UFC 163: 'Aldo vs Zombie'

[METAL ON METAL]

Stann used his hands a bit too much when he was on camera (almost pointing aggressively at times)

 

He obviously learnt his interviewing techniques from Ricky Bobby.

 

[wandshogun09]

Has there been any update on Zombie's shoulder? I haven't got around to watching the post-fight press conference/Dana scrum yet so apologies if it's common knowledge. Can't see anything on the usual sites so hopefully it's nothing too serious.

 

Oh yeah, Sergio Moraes is a weird fucker isn't he? He doesn't seem like one of those fake 'characters' either. Just the way he moves, his build, his facial expressions, everything's a bit funny. He seems a nice enough chap though. I liked his little celebration after the fight. Did anyone see the little clip of him during one of the FX panel bits, of him strutting on his entrance with a big cheesey grin on his face? My girlfriend got up for a drink and walked in just as they were showing that and she nearly pissed herself. And she's usually a grumpy sod when she's just woke up.

 

 

I like Sergio.

[ColinBollocks]

Another tick for Stann from me. For the most part, he was polished and engaging, also it's nice to hear the views of an articulate fighter during a fight as you get a better idea of strategy etc.

 

Rogan was pretty dire on the Fox show; constantly stumbling over his lines and getting his cliches mixed up. Rogan can come across as really belligerent at times too.

[wandshogun09]

I get that impression of Rogan as well Blacko Jacko. I like him for the most part but I can never decide whether I think he's a good bloke or a confrontational arse. He flits between the two within seconds sometimes. He's great to listen to when he's in full flow on a subject he's passionate and knowledgable about, but I've always got the impression that he'd probably be a bit of a twat if you met him. My brother and mate met him in Dublin at UFC 93 and said he was sound enough so maybe I've read him wrong but he seems to me like the type who likes to dominate the conversation and if he disagrees with you he'll needlessly be a dick about it.

 

Anyway, what I was coming in here to post is that Aldo has suffered a broken foot and is now out until 2014. That's going to leave the top 145ers in a bit of a shootout. Almost a tournament like set-up I imagine. So these four - Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, Ricardo Lamas and the winner of Chad Mendes vs Clay Guida - pair them off later this year and whoever wins most impressively gets the title shot. Maybe?

 

There's also still the possibilty of Aldo taking a fight at 155 on his return. To be honest, I think it might be time he moves up anyway. He faded again vs Zombie, despite them saying on commentary it was his easiest cut yet. Why keep draining yourself and going in weakened? If he loses on skill fair enough, but if someone beats him because he left all his energy in the sauna, what a shit way to lose the title that would be. I think at 155, that extra 10lbs will see him through the later rounds better. He's mentioned himself since Saturday night, that he'd "love" a fight at 155 next, so he's clearly thinking about it as well.

 

Loads of options though. There's plenty of contenders at 145 as I've named above. There's also the chance they re-book Aldo vs Pettis if Pettis wins at the end of August. Although where that would leave TJ Grant is anyone's guess.

[jimufctna24]

Loads of options though. There's plenty of contenders at 145 as I've named above. There's also the chance they re-book Aldo vs Pettis if Pettis wins at the end of August. Although where that would leave TJ Grant is anyone's guess.

If Aldo steps up and is fast tracked into facing the winner of Bendo/Pettis, it would make sense to have Grant face the loser of Bendo/Pettis in a number 1 contenders fight. It would set up a round robin of sorts at 155lbs. For the record I would like Aldo or Pettis to come out as Champion, dependent on how good Pettis is. Bendo for me does not offer much to trouble Aldo, Pettis might but there are plenty of questions to be asked about Pettis, some of which will be answered when he faces Bendo at the end of the month.

 

145lbs without Aldo much like 205lbs will become once Jones moves up can then become a bit of a shootout. I would expect Mendes to come out on top as its hard to bet against a wrestler who is improving his striking. Edgar and Swanson would serve as Mendes top two contenders, although Lamas is a bit of a dark horse.

