Jose Aldo will get to fight in his home country of Brazil, as UFC 142 will take place in the South America instead of the United States. The red, white and blue will still be represented, though, as Chad Mendes puts his undefeated record on the line against Aldo in the main event.
Despite Mendes’s gaudy record, Aldo will have too much power for the American to contend with. “Scarface” is the current UFC Featherweight Champion and is trying to improve the division’s reputation with his dominance.
Aldo holds a 20-1 career MMA record, including wins over Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian since his move to UFC. Of his 20 victories, 12 of them have come via knockout, but he’s still looking for his first against a UFC opponent.
He packs a lot of punch into his 5’7” frame, which tends to surprise some of his opponents. Now that he’s fighting in the sport’s top company, however, he won’t be flying under the radar for much longer. He’s become the hunted instead of the hunter.
Mendes brings an entirely different approach to the table.
Nearly two-thirds of his professional fights have gone the distance, as he utilizes a more conservative attack. He’s not the most fan-friendly fighter because the pace of his matches are considerably slower, but he has to stick with what’s worked for him to this point.
There are two ways to look at this bout. Either Aldo will be able to assert his attacking style into it and wear Mendes down or Mendes will get it slowed to his speed and neutralize that power.
Since nobody has been able to do that latter since 2005, it’s hard to imagine Mendes pulling it off. Aldo understands what his opponent’s game plan is going to be and will be well prepared to counterattack against it.
Both guys have bright futures in the business, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them face off again in the future. That said, Aldo is the king of the division right now and will be hoping to capitalize off the exposure the main event will provide him.
That should be more than enough motivation for him to land a third-round knockout.
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