UFC 179: Aldo vs Mendes 2

[wandshogun09]

It's got a hard act to follow but this is on October 25th;

 

 

PPV MAIN CARD

Jose Aldo vs Chad Mendes - UFC Featherweight Title

Glover Teixeira vs Phil Davis

Fabio Maldonado vs Hans Stringer

Darren Elkins vs Lucas Martins

Carlos Diego Ferriera vs Beneil Dariush

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Neil Nagny vs William Macario

Yan Cabral vs Naoyuki Kotani

Scott Jorgensen vs Wilson Reis

Felipe Arantes vs Andre Fili

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Gilbert Burns vs Christos Giagos

Fabricio Camoes vs Tony Martin

 

What a comedown after 178. If you take off Aldo vs Mendes, and say Glover vs Davis was the headliner, this looks like one of those mid-week Brazil Fight Nights. Not that there's not some decent fights and fighters on the undercard but when you see the type of card they can do like 178 and the PPVs coming up for the end of this year and early next year, it's hard to get too excited for this.

 

I'll go as far as to say this might actually be slightly worse than 177 as a PPV offering. The main event is excellent but that's all this PPV has going for it really. And we know Aldo's track record with injuries. This could be 177 all over again.

 

Anyway...

 

Aldo vs Mendes 2 is a very interesting rematch. Even though Aldo knocked Mendes out in the first round of their first fight, loads of people rate Mendes as the biggest threat to Aldo's title.

 

Since the first fight Mendes has really stepped up his game. His striking has come on a lot, especially during Duane Ludwig's time as head coach at the Alpha Male gym. Mendes has gone 5-0 with 4 stoppages since the loss to Aldo. His last three wins were TKOs over Elkins and Guida and a decision over Lentz. He's in the best form of his career clearly.

 

And many people think Aldo has stagnated. He's still fucking awesome but for whatever reason he's not looking like the killer he was in the WEC days. You could argue that Aldo, as great as he is, has stayed pretty much the same fighter since the first fight, while Mendes has made noticeable improvements. Mendes has probably closed the gap between him and Aldo, the question is will that be good enough? No-one's even came close to beating Aldo in the UFC. He's barely dropped a round in years.

 

Despite the criticism against Aldo for coasting in some fights, he's still schooling good fighters like Ricardo Lamas and Korean Zombie and making them look like rookies. All in second gear. You get the feeling Aldo could do a lot more if he felt like he was being pushed, and that's what I love about this fight. I really think Mendes can push Aldo and bring the best out of him. It seems like Aldo fights to his opponent's level sometimes and I think Mendes might be the guy to light a match under him.

 

The first fight wasn't without controversy either. People look at the records and it just says 'Aldo beat Mendes by first round KO'. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Aldo was grabbing the fence quite a bit to stop Mendes from taking him down. He did it a few times and Mario Yamasaki let him get away with it. Earlier in the night Yamasaki had come under criticism for disqualifying Erick Silva for punches to the back of the head, so I think that might've made him gun-shy with handing out discipline later on. Aldo grabbed the fence and it kind of led to the big finishing knee that put Mendes away.

 

 

Now, back then I think Aldo was going to beat Mendes anyway. I think that fight may have came a bit too early for Mendes at the time. But still, it wasn't a straight forward win. The cage grabbing was a factor.

 

I'll probably stick with Aldo. But Mendes could do like his team mate TJ Dillashaw here. Then there'd be no Brazilian UFC champions! That hasn't happened since about 2005. Aldo is the last man standing for Brazil as far as UFC title holders go. And Alpha Male has the momentum over Nova Uniao after Dillashaw's title win over Barao. If Mendes is ever going to win the big one, now seems like the perfect time.

 

Aldo vs Mendes 2 promo;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=D2f7WqRWcmE

 

Teixeira vs Davis doesn't do a great deal for me, to be honest. I guess it'll be interesting to see Glover against someone with such a wrestling heavy style. I'm guessing the polls will be heavily in Glover's favour for this but Davis can be tricky puzzle to solve. And in a three rounder, it could all come down to a few well timed takedowns and Davis could nick two rounds to take the decision. I'd fancy Glover to come out on top but it's not straight forward for me. And although Glover has big power in his hands, remember Rumble couldn't KO Davis over three rounds. So it's not as obvious a call as it might originally seem.

 

Fabio Maldonado is back! The possessor of probably the most effective body punching in all of MMA. I think I said before but there was a boxer in the 90s called Mike McCallum who went by the nickname 'Body Snatcher' because of his nasty body shots. I think Fabio should adopt that moniker. He needs a nickname.

 

Elkins vs Martins might be decent. But that main card is pretty thin overall. The main event and Maldonado are the only two fights that really grab me.

 

Prelims have some decent-good stuff on there.

