Irene Robles Aldana (born March 26, 1988) is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. She currently competes in the Women’s Bantamweight division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). As of May 23, 2022, she is #4 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.

Background

Aldana graduated from college with a degree in graphic design. During her college studies, she grew an interest in mixed martial arts and started training at local Lobo Gym.

Mixed martial arts career

Jungle Fight

In her lone fight with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian mixed martial arts promotion Jungle Fight, Aldana faced

Larissa Pacheco Larissa Moreira Pacheco (born September 7, 1994) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the PFL. Since 2020, Pacheco was ranked within the top 10 of the Women's Featherweight+ rankings by Fight Matrix, hav ...

for the vacant JF Women's Bantamweight Championship at JF: Jungle Fight 63 on December 21, 2013. She lost the fight via third-round TKO, giving her the first loss of her professional career.

Invicta Fighting Championships

Aldana signed with

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

in mid-2014, and made her debut against Peggy Morgan at Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs. Tamada on September 9, 2014, submitting Morgan with a rear-naked choke in the first round. She was then expected to face Marion Reneau at Invicta FC 10: Waterson vs. Tiburcio on December 5, 2014, but Aldana was forced out of the bout due to an illness and the fight was taken off the card. Aldana was scheduled to face Melanie LaCroix at Invicta FC 11: Cyborg vs. Tweet on February 27, 2015, however, LaCroix withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Colleen Schneider Colleen Schneider (born March 12, 1982 in Syracuse, New York) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. Colleen was a contestant in season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter reality competition television show. Early life She attended Cic ...

. She won the fight via first round rear-naked choke.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On November 6, 2016, it was announced that Aldana was signed to the UFC and would face Leslie Smith on December 17, 2016 at UFC on Fox 22. Aldana lost the fight by unanimous decision. Despite the loss, the bout earned Aldana her first ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award in the UFC. Aldana faced Talita Bernardo on January 14, 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs. Choi. Aldana won the fight via unanimous decision. Aldana was scheduled to face Bethe Correia on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227; however, the bout was pulled when Correia withdrew due to injury. Instead, Aldana faced

Lucie Pudilová Lucie Pudilová (born June 13, 1994) is a Czech female mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She was the Gladiator Championship Fighting Bantamweight female champion in Czech R ...

on September 8, 2018, at UFC 228, winning a close fight via split decision and earning her and Pudilová Fight of the Night award. Her bout with Bethe Correia was rescheduled and is expected to take place on May 11, 2019 at

UFC 237 ''UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on May 11, 2019, at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was originally expected to be held ...

. At the weigh-ins, Correia weighed in at 141 lbs, 5 pounds over the bantamweight limit of 136 lbs. She was fined 30% of her fight purse and the bout proceeded at catchweight. Aldana won the fight via submission in round three. Aldana faced Raquel Pennington on July 20, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 4. Aldana lost the fight via split decision. Aldana was scheduled to face Marion Reneau on September 21, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 17. However, Reneau pulled out of the bout on September 11 for undisclosed reasons. Reneau was replaced by promotional newcomer Vanessa Melo. At the weigh-ins, Melo weighed in at 140 pounds, 4 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136. She was fined 30% of her purse and her bout with Aldana proceeded at a catchweight. Aldana won the fight by unanimous decision. Aldana faced

Ketlen Vieira Ketlen Vieira da Silva (born August 26, 1991) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of January 17, 2023, she is ranked #4 in the UFC women's bantam ...

on December 14, 2019 at

UFC 245 ''UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. Ba ...

. Aldana won the fight via knockout in round one. This win earned her the '' Performance of the Night ''award. Aldana was scheduled to face

Holly Holm Holly Rene Holm (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and a former professional boxer. She was a multiple-time worl ...

on August 1, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 173. However, it was reported on July 22 that Aldana pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons. Mere hours after the news surfaced, Aldana revealed that the reason for withdrawal was testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. As a result, Holm was removed from the card as well and the pairing was left intact and rescheduled for October 4, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana. Aldana lost the fight via unanimous decision. Aldana faced

Yana Kunitskaya Iana "Yana" Kunitskaya (born November 11, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 19, 2022, she is #6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings ...

on July 10, 2021 at UFC 264. At the weigh-ins, Aldana weighed in at 139.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Her bout is expected to proceed at catchweight and she will be fined 30% of her purse, which will go to her opponent Kunitskaya. Aldana won the fight via technical knockout in round one. Aldana was next expected to face Germaine de Randamie at UFC 268 in New York, NY. However, de Randamie withdrew in early September due to injury. Aldana was scheduled to face Aspen Ladd on April 9, 2022 at UFC 273. However, Aldana withdrew in late March for unknown reasons and was replaced by former UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challenger Raquel Pennington. Aldana faced Macy Chiasson on September 10, 2022 at

UFC 279 ''UFC 279: Diaz vs. Ferguson'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 10, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United S ...

. She won the fight via knockout in the third round via an upkick to Chaisson's body. The win earned Aldana her second ''Performance of the Night'' bonus award.

Championships and accomplishments

** Fight of the Night (Two time) vs. Leslie Smith and

** Performance of the Night (Two times) ** Second best takedown defense in UFC history (93.5%). *

Invicta Fighting Championships Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

** Performance of the Night (three times) vs. Peggy Morgan,

, and Faith Van Duin * MMAJunkie.com **2019 December Knockout of the Month

Mixed martial arts record

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Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

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Tonya Evinger Tonya Evinger (born June 4, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2006, Evinger has previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), EliteXC, Raging Wolf and Invicta Fighting Cham ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldana, Irene 1988 births Living people Mexican female mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters Sportspeople from Culiacán