UFC 179: Aldo vs Mendes 2

[d-d-d-dAz]

Has anyone seen the picture Jorgenson posted of his ribs today?

 

You can see where one got fucked up, and you can still see toe prints on his skin. Nasty.

[wandshogun09]

Sorry I missed this before;

 

I really think he should move up to 155. If Pettis beats Melendez then that is THE biggest superfight out there.

Pettis vs Aldo needs to happen at some point. It was actually fucking signed and announced for UFC 163 last August but Pettis got injured again.

 

 

It's got to happen. But with both their track records with injuries, it's very possible this ends up being one that got away. Like Fedor vs Couture, Fedor vs Brock, Anderson vs GSP etc.

 

But...

 

Biggest Superfight out there? I'm not sure. Bigger than Velasquez vs Jones? Bigger than Jones vs Anderson or Weidman? Bigger than Anderson vs GSP, Rousey vs Cyborg? Fuck, Pettis vs McGregor could wind up being a Superfight that could actually happen down the line. Pettis vs McGregor! Jones vs Cormier is a Superfight to me, and that's way bigger than Pettis vs Aldo would be.

 

I understand a lot of them are longshots and a couple are nothing more than a pipedream (in particular, I can't see Anderson vs GSP or Jones ever happening). But Velasquez vs Jones, Jones vs Weidman (no-one brings it up but Weidman was game for going up in weight and stepping in to save UFC 151 against Jones on short notice for fuck's sake!), Rousey vs Cyborg - all longshots but they're possibilities.

 

Velasquez vs Jones in Mexico or MSG would smoke Pettis vs Aldo. Maybe not from an actual fight quality POV, but certainly in every other measurable way.

[Noah Southworth]

 

 

Aldo vs McGregor is actually a fascinating match up of striking styles. I think people saying either man gets smashed are more talking out of wishful thinking than anything based on real substance, to be honest. We simply don't know what McGregor's ceiling is yet so any talk of Aldo wrecking him is pretty much just guesswork at this point. My hunch is Aldo wins, but I wouldn't be overly confident in predicting that fight either way.

 

 

 

I can assure you I was not making my prediction based on wishful thinking. I was basing my prediction on the speed, movement, footwork, and overall performance of Aldo last night. I believe if that Aldo faces McGregor, it's not going to be pretty. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong should the fight ever happen.

[Supremo]

More than ever, the UFC felt like boxing last night. A long, mostly boring undercard with few recognisable fighters, but then a main event that felt absolutely massive.

 

And fuck me did it deliver. An amazing fight, that's probably the most impressive Aldo has ever looked. Seemed to be a pretty obvious decision win too, so to hear Dan Henderson crying robbery is almost too mental to comprehend. Has he elaborated on that? I genuinely can't understand how anyone could score it that way.

 

But yeah; Aldo looked like a beast and seemed to have far more gas than in recent outings. I'm with the majority in that I'd expect Aldo to beat McGregor, but I think it's far from a certainty.

 

What IS a certainty though is that this Dennis Siver fight is fucking stupid. Now more so than ever. Conor's brought so much attention to the division that Aldo has already benefitted massively by association. Performing so spectacularly in the cage just added a whole new dimension. It was THE fight to make based on business before. Now, as can be seen by all the discussion in this very thread, it's THE fight to make from an in-cage perspective too. It's incredibly intriguing to imagine someone of Aldo's talent taking on someone who fights so massively different to everyone else in Conor. If Siver fucks this up I'll be devastated.

 

Here's how rubbish the undercard was; I was watching one of these boring fights, thinking about how bored I was, when my mind began to wonder to a better time when the UFC was simply more fun. I got to thinking about Matt Serra and Matt Hughes and how it was a shame Dana was so against letting them return for one more fight. And then I got to thinking about Metamoris. Do you reckon there would ever be a chance that both Serra and Hughes would agree to compete against one another there? I'd love to see that and it seems to suit their style of match making.

[DJM]

A quick question: McGregor has had bad things to say about most of the other fighters in the 145lb division (calling Mendes a midget, calling Poirier pea-head etc.), but has he had anything negative to say about Aldo?

[ColinBollocks]

Aldo v Mendes was great, but the stink of the undercard very nearly ruined my viewing. I managed to convince a few folk, that don't really know much about UFC, to stay up and watch it with me. One fucked off midway through the Phil Davis grab and drag, while the others were probably wishing harm on me, as anything else was a better option than watching blokes circle around each other or cuddle aggressively.

