UFC Featherweight Title Fight: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Odds: (-225 Aldo / +175 Mendes ) Betting Pick: Mendes Bet on this fight at Bovada This Saturday night UFC 179 comes to us LIVE from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Fittingly our main event features Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes whom gave us a thriller of a fight […]
UFC Featherweight Title Fight: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes
Odds: (-225 Aldo / +175 Mendes )
Betting Pick: Mendes
Bet on this fight at Bovada
This Saturday night UFC 179 comes to us LIVE from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Fittingly our main event features Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes whom gave us a thriller of a fight that ended with a a knee to the face of Mendes as time expired back in 2012 at UFC 142 . Now, lets all remember the controversy in UFC 142. With only 50 seconds left in the first round, Mendes went for a double-leg takedown and instead of Aldo getting placed on his back, he illegally grabbed the cage which prevented the take down. Mendes kept control of his back, but realized Aldo wasn’t going down, it was too late, Mendes ducked and ate a knee to the face with 1 second left on the clock immediately ended the fight, Lets take a look at how the fighters have faired since there 2012 meeting in Rio De Janeiro.
The Challenger – Chad “Money” Mendes: 16-1-0
Mendes will step into the octagon for the first time in over 10-months come this Saturday in UFC 179. Mendes’ last fight was on December 13th, 2013 against Nik Lentz on UFC on Fox 9. Mendes won that fight in a unanimous decision and it seemed like he controlled Lentz for a good portion of the fight. The four previous fights prior to his win over Nik Lentz were all won by knockout which isn’t surprising due to the freakish we all know Chad Mendes can be. Also, those four fights Mendes won by knockout were the ones following the loss to Jose Aldo. If Mendes can once again capture how he felt following his loss in UFC 142, we’re in for something special.
The Champion – Jose “Junior” Aldo: 24-1-0
Placing the word “undisputed” next to Jose Aldo’s champion status is no joke. Jose Aldo has reigned champion of the Featherweight division of the UFC for now 1,431 days. Aldo’s last 5 fights have differed in how he has kept his title with knockouts and unanimous decisions. If you do go back five fights in the career of Jose Aldo, you have to look all the way back to the 2011 archives. Jose Aldo last stepped in the ring this past February 1st against a highly formidable opponent in Ricardo Lamas. Aldo nearly controlled the fight for 60% of the allotted time and landed over 20 more strikes than Lamas. Defense though is were Aldo kept the fight in his control. Of the six takedowns tried by Lamas, he landed on 1. Aldo, tried two takedowns throughout the fight and won both of them. Aldo needs to to remember that Mendes hasn’t stepped into the octagon since 2013 and will be fighting with vengeance. Aldo needs to keep his feet under him and do what his trainers and instincts have always led him to do…Win.
UFC 179 in Rio De Janeiro is in for a serious treat with Aldo vs. Mendes II as the main title bout. The two fighters come into the octagon with two different mindsets. First, you have Mendes whom you would assume, regardless of what is objective intentions might be, has some serious vengeance at the forefront. I don’t personally think that you can be kneed in the face while your opponent illegally grasp the fence and just move on. Aldo on the other hand wants nothing more than to win. I’m sure all of the talk about the controversy of grasping the fence annoyed him to an extent, but winning realy helps you move past that.
I think this fight really comes down to who uses there strengths more effectively. On the champions side, Jose Aldo can stand toe-to-toe with anyone you place in front of him. He relies heavily (74%) on his striking to break down his opponent while only using takedowns (21%) and submissions (5%) when placed in the right situation. While Aldo has an impressive takedown defense of 92%, Mendes has proven that he will take you down and wear you out until you have nothing left. This fight will go the distance before a hand is risen, and that hand will be Chad Mendes. Mendes will be able to avoid the all-world striking capabilities of Jose Aldo and wear him out throughout the match.
Prediction: Chad Mendes by a very close Decision.
To Add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Bovada.Iv Odds. Check out my review of Bovada here…