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Jose Aldo didn’t come to UFC 301 for his swan song.

Instead, the “King of Rio” returned from retirement and took out a top 15 ranked opponent in Jonathan Martinez in lopsided fashion before hinting that perhaps he has one last title run left in him.

It was a brilliant performance from Aldo in his first fight back in the UFC in nearly two years as he looked better than ever, picking Martinez apart on the feet and never allowing his opponent a moment to breathe. When it was over, all three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Aldo as he gets the win and sends notice that the old dog still knows a few new tricks.

“I’m really happy,” Aldo said following the win. “I know this is what everybody wanted to see. I couldn’t imagine this in my wildest dreams. I feel flattered. I’ve been boxing a lot so this is what I’ve been working on. I was able to land some good shots on him.”

Despite the layoff from his retirement, Aldo immediately took the center of the cage and acted as the aggressor, throwing combinations with his hands before unleashing a couple of head kicks. In return, Martinez stayed patient and composed to begin setting up his signature leg kicks as he attempted to chip away at Aldo’s foundation.

Aldo wasn’t doing a ton of damage but he was setting the pace and Martinez appeared gun shy to really throw much of anything in return.

As the action moved into the second round, Martinez engaged a little bit more before pressing Aldo against the cage to look for a takedown much to the chagrin of the Brazilian crowd. While Martinez was maintaining control, he wasn’t producing any offense and that forced referee Mike Beltran to reset them in the center of the octagon.

On the restart, Aldo snapped off a nasty left hand that cracked Martinez and he followed that with another flurry of punches. Martinez fired back and clipped Aldo on the chin but he still appeared to be a step behind the former UFC champion.

A spinning backfist from Martinez and a late elbow definitely got Aldo’s attention but not enough to shift the momentum in his favor. Even with Aldo’s pace slowing somewhat in the final five minutes, Martinez was still only unleashing a single shot at a time rather than any real blistering combinations.

As time ticked away, Aldo caught Martinez with a nasty flurry of punches capped off by a huge left hook that rocked the veteran bantamweight and put him on wobbly legs. Aldo looked for the finish and ultimately tossed Martinez to the ground where he maintained control until the final horn sounded.

UFC 301 served as the final bout on Aldo’s current contract, which led many to speculate that perhaps he was coming back from one last fight before hanging up his MMA gloves again. Lately, Aldo has been more focused on a boxing career but perhaps he’s not done just yet — at least based on his post-fight comments.

“My next step is sitting with Dana [White], Sean [Shelby] and Hunter [Campbell] and we’ll see where it goes,” Aldo said. “I said this wasn’t going to be my last fight. I see that I can still go far. Maybe we can come back here and become the champion.”