UFC 179: Aldo vs Mendes 2

[wandshogun09]

Nah none of them are anywhere near as woeful as Johnny B GAD. He's on a completely different plane of shitness for me.

[jimufctna24]

Johnny B GAD.

That tickled me a lot more than it should.

 

Anyway, even with the information that the 1st round of Aldo vs Mendes 1 was not as close as I remembered, I am still not confident in predicting a winner out of Aldo vs Mendes. I lean slightly towards Aldo winning.

 

Regarding Davis vs Glover. Johnson was just too big and powerful for Davis. Also,Rashad was just too good a wrestler for him. It seems to beat Davis you have to get really heavy with him, instead of Machida's approach of outscoring him from a distance. I had Machida beating Davis, but it was still a close fight. When Johnson and Rashad got heavy with him, Davis lost by a quite a margin. 

 

Glover has serious power in his hands, but I am not sure he has the physical strength to rough up Davis. I think Glover will land the better shots, but the fight could be decided in the clinch. If Glover can shrug Davis off, I think Glover will win quite handily.

[wandshogun09]

Anyway, even with the information that the 1st round of Aldo vs Mendes 1 was not as close as I remembered, I am still not confident in predicting a winner out of Aldo vs Mendes. I lean slightly towards Aldo winning.

Yeah, this is the first Aldo fight in forever that I've really had to think about. I mean, I think Aldo wins and after rewatching the first fight I'm leaning even more towards Aldo. But Mendes has a style that you could see giving Aldo problems if he can drag it into the later rounds when Aldo starts to slow down. We never got to see that last time because it ended so quickly. Maybe we will this time.

 

Then again, Mendes has never gone five rounds. So who's to say he'll even hold up? I think people just assume his cardio is top notch because he trains with Faber and Dillashaw but you never really know until he's actually in those championship rounds. He faded horribly against Nik Lentz in his last fight and that was a three rounder. He still won comfortably but what happens if he's out of gas in the fourth round and he's got fucking Jose Aldo standing in front of him? To be fair he didn't seem right in that Lentz fight, maybe he was sick. But the jury is still out on his cardio over five rounds, for now.

 

Also, I keep hearing that Mendes has improved a ton and Aldo hasn't. I even put something like that in the opening post. But has he really improved that much? Like lamby said in the other thread, he's been fighting a lot of lower level guys. Blasting through Yaotzin Meza and Cody McKenzie tells us fuck all really. The Guida and Lentz wins were good but when you think about it, it's actually an unfair comparison to compare Aldo's improvement to Mendes' improvement. Of course Mendes has looked better, he's been fighting easier opposition. Put Aldo in with Yaotzin Meza and see what happens. The Cody McKenzie fight was such a horrible mismatch even Dana came out after and admitted that they should never have booked that fight. When you think how rare it is that Dana's admits he's at fault, it tells you all you need to know. McKenzie had no business in there with Mendes.

 

Meanwhile, Aldo's been fighting the absolute best fight in-fight out. From Lamas to Edgar to Zombie to Florian, the list goes on.

 

Aldo himself alluded to Mendes weak opposition recently;

 

"I see no difference in his game. He's still the same person with the same game. He's maybe more confident but there is nothing that I can see to tell: 'Oh, the guy has better striking now.' No. He has never had a bout with a good striker and fought three rounds against him. In the cage, we'll see who evolved more."

There's no doubt Mendes has improved since the first fight. But the more stuff I read and watch the more I think his perceived 'huge' improvement is overblown. His best win since the Aldo fight is Clay Guida, who's been very hit and miss the last few years.

 

Countdown videos...

 

Aldo vs Mendes;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=w3rUeZHSxkU

 

Teixeira vs Davis;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=8zPRiicqMgI

 

Ferreira vs Dariush;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=DEmhuncVfC8

 

Yes, Diego Ferreira vs Beneil Dariush made the Countdown!

[Egg Shen]

It's weak looking compared to 178 and what's coming up but it after a few weeks gap im hungry for this. It's one of those cards that lacks the standout names that jump out at people but the main card should be fun, Carlos Ferriera looks like a bit of a killer at 155, Martins/Elkins is a massive styles clash that could be great depending on who impliments their gameplan better and Fabio Maldonado always brings the goods.

