Saturday’s UFC 179 pay-per-view from Ginasio do Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has a solid fight card, but MMA fans are focused on the UFC Featherweight Championship bout between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.
Aldo and Mendes first met at UFC 142 when Mendes was knocked out in the first round. The rematch was originally scheduled for UFC 176, but injuries forced the bout back several months. Now, the rematch MMA fans have waited for finally arrives Saturday.
Here is all the vital viewing information for UFC 179 and the final predictions for the main event.
Where: Ginasio do Maracanazinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When: Saturday, October 25
Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
Watch: PPV (local service providers)
Live Stream: UFC.com
Breaking Down the Main Event
The battle between defending featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Chad Mendes should be one of the most entertaining fights of the year.
While Mendes was knocked out with a dominant knee strike in the first fight, he has won five-straight matchups since, with four ending via KO or TKO. Mendes has elite power in his hands and is more focused than ever on getting another shot at Aldo and his title.
During his winning streak, Mendes has beaten the likes of Clay Guida, Darren Elkins and other top names in the division en route to earning another title shot. Mendes has never been champion during his MMA career, but with a 16-1 record, it’s about time he takes the next step toward becoming elite.
When asked about what he learned from the first fight against Aldo, Mendes told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports about the impact wrestling has on his bouts and what he must do this time:
We knew going into that last fight that it was going to take a while before the wrestling began to have an impact on the fight. In wrestling when you’re facing a top-level opponent, it sometimes takes four, five shots before you actually get a takedown. We call it chain wrestling.
It’s something that goes along with the wrestling mentality, being able to grind and bridge your opponent. It’s tiring being on defense like that. It’s tiring defending takedowns all the time. The goal was to get in there and put the pressure on him. I knew I wouldn’t necessarily get the takedown on the first attempt, but to be relentless and keep coming and keep coming because I knew it would tire him out.
As well as Melendez has fought since his loss to Aldo, the defending champion has not lost a fight since November of 2005 and is riding a 17-fight winning streak into Saturday’s main event.
Aldo won the WEC featherweight title against Mike Brown in 2009 and successfully defended it twice before UFC bought WEC. He was promoted to UFC featherweight champion and has successfully defended the title six times, including victories over top stars like Mendes, Kenny Florian and Frankie Edgar.
Mendes will be ready for the rematch, but Aldo is the superior athlete. While the challenger possesses more power in his punches, the champion has just as much striking ability with his legs. The standing matchup can be considered a push, but it should be Aldo’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise that helps him earn the victory.
Just like he did before, Mendes will look to use his elite wrestling in order to take Aldo off his feet, but in the clinch, the champion could do serious damage with his jiu-jitsu. Even if Mendes takes Aldo to the mat, he must be wary of the Brazilian’s ability to use submissions.
As well as Mendes has fought recently, Aldo should be able to walk away victorious.
Predicted Result: Aldo Defeats Mendes via Unanimous Decision
*Stats via UFC.com.
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