Who is Irene Aldana? Next Fight, Record, Stats, Partner & Net Worth
Irene Aldana is the No. 5 ranked female bantamweight in the UFC. The 35-year-old from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico began her professional MMA career in her native land, fighting for the promotions GEX and Xtreme Combat. Aldana also appeared in the Brazilian Jungle Fight promotion before heading to the United States.
She fought at Invicta FC before joining the UFC in 2016. After losing title challenges at Jungle Fight and Invicta FC, Aldana hopes she can finally win that elusive world title she has been chasing since she started fighting in 2012.
In This Irene Aldana Story…Irene Aldana Quick FactsIrene Aldana RecordIrene Aldana StatsIrene Aldana vs Holly HolmIrene Aldana Upkick Knockout WinIrene Aldana Next FightIrene Aldana Personal LifeIrene Aldana Net Worth
Irene Aldana Quick Facts
Name:Irene Robles AldanaAge:35 years oldDate of Birth:March 26, 1988Place of Birth:Culiacan, Sinaloa, MexicoNationality:MexicanHeight:175 cm (5 ft 9 in)Weight:61.23 kg ( 135 lbs )Reach:68 inFighting Stance:OrthodoxNet Worth:$1 millionLast Fight Purse:$40,000Instagram:@irene.aldana 290K followersTwitter:@IreneAldana_ 389.4K followers
Irene Aldana Record
Irene Aldana has a professional MMA record of 14-6 with 8 knockouts and three submission wins. Of her six defeats, only two have been by knockout and the other four were on points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwyYKlkyDTk
In the UFC, she is just 7-4 in 11 bouts but has lost just once in her last five assignments. Aldana’s last three wins have been via knockout, including his most recent two Octagon appearances. She has not been stopped since 2015 when Tonya Evinger knocked her out when they fought for the vacant Invicta FC bantamweight championship.
Irene Aldana Stats
Source: record.com.mx
Below are Irene Aldana’s fight stats per ufcstats.com:
Significant Strikes landed per 15 minutes: 5.39
Significant Striking Accuracy:39%
Significant Strikes Absorbed per minute: 5:71
Significant Striking Defense: 60%
Average Takedowns Lander per 15 minutes: 0.20
Takedown accuracy: 50%
Takedown Defense: 81%
Average Submissions attempted per 15 minutes: 0.3 Irene Aldana vs Holly Holm
Irene Aldana lost her first two UFC bouts to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Chookagian. After that, she won five out of her next six Octagon assignments to earn her first main event billing at UFC Fight Island 4 against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm.
Source: mmafighting.com
Facing the toughest opponent of her career, Irene Aldana folded under pressure and was dominated by Holm in the five-round headliner. Holm not only outstruck Aldana but she also completed a career-high five takedowns against the Mexican. In the end, the judges scored the bout 50-44, 50-45, and 50-45 in a lopsided win.
Aldana bounced back in her next bout as she knocked out Yana Kunitskaya inside one round at UFC 264.
Irene Aldana Upkick Knockout Win
The Mexican entered the UFC record books when she posted the first win via upkick in UFC history. That historic win came in her last fight against former TUF winner Macy Chiasson at UFC 279 last September 10, 2022.
In that bout, Aldana started strong and looked like she had Chiasson tap after an armbar, but the referee did not see it. Chiasson fought back in Round 2 and dominated Aldana from top position. The same thing happened in Round 3 except that Aldana caught Chiasson with a perfectly-timed upkick to the liver that immediately dropped the American to the canvass for a KO win.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4S5ELdYLAWM
No fighter had ever won a fight with that kick from that position so when the fight was stopped, nobody knew what happened until the replays were shown. According to Aldana, that wasn’t a fluke KO because it was a kick that they trained for.
“It was bizarre,” said Aldana to reporters at the post-UFC 279 press conference. “I knew the kick hit well, and it hit in the liver, but it was a little confusing for me to see her reaction like that.”
“So I was like, ‘I’m sure I kicked her in the liver, but maybe I kicked her somewhere else. I’m not sure because of her reaction.’ But we trained the kick a lot, I’m glad it came out this night.”
