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Jose Aldo named to Forbes' '30 Under 30' list

Matthew Stockman / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Despite his recent loss to Conor McGregor, former UFC featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo was named one of Forbes magazine's top athletes under 30.

When assessing Aldo's bona fides for their annual "30 under 30" list, Forbes decided to focus on his larger body of work, and not the 13 seconds that derailed his legendary 145-pound title run at UFC 194.

"Even with his UFC 194 loss, Aldo would still make any comprehensive list of great UFC fighters," Forbes wrote. "He was the defending featherweight UFC champion and was ranked No. 1 in official UFC pound-for-pound rankings. He also went a decade without losing a match since 2005 and reigned as a world champion for six years."

Aldo was the only mixed martial artist named to this year's list. He's the third MMA fighter in history to be named to the list, joining fellow former UFC champions Ronda Rousey, who made the list in 2014, and Jon Jones, who received the honor in 2015.

"I have dreamed about a lot of things in my life," Aldo wrote on his Instagram page, according to MMAFighting.com's Guilherme Cruz. "Being a champion in the fighting world, winning the belt and bein #1 pound for pound in the UFC, and as any Brazilian, to play football in the Maracana stadium. Thank God, I've been able to make these dreams come true. But I've never even thought of being in a Forbes list. This is why I'm so grateful and humbled for being selected as one of the most important people in the world under the age of 30."

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