 

The main event did feel like something mega, though, with the crowd going wild and both men looking so smooth with their offence and defence. It very nearly did make it feel like it was worth wasting your life sitting through the dross to see it. Aldo v McGregor is going to be massive.

 

Also, Brian Stann needs to do the gig full time. He's smoother and more insightful than Rogan (which you would expect, seeing as Stann was a top fighter). Plus he goes out of his way to get the lesser fighters personalities over, with little bits of news and trivia. A shame his good work was wasted on such horrible fights.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I can see why the Davis fight may not appeal to everyone, but it really wasn't grab and drag.

 

His wrestling was precise, it was calculated and it was designed to try and finish the fight. He struck to make the takedown, and then he found dominant position and tried to finish the fight with strikes.

 

What more can he, a wrestler, do?

 

There's got to be a balance between calling out a shit fight like Elkins' and not just hating on wrestling in general; otherwise you're best off just going off and watching kickboxing. Because, you're not going to get a more dominant, precise, wrestling performance than Davis'.

[ColinBollocks]

Ha, I wasn't trying to diminsh Davis' impressive performance by calling it "grab and drag". He grabbed poor Glover and then dragged his arse to the canvas or the cage wall - I imagine that's how my mates saw it anyway. I can understand why my mate pissed off, though. He just sat through a rubbish undercard and not everybody is into the nuances of watching a bloke nullifying a dangerous competitor with grappling.

 

I'm all for applauding great game plans.

[wandshogun09]

Here's how rubbish the undercard was; I was watching one of these boring fights, thinking about how bored I was, when my mind began to wonder to a better time when the UFC was simply more fun. I got to thinking about Matt Serra and Matt Hughes and how it was a shame Dana was so against letting them return for one more fight. And then I got to thinking about Metamoris. Do you reckon there would ever be a chance that both Serra and Hughes would agree to compete against one another there? I'd love to see that and it seems to suit their style of match making.

Possibly but I can't see it myself. The only reason the talk of them fighting again started up in the first place was because someone on twitter suggested they face off at Metamoris. And Serra said right then that if he's going to get in shape to compete against Hughes, he'd want to be able to punch him. I don't think he'd rule it out, but I think he'd much rather fight Hughes again in the UFC than grappling only. And really, a grudge match like that where they can't punch, I imagine it would be like sex without being allowed to cum. All that build up, all that tension, then just holding each other without any climax.

 

I'm with you, I'm completely at a loss as to why Dana was so dead against doing Hughes vs Serra 2. It's a marketable fight between two big name former champions with a grudge. Both men wanted the fight. Fan response to it seemed to indicate that the majority were interested in the fight. They've got an absolute shitload of footage already in the can of them slagging each other off, and no doubt there'd be more where that came from if the rematch was signed. Yet oddly, Dana would hear nothing of it. At a time where they're putting on more white noise fights than ever and lacking enough big fights to fill all these cards - having something like Hughes vs Serra 2 drop in your lap and passing up on it seems silly to me.

 

A quick question: McGregor has had bad things to say about most of the other fighters in the 145lb division (calling Mendes a midget, calling Poirier pea-head etc.), but has he had anything negative to say about Aldo?

Not really. The most he's said about Aldo is that he's become stagnant, is basic and that he's become more about maintaining than evolving or improving.

[Supremo]

Oh wow, I never knew that the talk of Hughes vs. Serra again was originally to do with a Metamoris match. Good to know. Shame we won't see it though. It'll always feel like unfinished business. That feud was awesome.

 

[Egg Shen]

well, there's not much for me to add really, the main event was brilliant. Scoring was about right, i wouldn't have had a problem with 48-47 but the right man won...each time Mendes landed something significicant it pissed Aldo off and he came back and topped it. Is there any kind of reasoning to why Aldo threw so little kicks? or was it simply a case of not wanting Mendes to catch them? Mendes looked ripe for kicks all night. Was wondering if there was perhaps an injury?

 

On the subject of the undercard, it was mostly pish. It didn't help that the Brazilians were getting spanked which led to the crowd basically sitting on their hands.

 

* Phil Davis is top drawer but he's one of the most boring fighters in the sport. Davis has been in there with a ton of exciting fighters now and i can't recall a particuarly memorable fight. Other than Rumble shutting him down he's just mastered his style, he's awkward as hell on the fight, rarely gets hit and just has an overwhelming ground game. The callout was stupid but theres no particular fight im clamouring to see involving the guy.

 

* Think some of the criticism of Darren Elkins is a bit harsh here...it wasn't pretty, but against a guy like Lucas Martins i thought he fought a pretty smart fight, and who said he just held against the cage? Elkins threw over 250 punches (thanks fight metric)...it was far from a good fight though.

