In a loss that should downgrade the card from a pay-per-view to a free night of fights but undoubtedly won’t, Jose Aldo has been injured and is out of his featherweight title fight rematch with Chad Mendes scheduled for UFC 176.
MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani broke the bad news on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, and Dana White confirmed that the fight had been cancelled shortly thereafter. Nova Uniao released a statement as to the severity of Aldo’s injury late last night:
Nova Uniao announced on Wednesday night that Aldo has suffered a shoulder and cervical spine injury after being taken down in training on July 1. According to the release, Aldo started physical therapy Wednesday and won’t be able to train for three weeks, when he will be examined again for the cervical spine injury.
The answer is of course, f*ck no. Unless the UFC decides to shuffle in a more worthy main event, or at the very minimum, downgrade the price of the PPV. No, *you* sound crazy.
So, on what side of the 200k benchmark do we see this card landing in terms of PPV buys?
In a loss that should downgrade the card from a pay-per-view to a free night of fights but undoubtedly won’t, Jose Aldo has been injured and is out of his featherweight title fight rematch with Chad Mendes scheduled for UFC 176.
MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani broke the bad news on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, and Dana White confirmed that the fight had been cancelled shortly thereafter. Nova Uniao released a statement as to the severity of Aldo’s injury late last night:
Nova Uniao announced on Wednesday night that Aldo has suffered a shoulder and cervical spine injury after being taken down in training on July 1. According to the release, Aldo started physical therapy Wednesday and won’t be able to train for three weeks, when he will be examined again for the cervical spine injury.
The answer is of course, f*ck no. Unless the UFC decides to shuffle in a more worthy main event, or at the very minimum, downgrade the price of the PPV. No, *you* sound crazy.
So, on what side of the 200k benchmark do we see this card landing in terms of PPV buys?
It appears as though Duane Ludwig’s partnership with Team Alpha Male fighters is not ending following TJ Dillashaw’s impressive showing at UFC 173.
Ariel Helwani spoke on UFC Tonight (via MMAFighting.com) about Ludwig’s coaching duties, noting that Lud…
It appears as though Duane Ludwig’s partnership with Team Alpha Male fighters is not ending following TJ Dillashaw‘s impressive showing at UFC 173.
Ariel Helwani spoke on UFC Tonight (via MMAFighting.com) about Ludwig’s coaching duties, noting that Ludwig will corner Chad Mendes at UFC 176 but will not be in the corner of Urijah Faber at UFC 175.
Mendes is headlining UFC 176 against UFC featherweight Jose Aldo in a rematch of their UFC 142 encounter. The first fight ended in spectacular fashion, with Aldo knocking out Mendes with a knee as time expired in the first round.
The Team Alpha Male is promising different results this time around.
Meanwhile, Faber will look to simply stay active by facing Alex Caceres at UFC 176. He finds himself in a bit of precarious situation in the bantamweight division. Faber has lost to former champion RenanBarao twice and current champ Dillashaw is Faber’s teammate.
The former head coach and Team Alpha Male have had a very public separation, with Ludwig looking to start his own gym. Although the split initially seemed amicable, the two sides have made statements that seem to suggest otherwise.
It began with Ludwig claiming the parting of ways wasn’t supposed to go down the way it did. Then Faber would say Ludwig leaving was “a breath of fresh air.”
Plenty of speculation has emerged as to why the two sides seemingly didn’t get along. The widespread belief is that Faber and Ludwig simply were two different people who had entirely different personalities. Anyone that’s heard Faber and Ludwig speak can easily see where the two might not be on the same wavelength.
Another item of speculation is that the two sides splitting was simply a business matter. Ludwig was brought in to coach a team that had struggled to “get over the hill” despite the wealth of talent under its roof. With the improvement in striking abilities of nearly every fighter across the board, “The Bang Effect,” as it was called, became a big trend in 2013.
Ludwig and his striking system saw an explosion of popularity and he very likely is looking for the chance to cash in while the iron is hot.
Regardless of all the rumors, it’s clear that Faber and Ludwig had their differences, but it’s obviously not to the point where Faber has barred all Team Alpha Male fighters from working with Ludwig.
UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes fanned the flames of his rivalry with 145-pound champ Jose Aldo, taking to Twitter to serve up some harsh words for the Brazilian sensation.
