UFC 179: Aldo vs Mendes 2

[Egg Shen]

[Supremo]

How many times did they have use that bloody towel? Dana looked furious. Weight cutting is such a shit part of the sport.

[pryko]

Who was that Brazilian chick at the Q&A?  She seemed to be answering a lot of the questions and for most of he video Conor was just stood there.

 

Let's all face it.  Conor is the man.  Anyone who doesn't recognise that yet is just kidding themself.  He's got the skills in the cage.  He's got charisma.  He is the UFC right now.

[Supremo]

http://youtu.be/1wcx1akjfJY

 

Conor scrum from Brazil.

[Supremo]

 

Episode 4 of Embedded.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah just watched Embedded 4 and the weigh in.

 

Had to laugh at the bit in Embedded where Aldo's telling Mendes where to stand and which way to face, like a teacher telling a naughty child what to do. And the 'Alpha Male' does as he's told. Alpha.

 

McGregor wasn't bad at the capoeira. Looks like he's having the time of his life out there.

 

Does anyone else get the feeling Phil Davis doesn't fancy this fight? Every clip I see of him on Embedded he just has this look about him like a man on death row heading to the electric chair. Like he's resigned to the fact he's probably going to get fucked up or something? Maybe it's just been a hard weight cut or whatever, but he looks like he's not looking forward to this one to me. I actually think he has a decent chance and I was only probably 60/40 in leaning to Glover. But I don't know. Maybe his confidence is shot after the Rumble fight. He'd never been shut down like that before.

 

Aldo looked energetic at the weigh in. Good sign. I know he had to do the towel thing but that doesn't necessarily mean he had a shit weight cut. Remember in title fights you have to hit the weight, you can't be a pound over like in non title fights. So he was probably just 146 with his kegs on. No big deal. I thought he looked more lively than he usually does at weigh ins. I do think this Mendes fight has been the first fight that's got him really motivated in a while.

 

And as much as we don't really give much of a shit about TUF Brazil over here or in America, that's clearly not the case when you hear the crowd reaction William Patolino got at the weigh in. Fuck me. He's a decent fighter but he's lost in the shuffle in the US. He probably can't walk the street in Brazil though. The place came alive when he came out. He got the loudest reaction bar Aldo, I think.

 

Oh and I like that dark haired Brazilian ring girl. A lot. Forgot about her when we were on about fit MMA women the other week.

[Egg Shen]

I haven't seen Embedded to pass judgement on Davis, but im thinking him/Mendes is a decent shout for a double at the bookies.

[d-d-d-dAz]

FUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKKK!!

 

I'll colour in between the lines of my argument tomorrow. What a fight.

[jimufctna24]

Judges got it right in my opinion.

 

I had it 49-46 Aldo. I only scored the 4th for Mendes. A few people on twitter were arguing that Mendes won the 3rd. One fight show really. Main Event was a scorcher, that was well worth staying up for.

 

Rest of the Main Card was tepid. Only other highlight was Fabio and Anderson's embrace.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

That event was approaching UFC 149 levels of bad before that main event, but wow, what a war!

 

Easily the best Jose Aldo has ever looked inside the Octagon. The pace both he and Mendes pushed, as well as the damage inflicted on both sides, shows that Aldo is telling the truth when he says he's sorted out his weight cutting. Very violent, very impressive, and Mendes fought extremely well. One of the best competitive title fights I've seen in the past year.

 

The rest of the main card was practically an insomnia cure. Lentz was the worst offender, he made Phil Davis' attack against Glover seem as dynamic as a Pettis fight.

 

Prelims were fun though, submissions aplenty. As the main card started, they showed a lot of fans just entering the building. I've never understood that, UFC tickets are expensive, I like to get my money's worth by seeing every fight on the card. If I had done the same thing at UFC 127, I would have missed Mark Hunt and his awesome walk away uppercut KO.

 

Another nice moment on the main card though was seeing Anderson Silva jump up on the cage with Fabio. It was still a shit fight, but seeing a Brazilian win to wake up the crowd and having the Spider join a post-fight celebration was pretty cool.

[Powerful_Fox]

This is the first UFC event I have seen in about 5 years. I have lost all knowledge of anyone in the sport (even a few years ago i was only starting to get into it) so it was an interesting watch.

 

The undercard didn't thrill me, a lot of holds to the side of the cage (is this standard for the wrestling style?). But the main event was awsome, it was a great example of why I wanted to watch UFC originally. The build up video had me wanting Mendez to take it but as the fight progressed Aldo took my support, fair enough there are mistakes (eye pokes etc.) But there were too many for me to make it think it wa constantly an accident by Mendez, though maybe I was just cynical.

 

Quick beginner question, what happens when the number 1 contender loses but is still number one in the rankings? How do they decide who challenges the champion next?