 

Magny vs Macario will probably be pretty good. Magny is on a little streak and I really liked the look of Macario in his last fight with Bobby Voelker. Really good Muay Thai from what I remember. He might have trouble with Magny's frame though.

 

Jorgensen vs Reis could end up stealing the show. Two little Tasmanian devils. Yan Cabral is a joy to watch on the ground. No-one talks about him but he's got a really exciting and attacking BJJ game. Andre Fili trains at Alpha Male (or Alpha Fail if you're on Team Cruz) and was being mentioned as a bit of a prospect before Max Holloway derailed him. And Gilbert Burns is a multi-time BJJ world champion making his second UFC appearance.

 

So there's some alright stuff on there. But it's a far cry from 178 and the big ones coming up on the horizon with Cain vs Werdum, Hendricks vs Lawler 2, Pettis vs Melendez, Jones vs Cormier, Rousey vs Zingano, Weidman vs Belfort and Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz. Best to just look at this as a Glover vs Davis Fight Night, with a bonus Aldo vs Mendes title fight main event. Put like that it sounds awesome

 

Oh yeah, this man's making the trip over to Brazil to watch Aldo vs Mendes...

 

"I'm actually flying out to Brazil. How about that? I might stick a few banana peels around the ring."

[Noah Southworth]

My only interest in this card is seeing what happens with Conor; hopefully, he'll be there and be brought into the cage to confront Jo...the winner of the main event and challenge for the next title shot.

[TildeGuy~!]

Carlos Diego Ferreira has replaced Alan Patrick on the main card as Patrick has suffered a fractured jaw

[wandshogun09]

Jesus it's starting already. I like Ferreira though, so that's actually a slight improvement on the card for me.

 

Looking back it's amazing how well 178 stayed intact given the horrendous year we've had with pullouts and cards generally going to shit. Jones pulling out was the big one but after that everything was alright. McGregor said his thumb injury almost caused him to pull out at one point but other than that, the injury bug left 178 alone.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Has anyone seen the broken jaw picture?

 

It's horrendous. Sherdog ran the picture with the story; his face has collapsed in. It's haunting me.

[Egg Shen]

yeh it's a horrible looking injury.

 

It's most definitely a comedown from 178 that's likely to be met with much apathy but it's solid enough for. Top two fights are legit, im favouring Mendes to take out Aldo though, i did last time they met and until the knee of death it didn't seem that bad a bet.

 

Everything underneath is Brazil heavy, always gamers so it should be a fun show nonetheless.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

The Conor McGregor factor is really what's making this show interesting (again). Fuck it, they should put McGregor on every UFC event. Make him a colour commentator. And when he's scheduled for a fight, make him wear a headset into the Octagon so he can call his own fights.

 

Seriously though, Conor's a very smart man. He's verbally taken shots at both Aldo and Mendes, so no matter who wins, there's a ready made feud for the Irishman to jump right into.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I'll just link to this so no-one sees it by accident and loses their stomach contents.

 

The Alan Patrick broken jaw picture mentioned above, for anyone who hasn't seen it...

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByvjmEsCEAANPEV.jpg:large

 

Christ.

[wandshogun09]

I was going to put this in the MMA news thread but since it's about Aldo and ties in with the McGregor and the "I'll fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me" stuff we were on about last week...

 

Chael Sonnen quote on Jose Aldo and why he's not as big a star or as rich as he should be/deserves to be;

 

"I think there's some opportunity out there for a number of guys. Conor McGregor is, without question, the most entertaining guy in or out of the cage right now. There are some other guys that are fun and get what we're doing and understand that you've got a personality, and when they put you on camera, they're trying to see that personality.

 

Then you've got these other guys, in their suits and ties, and they go out and just sit there, like they're going to win over the fans with that suit and tie. I just don't understand it. If you want to be exciting, then be exciting. Don't make the UFC buy you a plane ticket to whatever press conference is in question if you're not going to help yourself along.

 

There's guys out there that are really great. I look at Jose Aldo, and he's just so good. I personally have him ranked as the Number 2 fighter in the world, behind Jon Jones. Aldo may be the Number 1 fighter. That Featherweight class is so much harder than Jones' weight class. The point is, he's the lowest paid champ in UFC history. He's the lowest drawing champion in UFC history, and that's 100% his fault. He's complaining about money constantly, but he's been on the PPV cards like the rest of the champions have. He just does nothing to maneuver his career.

 

If I was Jose Aldo, and I know that I can't draw flies, the second Cain (Velasquez) gets announced to fight in Mexico against Fabricio Werdum, I would have picked a fight. I would have picked a fight, I would have picked that date, and I would have gone to the media and called out whatever opponent it was, and I would have said, ‘Meet me in Mexico.' I would have taken advantage of the revenue that Cain is going to bring in.