Aldo already defeated Mendes once via knockout at UFC 142,…
UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes fanned the flames of his rivalry with 145-pound champ Jose Aldo, taking to Twitter to serve up some harsh words for the Brazilian sensation.
Aldo already defeated Mendes once via knockout at UFC 142, but Mendes‘ teammate, TJ Dillashaw, recently obliterated Aldo’s teammate and friend, RenanBarao, at UFC 173, an upset which reignited the tension between these two featherweight stars.
First, Aldo spoke with radio show No MundodaLuta, saying that his team, Nova Uniao, would get “payback” on Mendes and Mendes‘ team, Team Alpha Male (quotes from that interview have been transcribed here by MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz).
Mendes isn’t so sure about that.
He feels that this is Team Alpha Male’s time to assume the throne and rule the 135- and 145-pound classes as Barao and Aldo had done for so many years, a transition that began with Dillashaw at UFC 173 and will continue August 2 at UFC 176 when he and Aldo square off a second time.
More specifically, Mendes said he’s going to humiliate Aldo, tweeting the following in response to Aldo’s “payback” comments:
This Team Alpha Male vs. Nova Uniao rivalry is getting fun, and it has the potential to last well into the future. Aldo and Barao are 27 years old, while Dillashaw and Mendes are 28 and 29, respectively, and they’ve all looked to be a step above everyone else in their weight classes, meaning that we could be in for rematches aplenty as the future shakes out.
Throw in the always-ready-to-make-a-title-run Urijah Faber on the Team Alpha Male side, and we have a juicy rivalry that could bring some much needed attention to the UFC’s lighter weight classes.
What do you make of Mendes‘ comments? Will he extend Team Alpha Male’s success over Nova Uniao, or will Aldo destroy him again as he did the first time?
TJ Dillashaw dethroned former bantamweight champion Renan Barao at UFC 173, and just like that, Jose Aldo became the last UFC champion waving the Brazilian flag.
If we go back less than two years to July 2012, there were four Brazilian champions …
TJ Dillashaw dethroned former bantamweight champion RenanBarao at UFC 173, and just like that, Jose Aldo became the last UFC champion waving the Brazilian flag.
If we go back less than two years to July 2012, there were four Brazilian champions in eight divisions.
Junior dos Santos ruled the heavyweight division, Anderson “The Spider” Silva was still the greatest fighter in the world at middleweight and Jose Aldo and RenanBarao stood tall above the rest of the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, respectively.
Dos Santos was the first to lose his strap.
In December 2012, dos Santos was battered for five rounds by Cain Velasquez at UFC 155. He would challenge Velasquez again at UFC 166 in October 2013, but the Brazilian would come up even shorter this time around, getting stopped in the fight’s final frame.
Between those two heavyweight title fights, Silva was famously knocked out by Chris Weidman at UFC 162. It was a win that nobody saw coming—not like that, at least—and it prompted an immediate rematch.
Like dos Santos, Silva would fail in his second bid at regaining the title.
That left only Barao and Aldo, and neither man looked remotely vincible during his run as champion. These two guys were here to stay.
Barao hadn’t lost in nine years going into his UFC 173 showdown with Dillashaw, and even though the Team Alpha Male product had looked good during his UFC career, he didn’t appear to be the man to defeat the inhuman Barao.
Dillashaw had good wrestling and knockout power, so what? The Brazilian had already defeated arguably the hardest puncher in the division in Michael McDonald via submission, and he dispatched one of the division’s finest grapplers and Dillashaw‘s teammate, Urijah Faber, twice, each time with little effort.
What did Dillashaw have to offer that Barao hadn’t already seen?
At UFC 173, we found out.
Dillashaw had a perfect game plan, complex footwork, huge power and the will to succeed. It was too much for Barao to handle, and Dillashaw finished the fight via TKO in the fifth round.
The win was shocking, and it was equal parts devastating for Brazilian fans, as an American once again snagged one of their coveted titles.
MMA is an undeniably volatile sport, and in just two years, Brazilians went from owning half of the UFC titles to owning just one out of eight (12.5 percent of them for you math people out there).
And now Jose Aldo, the last Brazilian standing, is booked to fight another Team Alpha Male product in Chad Mendes at UFC 176 in August.
