Jose Aldo details how a text message from Dana White helped save his son’s life

Future UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo reflected on a life-saving text from Dana White.

Aldo had a legendary run under the Zuffa banner through UFC and WEC, but he decided it was time to step away from MMA competition and move on to other ventures such as boxing. White sent a heartwarming text message to Aldo. It ultimately led to a hospital visit after Aldo’s pregnant wife had high blood pressure. She got emotional from the text.

During an appearance on MMA Fighting‘s Trocação Franca, Aldo revealed that the hospital visit saved his son’s life.

“A friend of mine was looking into some boxing things for me and said I needed to prepare a statement saying he could consult the UFC,” Aldo said. “I did that and texted Dana on Thursday, and Dana wrote me back thanking me for everything, saying the UFC was always open for me, the [Performance Institute] and everything I needed. He has great affection for me and my family, he was always very close to us.

“After that emotional message – it wasn’t a boss talking to his employee, it was two people that like each other –, I showed it to [my wife] Vivianne. She was still pregnant at the time and got emotional. Her blood pressure went up and we had to go to the hospital. She [went back for some tests and] was admitted to the hospital on Friday. She had preeclampsia and [the blood pressure] went up after Dana’s message.”

Aldo detailed what was wrong with his son and how further delay could’ve ended in tragedy.

“The actual birth was really crazy,” Aldo said. “It looked like everything would go wrong. He was born with a true knot [in his umbilical cord], and if we had waited two more weeks, I wouldn’t be at home with little Aldo here.”

Thankfully, disaster was avoided.