WEC 48: Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber Prediction

In the main event, recently crowned Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will look to make his first title defense against long-time champion and world #1 Featherweight Urijah Faber.  Aldo has looked unstoppable, especially in his dismantling of Mike Brown, but Faber is a game opponent who has proven he can compete at the very highest level, so this is a great fight.

Faber, the long-time WEC posterboy, earned his fame with a bruising in-ring style.  He has great boxing and very good wrestling on top of an underrated submission game, making him one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division.  For years, he looked unbeatable, but saw his momentum halted by two losses to Mike Thomas Brown.  In his last fight, though, against top contender Raphael Assuncao, he looked back to his old form, showing great standup and his old frenetic pace.  If he wants to get his title back, he is going to need to use his experience, quickness, and strength to keep Aldo off guard, because if he lets Aldo work his gameplan he is done for.

Aldo is a freakishly explosive and athletic fighter with some of the most devastating striking in the sport and crazy good takedown defense to go along with it.  He is a decent grappler as well, but his best attribute is his ability to prevent opponents from taking him down and making them pay for it on the feet in brutal fashion.  Against Faber, that takedown defense is going to be incredibly important.  In the standup, this fight will be all Aldo, but he has never had to work off his back underneath a fighter anywhere near Faber’s caliber, so it is important that he keeps the fight upright as much as possible.

Basically this fight hinges on whether or not Faber can take Aldo down consistently, and I just don’t see it happening.  Faber’s boxing is solid, but he was beaten soundly by Mike Thomas Brown twice, and Aldo made Brown look bush league on the feet.  I see Faber sticking around for a while, but in a five round fight there is no way he can survive Aldo’s onslaught for that long.  Aldo by T/KO.