VIDEO | Relive 18-year-old Jose Aldo finishing his opponent with soccer kicks in a throwback fight

Ahead of his vacant bantamweight title fight against Petr Yan at UFC 251, relive Jose Aldo finishing an opponent with soccer kicks in a throwback fight.

Aldo is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history and he will soon get the chance to become one of the rare two-division champs in UFC history when he takes on Yan at UFC 251 on Fight Island. Aldo, of course, was the long-time WEC and UFC featherweight champion, and he will now look to add the bantamweight title to his mantle.

Ahead of the matchup, footage has popped up of an old Aldo fight from 2005, back when he was just 18 years old. Take a look at the fight below and note the ferocity of the soccer kicks, which as you can see led to his opponent tapping out due to the sheer carnage.

Here is Jose Aldo circa 2005 winning an early fight via soccer kick for some nightmare fuel #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/CFD5Yze5PO

— freelancegoon (@freelancegoon) July 1, 2020

Here is Jose Aldo circa 2005 winning an early fight via soccer kick for some nightmare fuel #UFC251

The fight above featured Aldo against Anderson Silverio. The fight took place at Meca World Vale Tudo 12 on July 9, 2005, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was just the fifth fight of Aldo’s professional MMA career after starting to fight as a pro in 2004.

The crazy thing is, this was not the only fight that Aldo finished with soccer kicks in 2005. On May 12 of that year, Aldo took on Aritano Silva Barbosa at Rio MMA Challenge 1, also taking place in Rio. In the span of two months, also was able to finish two opponents with soccer kicks. You can view the full fight here.

With a 28-6 record in mixed martial arts, Aldo is one of the greatest fighters of all time and shoe-in for the UFC Hall of Fame when it’s all said and done. During his incredible career, Aldo has fought and defeated a who’s who of fellow MMA veterans including Frankie Edgar twice, Urijah Faber, Chan Sung Jung, Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes twice, Ricardo Lamas, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian, Jeremy Stephens, and Renato Moicano.

Although many fans and media do not believe that Aldo should be getting a title shot at 135lbs ahead of fighters such as Aljamain Sterling, the UFC is giving Aldo the title shot due to all the work he’s put in throughout his career. Although he is not able to use his legendary soccer kicks in the UFC, he should still give a great challenge to Yan and UFC 251 is a must-watch event with the addition of this fight on the card.

Do you think Jose Aldo has a chance to beat Petr Yan?