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

They usually pick another top 5 contender, based on which one has been the most impressive recently, whether in fights, records or media promotion. I mention the last one because Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson are #3 and #4 in the rankings, but if the winner of that fight wins in dull fashion, or gets injured, #5 Conor McGregor would probably get the shot, due to being flashy in and out of the cage. Dennis Bermudez is another highly ranked contender, but not as marketable as Conor (or Edgar or Swanson).

[lambyUK]

Bermudez not as marketable as Edgar or Swanson? You're having a laugh Shane O.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I'm talking in the eyes of the casual UFC fan- how many of them really know Bermudez? He's hardly seen any main cards or beaten name opponents. He's had some great fights on prelims. Edgar and Swanson have had big fights on PPV and FOX and beaten some top guys.

 

Bermudez would be a fresh, exciting challenger, but on the marquee, it wouldn't really sell to the average fan.

[Noah Southworth]

Fabrício Camões (158lbs, 14-8-1) vs. Tony Martin (157lbs, 8-2) kicked things off and it turned into a great battle on the ground as Martin managed to grab the arm of Camões and go for a kimura but Camões kept blocking and defending against it; the problem for Camões is that Martin would not let go of the arm and eventually, after quite the struggle with plenty of sweeping and movement, Martin managed to get the right position and Camões was forced to tap in 4:16

 

Gilbert Burns (155lbs, 8-0) vs. Christos Giagos (156lbs, 10-2) was next and wasn’t quite as good as the previous fight, but it had a similar type of finish, as Burns was controlling Giagos against the ground and going for a rear naked choke but Giagos defended against it, but here, Burns transitioned into a belly-down armbar and got the tap out.

 

Felipe Arantes (146lbs, 16-6-1, 2 NC) vs. Andre Fili (146lbs, 13-2) kicked off the FS1 Prelims. The first round had a little bit of everything; strikes, ground work, and clinch work, with the latter two decidedly in the favour of Fili, who easily took the round. The second round was almost all on the ground, and again, mostly controlled by Fili. The ‘highlight’ was Fili landing an admittedly illegal upkick on Arantes, and even though it caught him in the jaw, Arantes sold the eye. The third round was more of the same competitive action, but Fili edged it with dictating the pace and more aggression and reversals, so I have Fili winning 30-27; the last round could have gone either way, but I don’t see how Arantes can get either of the first two, so Fili should take this, which he does, with 29-28s on all three scorecards.

 

Scott Jorgensen (128lbs, 15-9) vs. Wilson Reis (125lbs, 18-5) was fine enough; Reis landed a body kick mid-way through the first round that took the wind out of Jorgensen, and Reis saw that and he quickly took Jorgensen down, landed a barrage of strikes before transitioning into a head-arm triangle choke and getting the tap out.

 

Yan Cabral (156lbs, 11-1) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (155lbs, 33-11-7) was a decent fight that Cabral dominated from start to finish, which took place mid-way through the second with Cabral getting the tap out with a rear naked choke.

 

Vitor Belfort is shown on screen and gets zero reaction. Anderson Silva shows up and gets a superstar reaction.

 

If you want to know who the stars really are, listen to the reaction they get from the people who pay to come to the event when they’re shown on the big screen. It’s unfortunate, but a lot of the top fighters just aren’t stars, and unless you put your fingers in your ears, you get told that whenever they’re shown on screen and get little or no reaction.

 

William Macario (170lbs, 8-1) vs. Neil Magny (171lbs, 12-4) wasn’t a good fight but I found it interesting because Magny had a considerable reach advantage and yet he wasn’t able to really use it for much of the fight, only really doing so from late in the second. Other than that story, there wasn’t much to the fight before took Macario down in the third, after Macario’s corner told him between rounds that Magny had noting on the ground, and pounded him out for the TKO win.

 

Carlos Diego Ferreira (156lbs, 11-0) vs. Beneil Dariush (156lbs, 8-1) kicked off the main PPV card. The first round was fairly uneventful apart from a flurry of action near the end that saw Ferreira almost having a heel hook on as the round ended. The second round was equally uneventful, though strongly contested. The third round saw Ferreira pick the pace up greatly, knowing he needed a win, and whilst he landed strong early, Dariush came back to control Ferreira for the rest of the round and Dariush should take this, which he does, with 30-27s on all three scorecards.

 

Darren Elkins (145lbs, 17-4) vs. Lucas Martins (146lbs, 15-1) saw Elkins dominate the first round by using takedowns or takedown attempts to keep Martins on the defensive. The second round followed a similar pattern with Elkins pushing the pace to wear Martins down; Martins did land a nice head kick late on, and it rocked Elkins, but Martins couldn’t follow up and Elkins resumed control of the fight. The third round was more of the same, much to the bitter chagrin of the Brazilian fans, who booed vociferously whenever Elkins had Martins pressed up against the cage. It might have influenced the referee at one point as he ordered a break rather quickly, but it didn’t matter because Elkins soon had Martins back up against the cage. Elkins gets the win but its split decision because one judge gave Martins all three rounds. That is an absolute bullshit score, plain and simple. The only round you could give Martins would be the second, because of the head kick, but even that would be a big stretch. There is no way Martins wins all three; none at all. The judge who gave that score should be removed from judging duties immediately because they’re either utterly clueless or absurdly biased.

