Jose Aldo took care of business once again at UFC 163, where he methodically beat Chan Sung Jung in all areas before taking advantage of a shoulder injury suffered by the Korean.
With five straight title defenses in the UFC featherweight division, Aldo’s title reign has only been bested by UFC greats Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre. That’s impressive company for a fighter who is still only 26 years old.
Jung, meanwhile, faces another climb back up the featherweight ladder. Three straight wins to start his UFC career made Jung one of the top fighters in the 145-pound division, but the class is now more stacked than ever. The path to a second title shot will be a long one for the Korean.
Now that the event is in the books, it’s time to take a look back at how exactly the UFC 163 main attraction went down.
Keys Stats
Jung did not attempt a takedown. Heading into this bout, many believed Jung’s best chances to beat Aldo would come on the ground, but he did not look to take the fight there once on his own.
Aldo was successful on five of six takedown attempts. Not many expected Aldo to take Jung down in this matchup, but the champion matched his UFC career high with a handful of takedowns over four rounds.
Only 15 percent of Jung’s attempted significant strikes landed. Although Jung did hit Aldo with some solid punches, he found himself swinging at air most of the time on Saturday.
Game Plans
Whatever game plan Aldo came into UFC 163 with may have gone out the window when he broke his foot early on. Instead of standing and boxing, as many expected him to do against Jung, Aldo often looked for takedowns in an effort to take the weight off of his injury.
Jung was much more patient than usual against Aldo, perhaps because both men seemed to be looking to counter when standing. When Jung did rush forward, maybe in an effort to corner Aldo and clinch, the champion moved laterally and circled back toward the center of the Octagon.
Breakdown
Aldo’s wrestling hasn’t been on display much since he worked with Gray Maynard in preparation for Chad Mendes. However, the champion showed on Saturday that he may have taken his wrestling to a new level, which is scary for featherweight contenders.
Even on a broken foot, Aldo’s timing and explosion on takedowns was brilliant against Jung.
While takedowns are usually credited completely to a fighter’s wrestling ability, striking plays a major role in MMA takedowns. Recognizing patterns in an opponent’s attacks can help a fighter immensely in determining when the time is right to shoot in on their legs.
One tendency Jung revealed at UFC 163 was countering with a left hook on almost every occasion Aldo jabbed.
Aldo’s jab is tough enough to answer when opponent’s mix up their counters to it.
Aldo recognized Jung’s left hook early on and began swaying on the back end of his jab. Eventually, though, the champion realized he could turn Jung’s looping hook into his own offense by answering with a double leg takedown.
Once he realized Aldo had him figured out, Jung began getting a little more wild with his striking, hoping to catch the champion with something less predictable. However, Aldo was ready for just about everything the challenger threw at him.
When Jung begins getting aggressive, he often throws jumping knees, as Bleacher Report’s own Jack Slack noted pre-UFC 163. Although Jung hid it until the third round on Saturday, Aldo was clearly prepared for it and countered by closing the gap with a takedown before the knee could land.
Even though Aldo’s wrestling highlighted the UFC 163 main event, it was a freak accident in a striking exchange that led to the finish. Jung threw a right hand, and Aldo countered with a left over the top, which pressured Jung’s shoulder and caused it to dislocate.
Aldo immediately smelled blood.
The champion threw multiple kicks at Jung’s injured shoulder before taking the Korean to the ground and finishing him with punches.
Result
Aldo defeated Jung by technical knockout (punches) at 2:00 of the fourth round.
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