Irene Aldana has made quite some impression in the world of mixed martial arts. Fighting professionally since 2012, the Mexican bantamweight fighter has seldom failed to garner attention with her fighting skills. After all, she has a phenomenal record of 15 wins and 7 losses. Needless to say, even the best fighters aren’t free of defeats in their professional career, don’t you agree?

Today, let’s take a deep dive into Aldana’s MMA career and look into the times she was defeated. So, without any further ado, let’s get right into it.

Amanda Nunes, Holly Holm, and other UFC losses for Irene Aldana

Aldana was inducted into the UFC back in 2016, at UFC on Fox 22 against Leslie Smith. Nevertheless, her debut fight resulted in a loss as Smith prevailed in the bout via a unanimous decision. The Mexican was then scheduled to fight Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 210. But the judges decided not to favor Aldana and she lost yet again by a split decision. 

The 36-year-old fighter didn’t lose hope and went on a 3-fight win streak before stumbling upon her third UFC defeat. It was a fight against Raquel Pennington at UFC on ESPN 4 when another split decision snatched a victory from Aldana’s plate. Needless to say, she didn’t stop and went on to face Holly Holm after putting 2 wins under her belt. The fight against Hom didn’t go as Aldana had planned and the scorecards tilted in Holm’s favor in unison. Aldana’s last defeat came at the hands of Amanda Nunes at UFC 289. This was Aldana’s 5th and hopefully final loss in the UFC. 

The last loss took a heavy toll on the bantamweight contender. She commended Nunes for her strength and even considered her as the G.O.A.T. Even though she claimed that it was an honor to face Nunes, Aldana wasn’t happy with the results. The Mexican fighter said, “I’m sorry to have failed my coaches and all of you. I assure you that this does not stay like this. It was a bad night but the goal is still clear and the objective is still that fourth belt. I promised you and I’m going to fulfill it, whatever the cost.”

But what about the Mexican’s losses outside the Octagon? Let’s find out how many losses she had to face before stepping into the Octagon.

Has Irene Aldana lost outside the UFC?

Before getting inducted into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Aldana fought under the banner of GEX and Xtreme Kombat. After winning three fights, she decided to fight at Jungle Fight 63. She landed against Larissa Pacheco when Aldana faced the first loss in her professional mixed martial arts career. Pacheco claimed the victory by sending forth a barrage of punches in the third round.

The next promotion in which the Mexican fighter landed was the Invicta Fighting Championships. After winning another couple of fights in MMA promotion, she faced the second defeat of her career against Tonya Evinger. Evinger defeated Aldana in the fourth round via ground and pound. These two were the only losses Aldana had to come through before finally stepping into the Octagon. 

Now, Aldana is all set to fight Norma Dumont at UFC 306. This will indeed be a proud moment for the Mexican to appear at the Sphere, to celebrate a win on the day of Mexican Independence. Will her experience and determination to win help her turn the 1-fight winning streak into a 2-fight winning streak? Time will tell.