Author: Will Angland

UFC 142: Is There Anyone Left for Jose Aldo After Chad Mendes?

At UFC 142, Jose Aldo will defend his belt in his home country of Brazil against Chad “Money” Mendes, an undefeated contender and the best pure wrestler in the division. Mendes is a legitimate threat to Aldo, and many people see Mendes using his great …

At UFC 142, Jose Aldo will defend his belt in his home country of Brazil against Chad “Money” Mendes, an undefeated contender and the best pure wrestler in the division.

Mendes is a legitimate threat to Aldo, and many people see Mendes using his great takedown ability and control to pull off the upset.

However, if Aldo beats Mendes, there is some concern that there aren’t enough viable challenges at featherweight left for Aldo.

He beat Urijah Faber, a great submission fighter, and Kenny Florian and Mark Hominick, two very good strikers.

If he beats Mendes, a great wrestler, there is some concern over whether he’ll have anyone left to test his skills.

It’s easy to be pessimistic, but the truth is that featherweight has plenty of talent, and even if Aldo can roll through Mendes he’s far from safe.

Most immediately, Hatsu Hioki is a threat to Aldo’s reign.  He is one of the best known and highly-ranked featherweight fighters in the world, and is arguably a better grappler than Faber.

While he may have had a lackluster performance against George Roop, he will have a chance to redeem himself against Bart Palazewki.

If Hioki can win persuasively and remind fans why he’s the No. 3 featherweight in the world, he could end up fighting Aldo for his belt before too long.

A little further down the line are fighters like Eric Koch and Dustin Poirer.

The two will fight at UFC 143, and a win for either fighter is huge.  Both fighters are dangerous, well-rounded and can threaten Aldo.

Jim Hettes is another addition to the list of exciting featherweight prospects.

The fighter is 10-0 with nine submission finishes, and his last fight against Nam Phan is easily one of the most one-sided non-title fights that went the distance in UFC history.

His excellent submission game and violent ground and pound make anyone he gets on top of face serious danger.

There is plenty of talent and diversity at featherweight, and regardless of the outcome tonight, no champion will have an easy time maintaining his reign in this division.

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UFC 142: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Breakdown

Jose Aldo will be making his third UFC title defense this Saturday when he takes on Chad “Money” Mendes in Brazil.Against Aldo, Mendes will have to fight the most dangerous striker in the division.Against Mendes, Aldo will have to fight the most danger…

Jose Aldo will be making his third UFC title defense this Saturday when he takes on Chad “Money” Mendes in Brazil.

Against Aldo, Mendes will have to fight the most dangerous striker in the division.

Against Mendes, Aldo will have to fight the most dangerous wrestler in the division.

Each will be fighting the biggest test of their UFC careers, but only one can walk away holding the featherweight belt.

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Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Results: Power Ranking the Strikeforce Champions

On Saturday night, Luke Rockhold defended his title for the first time by stopping Keith Jardine with strikes in the first round.He may not have had the most formidable challenger, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless.With his most recent w…

On Saturday night, Luke Rockhold defended his title for the first time by stopping Keith Jardine with strikes in the first round.

He may not have had the most formidable challenger, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless.

With his most recent win, and after Cyborg’s steroids controversy, he has moved up in the rankings of Strikeforce champions.  

Here is where each champion stands in that ranking.

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Strikeforce Results: How Would Luke Rockhold Fare Against UFC Middleweights?

Last night, Luke Rockhold retained his belt by finishing Keith Jardine with strikes. It was obvious to most that Jardine was outmatched, and Rockhold didn’t dissapoint.In the post-fight interview, the Strikeforce middleweight champion expressed a desir…

Last night, Luke Rockhold retained his belt by finishing Keith Jardine with strikes. It was obvious to most that Jardine was outmatched, and Rockhold didn’t dissapoint.

In the post-fight interview, the Strikeforce middleweight champion expressed a desire to fight top UFC middleweights, since the highest ranking middleweights are not in Strikeforce.

While he may not be moved to the UFC instantly, he’ll find himself there before too long if he keeps demolishing the best Strikeforce has to offer.

The following is a list of some of the UFC’s top middleweights, and how Rockhold would fare against them if he fought them now.

 

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Keith Jardine vs. Luke Rockhold: "The Dean of Mean" Stands No Chance

Tonight, Luke Rockhold will be looking to defend his belt for the first time against Keith Jardine, a veteran of the sport who is making his first appearance at middleweight.While Jardine may be trying to reinvent himself at a new division, he will not…

Tonight, Luke Rockhold will be looking to defend his belt for the first time against Keith Jardine, a veteran of the sport who is making his first appearance at middleweight.

While Jardine may be trying to reinvent himself at a new division, he will not find much more success than he did at light heavyweight. 

Jardine is 36 years old and well out of his prime. After pulling off the upset by beating Chuck Liddell at UFC 76 in 2007, he went 1-6 in the organization and was eventually dropped.

His lone win came over Brendan Vera, who was on a similar losing streak.

Since leaving the UFC, he has gone 2-1-1 against far lesser competition.

At one time, Keith Jardine was one of the better fighters on the planet.

While he has always suffered from having a weak chin, he had an unorthodox style that got him wins over Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin and fought to a reasonably close decision against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

But those fights were a long time ago, and the one-sided beatdown Gegard Mousasi handed Jardine proved that Jardine can no longer compete with upper-level fighters.

Jardine should have been given a fight against a lower-level middleweight for his debut. Perhaps against someone like Tim Kennedy, against whom he’d arguably have a striking advantage.

But he should not have been given a fight against Rockhold.

 

Rockhold is a dynamic striker, an above-average wrestler and a good submission fighter.

Jardine is at a disadvantage on his feet and on the ground and doesn’t have the wrestling skills to choose where he’d rather be outperformed.

As long as Jardine doesn’t get knocked out in the opening few minutes, his job with Strikeforce is almost certainly safe. He’s a recognizable fighter and can give upcoming middleweights a good fight.

But his skillset has not improved enough since leaving the UFC to compensate for his bad chin and the effects of age.

Against any upper-level fighter, Jardine is doomed to fail.

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UFC 140: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz Full Breakdown

Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira are both legends of the sport and will each look to prove that they still have gas left in the tank.Both fighters are coming off of losses, but both are still very competitive fighters with some significance in t…

Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira are both legends of the sport and will each look to prove that they still have gas left in the tank.

Both fighters are coming off of losses, but both are still very competitive fighters with some significance in their division.

Tito Ortiz recently secured a submission victory over Ryan Bader after hurting him.

Little Nog has lost his last two bouts, but he was competitive in each of them and showed remarkable takedown defense in his most recent fight against Phil Davis, the most credentialed wrestler at 205.

This is a fight that could have happened years ago, when both fighters were two of the world’s top-five light heavyweights.  But even with the delay, this promises to be a competitive and exciting bout worth watching.

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