5 Things You Might Not Know About Irene Aldana

Irene Aldana needs to clear at least one more hurdle in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division.

The ambitious 34-year-old will attempt to take her next step towards contention when she battles “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 28 winner Macy Chiasson in a featured UFC 279 attraction on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Aldana climbs into the cage ranked fourth at 135 pounds behind Julianna Pena, Ketlen Vieira and Holly Holm. She has not appeared since she put away Yana Kunitskaya with punches in the first round of their UFC 264 pairing on July 10, 2021.

As Aldana inches ever closer to her high-stakes showdown with Chiasson, here are five things you might not know about her:

1. Some might call her a quintessential late bloomer.

A graphic designer and photographer by trade, Aldana did not start her formal mixed martial arts training until she was 23 years old. She made her pro debut without any amateur experience roughly two years later, racing out to a 7-2 start prior to signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2016.

2. She remains true to her roots.

Aldana operates out of the Lobo Gym—the same school at which she has trained since Day 1—in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she hones her skills alongside a number of accomplished stablemates, including fellow UFC veteran Alexa Grasso and current Invicta Fighting Championships flyweight titleholder Karina Rodriguez.

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3. First impressions could not have been stronger.

The Culiacan, Mexico, native finished her first three opponents in less than a minute. Aldana wiped out Sandra del Rincon with knees and punches in 15 seconds at a GEX Cage Tournament event on Oct. 17, 2012, then took out Flor Saenz in 20 seconds and Mayra Arce in 43 seconds under the Xtreme Kombat banner on Oct. 12, 2013. She felled Saenz with a knee to the body before leveling Arce with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches.

4. She has led an always-the-bridesmaid existence thus far.

Aldana failed in two bids to capture championships at the regional level. She missed out on the Jungle Fight women’s bantamweight crown when she succumbed to punches from Larissa Pacheco in the third round of their Jungle Fight 63 co-headliner in December 2013, then watched the vacant Invicta bantamweight title slip through her fingers when she was punched out by Tonya Evinger in the fourth round of their Invicta 13 co-main event in July 2015.

5. Adversity does not dissuade her.

Not much went according to plan at the start of Aldana’s run in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as she lost back-to-back decisions to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Chookagian at UFC on Fox 22 and UFC 210. However, she rebounded with a three-fight winning streak that saw her defeat Talita Bernardo, Lucie Pudilova and Bethe Correia in succession.