Top 10: Brazilian Mixed Martial Artists

3. Jose Aldo

His recent 13-second knockout loss to Conor McGregor notwithstanding, Aldo’s place as an all-time great is secure. He tore asunder World Extreme Cagefighting with otherworldly skills, eventually becoming featherweight champion with his technical knockout of Mike Thomas Brown in November 2009. He successfully defended the title twice, dominating Urijah Faber over five rounds and then stopping Manny Gamburyan with punches.

Aldo arrived in the UFC as part of the WEC merger in 2011 and picked up where he left off. He retained his 145-pound championship with wins over Kenny Florian, Mark Hominick, Chad Mendes (twice), Chan Sung Jung, Frankie Edgar and Ricardo Lamas. Aldo was in the midst of an 18-fight winning streak that spanned nine years before he ran into McGregor’s left hand at UFC 194.

The Nova Uniao cornerstone owns two “Knockout of the Night” awards in the WEC and three “Fight of the Night” bonuses in the UFC. Aldo was also named Sherdog.com’s 2009 “Fighter of the Year.” At just 29, he appears to have plenty of time to add to an already long list of accomplishments. Much depends on the outcome of a potential rematch with McGregor.

Number 2 » Anderson Silva