 

I'm hoping for a solid show, top two fights speak for themselves but im expecting a couple of breakout performances underneath.

 

MMA is a weird sport where it takes a certain performance to really push a fighter through that glass ceiling of popularity. Once they get over that obstacle they are fine but it takes some guys longer than others. It usually takes a win over a guy who's already got over that hump or some kind of insane finish.l

[Egg Shen]

Embedded's going up:

 

 

[Egg Shen]

 

Yes, Diego Ferreira vs Beneil Dariush made the Countdown!

 

anyone know why they did that? i can't recall another time they used the Countdown to promote the opening fight on the card...the segment is even longer than the Davis/Glover one too

 

Saying that, as a bit of a diehard fan i i have no problem with it, i always enjoy it when new guys are featured on the countdown. The Countdown shows are very much routine at this point so i always like to see something different on there.

[Guy Bifkin]

What sort of time is this going to be aired in the UK? I've finally upgraded to SKY+ so I'm looking forward to watching in the morning over bacon, eggs and tea, rather than having to get up in the middle of the night.

 

I hope we see Jose Aldo back to his nastiest. Mendes is good but I just don't like him or any of the Alpha Male lot really. I'd like at least one champ who isn't an American wrestler type and McGregor vs Aldo is where it's at for me.

 

I hope to see Glover paste Davis all over the Octagon. The rest of the card is a bit of a mystery to me but I always enjoy these foreign shows with lots of fighters I've never heard of. Bring it on!

[wandshogun09]

Prelims start at 1am, Bifkin. But the clocks go back during the prelims. So the main card will start at 2am but it'll feel like 3am.

 

Yeah I don't really have an issue with Ferreira-Dariush on the Countdown. We're always saying how there's too many guys on the roster who no-one has any emotional investment in, so shining some of the spotlight on them on Countdowns and stuff can't hurt. It does show how thin the card is though.

 

I think they've featured that fight because the rest is so unappealing. Usually the Countdown is all about the main and co-main events, and if they have time or they have a big third fight, they'll give that a little segment at the end as well. But with a card like this, there's not much to fill out the Countdown with. I thought they'd just do Aldo vs Mendes and Glover vs Davis but even then, how much is there to say or work with on Glover vs Davis? And Maldonado-Stringer and Elkins-Martins don't jump out. I guess it was just a case of Ferreira and/or Dariush having more interesting stories? I haven't watched it yet.

 

I guess maybe they see something in Ferreira too, and want to give him a bit of a boost. He's unbeaten, he's exciting in the cage, he seems pretty likable.

[Egg Shen]

back on the subject of the Countdown, at this point would it be illogical for the UFC to do little piece on each of the 5 fight main card? at a time when fans are struggling to keep up with the sheer amount of fighters coming and going, to do a little 10-15 minute piece on each fight would be beneficial right? The fact that the UFC breaks the segments up and upload them to their youtube page means it'd be a fairly beneficial promotional tool for cards where the UFC are asking for the fans to part with their coin.

 

i don't if it's cost effective or whatever, but having just watched the Ferreira/Dariush piece it works if it's simply a case of letting people see highlights of these guys and triggering memories of stuff you may have seen before. I'd like to see it happen.

[wandshogun09]

Embedded - Episode 3. Featuring a main event in the arrival of Conor McGregor...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=61F4iIi6sIo

 

And a co-main event of Glover Teixeira being the most likable man alive. Seriously, every time I see Glover he couldn't come across as a nicer bloke. Looks fucking terrifying but he's like a big dopey St Bernard or something.

 

Speaking of likable, this video is worth a watch just to see JDS trying to go through the wrong door.

 

Only just got round to watching the first two episodes as well. Loved the Aldo bit in the first one;

 

Reporter: What do you think of Chad Mendes?

Aldo: Piece of shit.

Doesn't mince his words, that one.