 

I forgot to comment on the Aldo vs Zombie. Impressive from Aldo, he showed he can fight at a different pace and in a different way to what we have become used to. This makes him a more adaptive fighter and one harder for opponents to gameplan for. Aldo is now showing he can be a octagon general and dictate pretty much where the fight goes and when it is going to go there. Aldo also showed he could finish late and has the patience to wait for the right time to turn up the volume, again adding more strings to his bow. His fellow Brazilian Lyoto Machida could take lessons from Aldo about when to time attacks to ensure you actually win fights.

 

Aldo in the past was a fighter which you can maybe control for brief moments and maybe even survive the distance, but you can not really harm. Florian for example survived by fighting a certain way, but caused no harm or damage to offer a argument he won the fight. Mendes in his brief fight with Aldo could stop and briefly control Aldo, but as we saw for not long enough for Aldo to be in any trouble. The scary thing is that Aldo is now not even letting fighters do that based on the Zombie performance, Aldo was in 100% control on Saturday Night.

[wandshogun09]

I'm fascinated by the idea of Aldo vs Pettis. It needs to happen. 145, 155, I don't care it just needs to happen. Two of the most lethal, accurate, and creative strikers in the sport. Both young so it's a rivalry that could have legs over 2 or 3 fights as well.

 

I don't fancy anyone in a stand up fight with Aldo, except Pettis. Pettis is a fucking Tekken character. He might even have more tools than Aldo as a striker. If you look back over his fights, he is more unpredictable than Aldo, or anyone Aldo has dealt with. Also, he can switch up and be as lethal as a lefty as he is in the orthodox stance. He totally mind-fucked Cerrone with this. Cerrone probably spent his whole camp prepping for a certain style, then Pettis came out southpaw and wrecked him. His Tae Kwon Do background gives him a strong base in either stance.

 

Then there's his defence, which is underrated IMO. I can't even really recall seeing Pettis eat flush shots in all the fights I've seen. He is really good at avoiding the big strikes.

 

Aldo has many of these same qualities which is what makes the fight so interesting to me. I think they'd both be each other's hardest test yet.

 

Nova Uniao head Andre Pederneiras is claiming Pettis faked his knee injury to avoid Aldo. Which is ludicrous when you consider it was Pettis doing all the running trying to get the fight made, while Aldo was luke-warm on it. Pettis has shot the claim down and said he'd love to fight Aldo after he rematches Bendo.

 

145lbs without Aldo much like 205lbs will become once Jones moves up can then become a bit of a shootout. I would expect Mendes to come out on top as its hard to bet against a wrestler who is improving his striking. Edgar and Swanson would serve as Mendes top two contenders, although Lamas is a bit of a dark horse.

 

I could see Mendes and Edgar battling it out for the top spot for a while. That could be a tremendous series, along the lines of Edgar-Maynard, I reckon.

 

Aldo in the past was a fighter which you can maybe control for brief moments and maybe even survive the distance, but you can not really harm. Florian for example survived by fighting a certain way, but caused no harm or damage to offer a argument he won the fight. Mendes in his brief fight with Aldo could stop and briefly control Aldo, but as we saw for not long enough for Aldo to be in any trouble. The scary thing is that Aldo is now not even letting fighters do that based on the Zombie performance, Aldo was in 100% control on Saturday Night.

 

Yeah, Aldo's performance was very good technically.

 

Looking back at Saturday night, I was wondering where the aggressive Zombie was in the first two rounds. I think there was a method to Zombie's madness though. I think Zombie probably planned to just get through the first two rounds and hopefully let Aldo tire himself. If you look at the Edgar fight, it was around the 3rd round Aldo started slowing down. Same vs Hominick, and maybe Florian but I'm hazy on that fight. Zombie's not a cardio freak so maybe his plan was to just eat what Aldo could throw for 10 mins in the hope he'd fade. Kind of a modern day rope-a-dope. It sounds like suicide but if that was Zombie's strategy, I genuinely think it was starting to work. Aldo didn't look as fresh in the 3rd and 4th and Zombie was suddenly attacking more, and landing some good shots. Which Aldo appeared not to like much because he immediately started stifling KZ on the cage. Aldo only came to life again once he saw KZ's shoulder was out. Who knows how things would have played out if not for that. Aldo was ahead and probably could've coasted to a points win, but we don't know.

