One of the greatest fighters of all time added a dominant TKO win to his legendary record last night at UFC Calgary, but fight fans can be forgiven if they expected otherwise. Over the past four years fans and pundits have propagated a litany of theories as to how and why Jose Aldo’s career has sharply declined, and going into his bout against surging power-puncher Jeremy Stephens, all the momentum seemed to be on Stephens’ side.

The doubts about Aldo can be traced back to the most-watched fight of his career, when Conor McGregor infamously knocked him out inside of 13 seconds. Even before the devastating result, there where whispers that then-champion Aldo was no longer the same fighter. On the world press tour promoting the fight, McGregor was antagonizing Aldo at every turn, and the normally unflappable Aldo was visibly annoyed. At this point in his career Aldo had never lost a Featherweight fight, and with seven title defenses was the only man to ever hold the UFC Featherweight title. Yet still, something felt different in 2015 with McGregor cast as Aldo’s antagonizing opponent. Aldo pulled out of the originally scheduled July date, and when the fighters met in December of the same year, all of the hype was behind McGregor rather than the reigning defending champion. Before the opening bell rang, commentator Joe Rogan noted that Aldo’s body looked physically deflated.

After losing in such brutal fashion, fans might have wondered if Rogan was right about Aldo being deflated (despite the fact that he actually looked visibly identical to his typical physical fitness level when Rogan made the comment). Could it be that Aldo’s long career, filled with many five-round championship fights that went the distance, was starting to catch up to him, and that Aldo was slowing down? Or could it be that the USADA drug-testing program, which was introduced into UFC in July 2015, had a detrimental effect on Aldo? Of course, Aldo had never failed a drug test, but Rogan’s comment combined with reports of a strange story where a USADA tester was hassled and detained by Brazilian police while attempting to collect a test sample from Aldo were enough to inflame wild speculation about whether the former champion had relied on PEDs.

Aldo rebounded in dominant fashion with a trademark win over rival Frankie Edgar at UFC 200. For whatever reasons, that fight has not embedded itself into fight fans’ collective consciousness, and is largely forgotten. Perhaps this was because the disappointment of the Jon Jones UFC 200 pullout overshadowed the event, or perhaps because Aldo went on to lose both of his subsequent two fights by TKO to current champion Max Holloway. After those back-to-back losses, the Edgar win was no longer evidence that the post-McGregor Aldo was still a master class defensive fighter, but instead was reduced to being the "1" in the statistic "Aldo is 1-3 with all losses by KO/TKO in his last four fights."

Jeremy Stephens is the kind of fighter that no one would have given a chance against prime Jose Aldo. Surely everyone would have agreed that Prime Aldo’s defense would neutralize Stephen’s powerful, but often-telegraphed boxing. Stephens has a reputation as more of a gatekeeper than a title contender, having already lost to three of the top five fighters in his division (counting champion Holloway) going into this fight.

But this wasn’t prime Aldo, -- or at least, it wasn’t supposed to be. This was also supposed to be a new and improved Jeremy Stephens; a complete version whose powerful hands and forward pressure should have been a real threat to the allegedly diminished Aldo. Stephens entered this fight on a three-fight win-streak, tied for the longest of his UFC career, with the two most recent victories both being brutal second round finishes. With that notorious statistic, "Aldo is 1-3 with all losses by KO/TKO in his last four fights," the opportunity seemed ripe for Stephens to crack Aldo’s theoretically "deflated" or diminished chin.

Here in his first non-title fight since 2009, Aldo was the slight betting underdog. From the opening bell, Aldo’s body did not look softer; his movement did not look slower; his chin did not look damaged; his confidence did not look questionable. Aldo stood in the center of the cage and traded boxing combinations with Stephens, working in a trademark leg kick here and there to keep Stephens honest. Eventually Aldo found Stephen’s liver with a perfect uppercut to the body, and Stephens stumbled backwards before falling to the mat in pain. Aldo jumped on top of Stephens and expended his entire gas tank going for the finish with hammerfist ground strikes to Stephens’ head. Aldo shot a desperate, pleading look to the referee as Stephens laid on the ground enduring the damage, as if to ask "what more must I do for you to stop this fight?" Though Stephens was never actually knocked out, the referee finally intervened as Stephens rolled over onto his belly, no longer intelligently defending himself. Overcome with emotions, Aldo collapsed and cried tears of joy. We’ve seen plenty of iconic celebrations from Aldo before, from his exuberant dance after defeating Cub Swanson, to his jump into the crowd after knocking out Chad Mendes, but this one may have felt the most gratifying.

This was not just a nice late-career sendoff win, like Urijah Faber’s final fight against Brad Pickett, for example. No, this win over a surging top-five opponent was a statement that there is no "Old Jose Aldo," just the "Aldo of Old," still here like he never left. In fact, the win was a loud enough statement to make many of the previously popular doubts about Aldo seem silly. Baseless USADA conspiracies aside, it’s now clear that Aldo’s three recent losses point to bad stylistic matchups, not to Aldo’s skills or chin being eroded. Both Holloway and McGregor are long, lanky strikers who deliver swift punishment from the edge of their range. Both are large fighters whose bodies naturally fit closer to the limits of the Lightweight division than Featherweight. It makes sense that Aldo, a smaller defensive kickboxer who mostly excels against stocky, powerful wrestlers who are eager to close the distance to pursue takedowns, would struggle against such fighters.

Featherweight champion Max Holloway has recent back-to-back wins against Aldo, so it is exceedingly unlikely that Aldo gets another crack at Holloway. But Aldo has reestablished himself at the front of the line should Holloway lose the belt. Since Holloway has struggled to make it to the cage this year and has pulled out of both of his scheduled title defenses, rumors are swirling that Holloway may have to vacate his title and move up to Lightweight. If so, Aldo would now be man to match against Brian Ortega, the undefeated phenom who was most recently scheduled to challenge Holloway. Even if Holloway remains in the division, Aldo would be a sort of "conditional" number one contender – if Holloway successfully defends against Ortega, Frankie Edgar would be the highest ranked fighter that Holloway is yet to face; if Ortega can take the title from Max, Aldo’s prior wins over Edgar would mean Aldo is the top contender.

Of course, there is no guarantee that Aldo will maintain this momentum and turn this win into a streak. But even if Aldo never touches the UFC championship again, it is fulfilling to see the all-time great protect his legacy and remind everyone, including newer UFC fans that may not have witnessed the pre-McGregor Aldo, exactly what kind of fighter he is. Whatever is next for Aldo, fans, pundits, and oddsmakers alike once again have to give him the respect of an all-time great fighter. And while this author has previously asserted that in MMA "deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it," it is always rewarding to see the most deserving fighters realize their just deserts.