 

I hope Aldo batters him. I've never been keen on Mendes. Well the Alpha Male team as a whole really. The only people affiliated with that gym who I like are Faber, Duane Ludwig and Martin Kampmann. The rest - Mendes, Dillashaw, Benavidez, Justin Buchholz - I've never warmed to any of them. Mendes and Dillashaw in particular come off as dicks to me. Buchholz might be alright for all I know, I've just taken an irrational disliking to his face. Alpha Fails.

 

I liked what Pedro Rizzo was saying about Aldo as well. That he's glad Mendes talked shit because it's fired Aldo up. Maybe that's what Aldo has been missing. He's been dominating for so long and making it look almost effortless at times, that maybe complacency has crept in and he hasn't been as motivated. You can tell he really doesn't like Mendes though so maybe we'll see some of the old Jose Aldo killer instinct back tomorrow night.

 

Aldo's the last remaining Brazilian UFC champion as well. Defending the title in Brazil. Add that to his dislike of Mendes, plus the revenge factor of the Alpha Male vs Nova Uniao rivalry - I think we're going to see a more fired up Jose Aldo than we've seen in a while.

 

Mendes can say "I'm gonna fuck this guy up" all he wants but I think he's in for a rough time tomorrow night.

 

I'll go with Aldo by KO, round two.

[wandshogun09]

According to Helwani's twitter, Conor McGregor's doing the Q&A for this show. He was announced to the Brazilians and they are booing the shit out of him, doing that "you're gonna die" chant and all sorts. And McGregor is loving it apparently.

 

Can't wait to watch this later.

 

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

This is like Andy Kaufman in Memphis. They hate him and he's eating it up.

EDIT...

 

More from Helwani;

 

McGregor is strutting around like Vinnie Mac.

McGregor now telling the crowd, "come here and say that." I wonder how long this lasts. Never seen a more adversarial q and a.

Fucking hell. Has he got a death wish? He's nuts. This is a country where there's people robbing Shogun at gunpoint. Shogun. One of their own and maybe the nicest man in the sport. They've got a security guard with him on stage apparently. And the UFC have had him going around in a bulletproof car. And he's still goading and heeling it up. He legit doesn't give a fuck, does he? I can see this getting ugly at some point over the weekend. Hopefully the UFC's security are on the ball.

[Supremo]

It sounds hilarious, but they better be careful. It could easily turn ugly.

 

I wonder if Chael could let him borrow his disguise?

 

[wandshogun09]

Ha, that was the first thing I thought of as I read through Helwani's twitter feed.

 

This might end up being even more volatile though. I don't think McGregor's will be saying anything as stupid as Chael's "I brought things you Brazilians don't have. I brought you packets of soap" - but his egging on and winding up the crowd may be even more effective because Chael always said stuff like a joke or like it was just trolling. Conor goading people to come on stage will rile them up something fierce. You don't get the same sense that it's all tongue in cheek with Conor. Without even seeing it yet, I can imagine that when he's basically giving the crowd a bit of a 'fuck you' it will seem like he means it. Whereas Chael was being such a clown when he went to Brazil to do media that I think as much as they disliked him, they found it hard to take him too seriously.

 

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

Never expected something like this. Basically every fan is coming to the mic to tell Conor how much they hate him etc:

They just showed Jose on the big screen and the place erupted. McGregor: the next time Jose steps in the Octagon after tomorrow will be to face me.

Dana and Lorenzo are probably writing Dennis Siver a go-away-for-a-while check as we type. In between laughing giddily and cracking open the bubbly. This is gold. You honestly couldn't script this any better.

 

He's not even on the fucking card and he's stole the show.

[Supremo]

 

Dennis Siver needs to fuck off. Aldo vs. McGregor is THE fight to make.

 

Conor bless you.

[wandshogun09]

Haha Conor bless you. He was doing the royal wave as he left as well.

 

Is there some of that Q&A video missing or was that the full thing? It was fun (the bits I could understand anyway) but not nearly as hostile and chaotic as Helwani's tweets made it sound.

 

Found it funny when those three Brazilian blokes were asking questions about halfway through and they were dressed like the Irish flag. They were even in the right order - green shirt on the left, then white shirt in the middle, then orange shirt on the right. Wonder if they even realised.