 

That concept that I just laid out to you would be such a foreign idea to him and his management team, despite that it's so obvious. What I said is 101. You get on the biggest cards if you're fighting PPV like the champions are. I don't think any of this is crossing his mind.

 

If I can't create a big card, then I'm gonna get stuck on a big card. If I'm fighting Rashad Evans, and he and I can't draw on our own, then I'm going to challenge him to a co-main with St. Pierre on top, headlining. Then, I'm going to benefit from the biggest PPV of the year.

 

When they ask you who you want to fight, have an answer. If you don't have an answer, do not say, ‘I will fight whoever the UFC wants me to fight.' Not only do they not name anybody's name, they then go to the absolute worst default, which is the ‘I'll fight anybody' line.

 

They didn't just miss the ball, they struck out. I've also seen them call out multiple guys. ‘Well, I wanna fight this guy or this guy.' Now you've just divided your own fan base. Half of them are gonna go left, half are gonna go right. Focus everything on one guy.

 

When people would ask me, I would go one of two ways; I would either go after the champion, or I would say I wanted to fight the worst guy with the most appalling record in the biggest venue for the largest paycheck. Why? Because it's also a truthful answer. You don't need to fight Number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-10. Either fight Number 1 or fight Number 20. You want to get the championship, or you want a fight that will make you look great in there. If there's not an architecture, you've got to create one.

 

An example is when Rashad and I were going to fight. Rashad and I aren't going to do huge numbers as a main event, but we're both in on the PPV and we both need to be on big cards. When I find out that the 20 year anniversary is coming up and Georges St. Pierre is gonna fight Johny Hendricks, I had my own poster made. I went to a graphic designer, I paid the money and had my own poster made. I then sent Rashad a tweet, and it simply said, ‘Rashad, what are you doing November 16th?' He writes me back and says, ‘Nothing, what's up?' I said, ‘I'll give you one hint' and I tweeted out the picture of the poster. It's got me and Rashad on it with the date and the venue. It was great.

 

The very next day, Joe Silva yells at me in a hotel in Indianapolis, ‘What are you trying to do, announce your own fights? We announce fights, not you.' The day after that, I had a contract to fight Rashad Evans on November 16th, which just happened to be the highest grossing PPV of the year.

 

You have got to go outside the box a little bit. You've got to risk being yelled at by Joe Silva, but at the end of the day, you can get your way. The minute I sent that tweet out with the poster, every media outlet picked it up. Now the UFC is faced with two choices. They can either do a fight that I had already announced, or they can try to unwind $5 million worth of free media that tweet got after every media outlet picked it up. It's a lot easier to just send me a contract and send me my PPV bonus [laughs].

 

Jose Aldo is beating everybody up. I don't say this as a knock on him. I like the guy and I pick him to talk about because I think that he deserves more, but he's got to go out and earn it. He's got to bring in the interest. I can't tell you how often I have to tell people who Jose Aldo is and that he's the current champion. People think that McGregor is the champion because he's fast become the guy in that division that stands out.

 

It's all about having a hand in your own career, and a lot of these guys just don't do it. Some of these guys just don't get it or understand it, and later down the road, they'll regret it. The few that do, have a lot of fun with it. For me, Conor McGregor is that guy. He's your next real superstar."

[Noah Southworth]

Like Chael said, it's basic 101 stuff but because a lot of people are stuck in the mindset of what the sport 'should' be about. they don't want to listen or simply can't grasp it. Every fighter needs to read that and, hopefully, it'll sink in.

[lambyUK]

Whilst Sonnen is 100% right, I think what also doesn't help Aldo is that he doesn't speak English. Anderson only became a box office hit once he got Sonnen to do the promotion. So I would argue that if you don't speak Englsh then it's difficult to become a box office draw.

 

Aside from Anderson, has there been any big drawing fighters who don't speak fluent English?

[wandshogun09]

Mike Tyson. 

[lambyUK]

Mike Tyson. 

 

Very funny smart arse haha.

[jimufctna24]

Depends on what you classify as a big draw. Wanderlai Silva has partially contributed to some big drawing cards, and he is a mumbling mess. 

 

The biggest draws in American MMA history are probably (in no order)

 

GSP

Chael

Lesnar

Kimbo Slice (On TV, even if it was a fad)

Anderson

Liddel

Ortiz

 

Rampage, Penn, Ken Shamrock and Rashad are up there as well. The guy in my sig was a massive draw in California also.

 

A part of GSP's charm at first was his broken English. For example, when he would say things like "fairly squarly" and refer to his nose as his "nert". Other than him and Anderson though, everyone else has English as their first language out of the big U.S drawing cards.

[Bus Surfer]

Jim just out of curiosity, why do you type Wanderlai?