 

It's a shame how it ended. As loopy as it sounds I think this was Zombie's plan and I think it was starting to take effect to some degree. Just a shame his shoulder wasn't in on it.

[jimufctna24]

I watched the Main Event a bit half heartedly if I am honest. Not because I did not care, but I felt Zombie had nothing to offer Aldo when I came to watch the fight (despite me not dismissing Zombie in the lead up) You could be right and Zombie did have some sort of gameplan that was working, but I saw it in a different way. I saw Aldo out to prove a point that he was not just go to leg kicker, he could win by deploying a boxing game. I also felt he used the cagework and takedowns to display that string in his bow. Like I said it impressed me as some fighters just stick to displaying a few strengths, it is not like you see Anderson go for a takedown or Cain go for Muay Thai attack. Aldo maybe the most complete fighter in the sport, the only chink could be suspect cardio. But your thread could be right in theory, as it makes sense.

 

I agree about Pettis also. I think Pettis is the toughest fight that could realistically happen for Aldo in the near future. Its amazing that Aldo may face a striker more diverse than himself. Aldo has never really faced a top-level striker, the best he has faced for my money is Frankie Edgar who is a decent boxer with quick movement, but is not as diverse, crisp and vibrant as Pettis. The prospect of Pettis vs Aldo makes me want Pettis to cream Bendo even more.

 

Come to thing of it, Edgar does have the game to beat Mendes. But I think Mendes maybe the fighter with more room to improve.

[METAL ON METAL]

You could be right and Zombie did have some sort of gameplan that was working, but I saw it in a different way. I saw Aldo out to prove a point that he was not just go to leg kicker, he could win by deploying a boxing game.

 

I've gotta disagree, I don't think that was intentional on his part. Aldo broke his foot on the very first leg kick he threw in the fight. He did prove he could adapt his game plan during adversity though, but I'm pretty sure his original game plan included throwing many kicks.

[wandshogun09]

Speaking of adapting during adversity, Uncle Creepy broke his hand early in round one of his fight with Iliarde Santos as well.

[jimufctna24]

You could be right and Zombie did have some sort of gameplan that was working, but I saw it in a different way. I saw Aldo out to prove a point that he was not just go to leg kicker, he could win by deploying a boxing game.

 

I've gotta disagree, I don't think that was intentional on his part. Aldo broke his foot on the very first leg kick he threw in the fight. He did prove he could adapt his game plan during adversity though, but I'm pretty sure his original game plan included throwing many kicks.

Really? I did not know that. I stand corrected.

 

It shows he can adapt real well though, I thought he fought that way to throw Zombie off!

[Egg Shen]

im late getting on this cause i was away for a weekend, few things:

 

* Aldo/Zombie was a strange fight. I don't see the logic if Zombie's gameplan was to to take Aldo deep and tire him out. It would be fair enough if Zombie was pushing the pace to actually make Aldo tire but he couldn't simply do nothing, allow himself to go 3 rounds down in Aldo's homeland and hope that he'd get tired. I think the situation got to him and he froze in the headlights so to speak, he showed Aldo too much respect early and he allowed Aldo into a lead that its very unlikely he would have clawed back injury or not.

 

I usually pick up on injuries but i had no idea that Aldo was injured during the fight. The lack of kicking was strange but i put it down to Aldo wanting to concentrate on his hands. The champ didn't look great but considering he was fighting on a broken fight you've gotta give him a pass. That finish was ruthless though, attacking a clearly dislocated limb...fighting is a cruel, brutal game.

