Davey Grant Wants a Fight with José Aldo
After beating Ramon Taveras at the December 14, 2024 Tampa event, Davey Grant said a matchup with former featherweight champion José Aldo would be his dream fight. Grant won by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–28, 30–27 and 30–27. The official scorecards list the result.
The proposed fight was never booked. Aldo’s final UFC bout before his 2025 retirement was a unanimous-decision loss to Aiemann Zahabi on May 10, 2025. He announced his retirement after the fight, and the promotion subsequently published a tribute to his career. The official event results and Aldo’s retirement report confirm the outcome.
Why Grant wanted to face Aldo
The request linked Grant’s latest victory with the opportunity to compete against one of the division’s most recognizable veterans. Aldo’s championship reputation was established at featherweight before his later UFC appearances at bantamweight. For Grant, naming him after Tampa expressed a personal ambition rather than an announcement of a signed bout.
Grant had already demonstrated several ways to win in the Octagon. His official UFC history includes an inverted-triangle submission of Raphael Assunção at 4:43 of the third round on March 11, 2023. He also recorded knockout victories over Jonathan Martinez and Louis Smolka, as discussed in the promotion’s 2023 profile.
The Taveras result added a three-round decision to that record of notable finishes. All three judges favored Grant, although one gave Taveras a round and the other two scored every round for Grant. That distinction clarifies the margin of his Tampa win while preserving the original reason for the post: the veteran’s interest in a high-profile next opponent.