Irene Aldana Next Fight
With Julianna Pena withdrawing from her trilogy fight with Amanda Nune due to injury,
Aldana was installed as Pena’s replacement and she will challenge Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 289 on June 10, 2023, in Canada.
Source: @espnmma via Instagram
It will mark the first time Aldana will fight for the belt in the UFC and her first title fight since losing to Tonya Evinger for the vacant Invicta FC bantamweight championship at Invicta FC 13. It will also be the second time in her last four bouts that Aldana has headlined a UFC event.
Irene Aldana Personal Life
Aldana hails from Culiacan, the city which produced the legendary boxer Julio Cesar Chavez who was known as “El Gran Campeon Mexicano”. According to Aldana, she did not know about JCC Sr. until she was older.
“I didn’t know about Chavez until I was older, and then when I realized that he was from there and his story and everything he did, I was so proud that he was from Culiacan.”
In 2017, Aldana revealed that she is a college graduate with a degree in graphic design.
She loves shooting photos and would like to pursue a career in photography when she retires:
“I love photography,” declared Aldana. “I would love to continue with that plan in the future. If I’m good at something and if I really love it, I should do something with it.”
“I set it aside to focus on fighting. Sometimes I take some shoots just for joy or I use my photography and design knowledge on gym work.”
She also revealed that she was very athletic when she was young.
Source: @irene.aldana via Instagram
“I was very athletic since I was a little girl,” explained Aldana. “I always loved sports. I used to roller skate along Mazatlan’s Malecon for hours. I did gymnastics, ballet, karate, tennis, basketball, and cheerleading. [I’d] spend hours in the gym.”
While studying in Guadalajara, Irene took a mixed martial arts trial class at the Lobo Gym at the suggestion of a friend. She liked it and began to train regularly. After graduation, she gave up graphic design and photography to pursue fighting.
“When I arrived from school to my home, I couldn’t wait until the clock pointed to four o’clock so I could go to the gym and start my training,” said Aldana. “And I wouldn’t leave the gym until 1 am, 2 am sometimes. I got obsessed with the sport. I found it very interesting how the body and the mind connected in this and I got involved and fell in love. I graduated and said goodbye to graphic design, goodbye to photography and I got deep into it.”
Not only did Aldana start fighting late at an older age, but she also didn’t have any competitive background in combat sports. Despite those, she has proved that with hard work and dedication, one can make it to the top of the sport. Currently, she is the 5th ranked female bantamweight in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
“Yeah, and that speaks a lot about the dedication that we’ve put into this. Mainly the work of my coach because I didn’t have any type of combat sports background, I never did boxing or anything that involved martial arts. And apart from that, to start at 23 years old, not having exercised for two years, he’s had very little time to bring me up to the level that I am.
In 2012 and 2013, I only had three fights in Mexico, professional fights, I never fought amateur. After those three fights, I was hired by Invicta and then after by the UFC, so I believe that the journey has been very fast, but, well, that’s a testament to all the hours I’ve put in the gym.”
Irene Aldana Net Worth
Source: @irene.aldana via Instagram
According to popularnetworth.com, Irene Aldana has a net worth of $1 million as of 2022. That’s the same figure that mediareferee.com listed as Aldana’s net worth. That’s also Aldana’s value at the websites biographygist.com and playersbio.com.
In her most recent fight against Macy Chiasson at UFC 279, Aldana earned a fight purse of $40,000, a win bonus of $40,000, sponsorship pay of $11,000, and a $50,000 post-fight performance bonus for Performance of the Night.
One fight earlier against Kunitskaya at UFC 264, the Mexican netted $87,600 which included Figher’s purse of $33,600, a win bonus of $48,000, and sponsorship of $6,000.
She however incurred a 30% fine based on fight purse for missing weight.“In all my career this is the first time I had missed weight, I tried hard and push my body to the limit. But it stopped sweating,” Aldana said. “Got my menstrual cycle during fight week and I’m sure my body stopped because of that.”
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