 

* I know the UFC don't mind favouring a fighter but a performance of the night bonus for Fabio Maldonado? really? I know it was another come from behind win but it was more down to Stringer basically dying on his arse rather than Maldonado staging some epic comeback. The Anderson moment was beautiful though.

 

* I liked the idea of Darish/Ferreira having a Countdown spot but they didn't capitalize on the publicity, the fight didn't deliver. Dariush played his part but Ferreira just looked off, strange performance.

 

* Didn't see the unaired prelims but a few Fox prelim performers stood out, namely Reis & Fili, both looked good. As for Neil Magny, the guys on a five fight streak but he's still just kind of there, i don't think anyone's clamouring for him to get some huge oppurtunity but he's earned a shot at someone in the top 15, it's time for him to really see what he's capable of.

 

Overall for a Brazilian show which are usually exciting with a hot crowd this was a bit of a dud, it was just saved by a classic main event.

[wandshogun09]

Man, that Hughes-Serra video makes me want to rewatch TUF 6.

 

Hughes and Serra were the perfect foils for each other. The arrogant jock farm boy wrestler vs the likable pasta eating New York jiu-jitsu guy.

 

You'd think the fact the decision was so debated last time would have made the rematch more appealing to Dana as well. Whenever someone says after a three round fight, 'man I wish that was a 5 rounder', I think of two fights - Hughes vs Serra and Sonnen vs Bisping. Those are two fights that really needed the extra two rounds.

 

I mean, this year we've had TV main events such as Bader vs St Preux and Rockhold vs Philippou. Main events! We've had PPVs headlined by Chris Cariaso and Ali Bagautinov. But there's no room for Hughes vs Serra 2? Even as just a co-main or third from top on a PPV, it's the type of fight that would really give a show an added kick. Cards like 174, 177 or 179 certainly could've done with a boost like that.

[Chunk]

Not much to add really, other than to ask if anyone noticed that Mendes seemed to come out with the intention of moving the way Dillashaw does. He seemed to forget half way through round one, was reminded between rounds, came out doing it at the start of round two and then forgot for the rest of the fight. When he'd forgotten, he looked very flat footed to me. A more mobile fighter with heavier hands, say Conor Mcgregor for example, would surely school him if repeated that.

 

Not sure I agree with Aldo wrecking CM based on Saturday's performance. I actually thought his movement looked limited and that he didn't show much versatility in his striking. Ridiculous hand speed though, sure. I agree with what's been said: that if Mendes, with his admittedly simplistic striking, was able to land big and rock Aldo, there's no reason to believe CM wouldn't do the same. I actually give CM a better chance against Aldo having seen him on Saturday.

[Egg Shen]

Not much to add really, other than to ask if anyone noticed that Mendes seemed to come out with the intention of moving the way Dillashaw does. He seemed to forget half way through round one, was reminded between rounds, came out doing it at the start of round two and then forgot for the rest of the fight. When he'd forgotten, he looked very flat footed to me. A more mobile fighter with heavier hands, say Conor Mcgregor for example, would surely school him if repeated that.

 

 

yeh i thought Mendes played into Aldo's game more than he should have. All the talk was off footwork but he all but abandoned that, maybe that was a foil and he planned on standing in front of Aldo all night but the whole movement thing went down the shitter....the way he did fight made it what it was though.

[lambyUK]

I'm calling it now, Mcgregor will knock out Aldo.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mcgregor is a special talent who's just getting better and better. What makes him stand out in this featherweight division is his unique style and movement. On top of that, he has pure lead in his fists. The size advantage is massive too. He's a monster of a featherweight with a massive reach of 74in.

 

Aldo's style plays right into the hands of Mcgregor and with the size, reach, and power advantage, I think we will see a new FW champ. It's fucking exciting times ahead.

 

One other thing, the more I think about the Denis Siver fight, I can actually make a little more sense to it. Now obviously it's still not the way I would go, but we need to be honest here, Mcgregor still has a long way to go in order to build his popularity in the states. He didn't get a huge reaction when he came out in his last fight in Vegas, and has yet to actually appear in a headliner that's been broadcast on US TV or PPV.

 

Just imagine the scene. Free US TV, he comes out in front of that Boston crowd and is received like a hero, he KO's Siver in style with the crowd going ape shit crazy. The average viewer who didn't know much about Mcgregor beforehand will certainly know who he is, and seeing a reaction like that will make him look like a superstar in the states. Perhaps not worth the risk, but it will be amazing if it pays off.

 

He then goes onto face Aldo in one of the biggest fights of 2015.