 

* Davis/Machida was obviously one of the biggest talking points leaving the PPV. Im gonna puss out a bit and say i didn't pick a winner...i had round 1 to Machida, 2 to Davis and round 3 i didn't score it was that close (ill have to go back and watch). I don't see the outrage though, Machida's a victim of his own activity. When he attacks he's amongst the most exciting fighters in the game, but there was a period in round 2 where he didn't do anything for around 3 minutes other than avoid Davis's attacks, how does that make him the winner?

 

I wanted Machida to win it cause i really wanna see a second Jones fight but i had no problem with the decision. Machida's takedown defence was on point and he had the fight on it's fight for around 12 mins (that's a guess), he should have eaten Davis alive in that time.

 

* Im officially off the Tom Watson bandwagon. Not because i don't like him, but because that's the second time he's fucked up and acculator for me! I think the Leites layoff had me forgot how adept a grapper Leites is, it was a bad matchup for Kong. Again i think Wand. mentioned it but Leities looked jacked compared to how he was.

 

As for Kong, i think he's gotten ahead of himself with calling for fights and stuff, it's all well and good if he's winning but he's now 1-2 in the UFC and is back to square one. Kong's the kind of guy the UFC need to matchup correctly, he's a blood and guts type fighter and it's always worth taking advantage of that...id be down for Kong/Leben (if Leben is sticking around).

 

* Was very impressed with Cezar Ferreira until i found out that his opponent has only ever beaten one guy with a winning record. I think this was a bit of a gimmie to show off the guy to an audience clearly on board with him. Ferreira could be a bit of a star, I expect him to get a bit of a high profile fight on the next Brazilian card.

 

* There's something I love about Anthony Perosh! i don't know what it is, i think it's because he simply does not look like a fighter, he's old and is an underdog going into every fight he has. Vinny talked shit going in and apparently left his gloves in the cage after the fight. Perosh caught him clean, cold with a sweet step in right and hand and that was that. It's the same thing with Vladamir Matyushenko, i always root for the Janitor.

 

Perosh continues to be one of the unrecognised success stories of the last few years, he's won 4 from 5 and has finished all 4, you can't really argue with that.

 

Decent show let down by a disappointing PPV for a couple of reasons.

 

That'll do.

[Guy Bifkin]

I watched the repeat on Sunday and I thought it was a disappointing show.

 

I know next to nothing about how they score these fights but I was very surprised that they gave the decision to Davis. Machida seemed in control of the fight and I thought he landed some good clean shots. Davis never seemed to hurt him, but I

[jimufctna24]

* Im officially off the Tom Watson bandwagon. Not because i don't like him, but because that's the second time he's fucked up and acculator for me! I think the Leites layoff had me forgot how adept a grapper Leites is, it was a bad matchup for Kong. Again i think Wand. mentioned it but Leities looked jacked compared to how he was.

The theory going around is that in Brazil you can get away with a lot more erm assistance than in America, UK and Canada. A lot of people noticed it with Leites though, maybe he made a bit too obvious.

 

I felt round 3 of Machida vs Davis was the most pretty clear cut round, I had it big for Lyoto. I felt that was the round he showed he was the better fighter personally, as he beat Davis at every aspect of the game.

[Egg Shen]

im gonna go back and watch it today. The thing that stuck out to me in round 3 was that Machida was defending Davis' takedowns very well but was doing no offence of note...when that happens, i still tend to side with the guy attempting to takedowns as the guy winning the round.

 

I will go back and watch it again though.

[jimufctna24]

im gonna go back and watch it today. The thing that stuck out to me in round 3 was that Machida was defending Davis' takedowns very well but was doing no offence of note...when that happens, i still tend to side with the guy attempting to takedowns as the guy winning the round.

 

I will go back and watch it again though.

Fair enough, I get your logic.

 

I think its one of those fights where the verdict is a opinion rather than definitive.