 

Fábio Maldonado (205lbs, 21-7) vs. Hans Stringer (206lbs, 22-5) saw Stringer take Maldonado right away and pretty much stay in top position for the rest of the round; the fans hated that, but that’s too bad for them. The second round was a lot slower and Stringer was clearly tired; Maldonado ended up in top position because of that, and landed some decent ground and pound and eventually the referee stepped in stop the fight, and the fans finally had something to cheer about.

 

Glover Teixeira (205lbs, 22-3) vs. Phil Davis (205lbs, 12-2, 1 NC) was the co-main event of the evening, with both men looking to come back from losses and get back into the title picture. The story of the first round was Davis constantly trying to take Teixeira down; Teixeira defended well for the first half of the round, but Davis was eventually able to get him down and go a good job of controlling him for the remainder of the round, to the point that Teixeira grabbed the cage a couple of times. Teixeira landed a couple of nice shots but the first round should go to Davis. In the second round, Davis took Teixeira down early on but Teixeira was able to reverse positions and then break away when he couldn’t get a guillotine applied. A few moments later, Teixeira went for another guillotine Davis slipped out and was able to use that to take Teixeira down. When the action got back standing, Davis maintained distance with strikes, and when they got close, Davis was able to either take Teixeira down or force him to keep defending against being taken down. Heading into the third, it’s clear that Davis is up 20-18, and even Teixeira’s corner is telling him he needs a knockout to win. Early in the third, Davis took Teixeira down off a level change and Davis controlled Teixeira for the next few minutes. Late on, Teixeira broke away from Davis, but Davis was relentless on going for the takedown, and despite grabbing the fence again, Teixeira just couldn’t do anything about it. Davis should win this 30-27 on all three scorecards, which is what happens. Given that the insane judge from the Elkins vs. Martins fight got this one right, it begs the question of what was behind their ridiculous score.

 

Conor McGregor is shown on screen and gets a reaction that you’d have to call disappointing considering the heat he got at the Q&A and presser, and it really is an indication that his star power is being overblown in some quarters.

 

Jose Aldo © (145lbs, 24-1) vs. Chad Mendes (145lbs, 16-1) is the main event of the event, the rematch over the Featherweight title. The first round was very competitive, and Mendes had Aldo in a trouble a couple of times, but the real story was that Aldo landed a big combination well after the bell, that dropped Mendes, and while Aldo appeared to get a warning but he should have had a point taken off. Marc Goddard is a great referee but he blew that one big time. Early in the second, Aldo took an inadvertent foot to the groin, which was very karmic. The second round was also competitive but Aldo landed a little more of what he wanted and landed the bigger shots, so he probably took it. The third round was just as frenetic and both men landed big shots that rocked the other and it looked bad, albeit momentarily, for both men as they were both wobbled. Mendes got hold of Aldo late on and landed a nice shot when they parted. The third round is tough to call but I think Mendes edged it, but it could have gone either way. The fourth round wasn’t as fast paced as the prior three, but this one was clearly for Mendes as he landed more often, with frequent shots, and Aldo’s face was rather cut up by the end of the round. I have it 38-38, but the fourth round is the only one where the winner is clear, so almost any score is possible going into the fifth and final round. Mendes took Aldo down early in the fifth and Aldo didn’t initially try to get up, but nor did Mendes try to do much with this advantage and Aldo did eventually get back up. The pace was constant but not too fast for the rest of the round, and it was competitive and close, but I think Aldo landed a little more of what he wanted so I have Aldo winning 48-47. Really, I should have it a draw because Aldo should have been deducted a point for throwing that combination well after the bell at the end of the first round, and I’m mystified as to why the referee let that one slide; Marc Goddard is usually very good, but he really dropped the ball on that call. Aldo gets the nod 49-46 on all three scorecards; whilst a justifiable score, it doesn’t tell the story of a fight that was very competitive and Mendes really pushed Aldo from beginning to end.

 

Based on this showing, despite Mendes pushing him, Aldo will destroy Conor McGregor. Aldo showed himself to be on a completely different level to McGregor and if they get to do Aldo vs. McGregor in a stadium in Ireland, it’s going to get very nasty when the clock strikes midnight and the spell is broken.

 

Overall, this was a decent night of action; there were some good fights, some bad fights, but a very competitive main event raised the overall quality of the night to make it solid thumbs up.