Like Dillashaw, Mendes boasts huge knockout power and incredible athleticism. “Money” is, in many ways, a featherweight version of Dillashaw. We haven’t seen the kind of footwork Dillashaw showed against Barao from Mendes, but then again, we hadn’t seen it look that good from Dillashaw himself until he fought for the title.
There’s no telling how much Mendes has improved since his last fight, and there’s no doubt that he presents a significant challenge to Aldo as they head toward their much-anticipated rematch.
Aldo won the first fight via knockout in Round 1, but Mendes has won five straight since that time, scoring a knockout in four of them.
If Aldo is not on top of his game, Mendes‘ streak might get pushed to six, and Brazil will lose its last titleholder.
It’s said that good things come to those that wait, and for No. 1 UFC featherweight contender Chad “Money” Mendes, the wait to exact revenge on 145-pound champ Jose Aldo can’t end soon enough.
Long seen as the division’s top contender…
It’s said that good things come to those that wait, and for No. 1 UFC featherweight contender Chad “Money” Mendes, the wait to exact revenge on 145-pound champ Jose Aldo can’t end soon enough.
Long seen as the division’s top contender, Mendes has had to wait over two years to get his chance to erase the lone loss on his record. If Chad could have gotten his way, the wait would have been much shorter.
“We’ve actually known it was going to be him (Aldo) for two months now. We just didn’t know the date or the location,” said Mendes in an interview with Bleacher Report.
The fight is finally set for August 2 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after Aldo turned down the chance to fight on two earlier cards—UFC 173 and UFC 175—according to Mendes.
It’s clear that the Team Alpha Male standout is champing at the bit to get back into the cage with a fighter many consider top three on the pound-for-pound list.
“All I can say is payback is a b—h!” Mendes exclaimed.
Seen as one of Aldo’s more dangerous challenges heading into that fight (due to his wrestling pedigree), Mendes held his own against the champ in Round 1. He was able to secure a takedown and was primed to land another one before Aldo grabbed the cage, allowing him to regain his balance and stay on his feet. After some grinding against the cage, Chad was hit with a quick knee that left him out on the canvas and searching for answers.
While many will look to the first fight between the two as a forecast to what lays ahead, Mendes insists that a “different Chad” will be across the cage from Aldo come August.
“I’ve changed completely,” said the diminutive but powerful Mendes. “I was basically a baby in the first fight (Mendes had only fought in the UFC twice and sported an overall record of 11-0), and looking back, it might have been too early to take the fight. My game was 90-95 percent wrestling.”
That has since changed with the introduction of Duane “Bang” Ludwig as head coach at Team Alpha Male. Under Ludwig’s tutelage, Mendes has reeled off five straight wins, four of which came by way of KO or TKO.
No fight was more impressive than his destruction of savvy veteran Clay Guida at UFC 164. Not only did Mendes run through one of the toughest fighters in the UFC; he also became the first man to finish Guida inside the Octagon.
“The Guida KO showed that my striking has come a long way,” explained Mendes. “The striking mixing with my wrestling will be so much harder for Aldo to deal with come August 2nd.”
While Mendes’ evolution as a mixed martial artist has shown exponentially in every single one of his fights, the same can’t be said for the champion. Once renowned for his striking ability, Aldo has struggled to finish opponents since arriving in the UFC. His lone finish other than Mendes came against Chan Sung Jung, but only after Jung suffered a serious shoulder injury.
Mendes says that he’s “seen a plateau” in Aldo’s game since their first encounter.
“The fight where he’s made the most improvement was the Edgar fight, but it was just a couple small things,” said Mendes. ‘”He jabbed backwards and even jabbed forward, which he never really did. His techniques seemed to all be the same.
“He’s still very dangerous, but it’s a lot easier for me to look at the last fights on him and see that there’s not a whole bunch there that has changed and set up my game plan off of that.”
This fight offers a unique challenge to Mendes, as Ludwig’s time as head coach at Team Alpha Male is coming to a close. In turn, the 29-year-old will be forced to split time between the Sacramento-based gym and Ludwig’s new academy in Colorado. Mendes will also be bringing in Martin Kampmann—perennial UFC welterweight contender and rumored new head coach of Team Alpha Male—to help with the camp.
Heading into what could well be the defining fight of his career, Mendes is relaxed and confident. The comfort of knowing the fight will be in the U.S. instead of Brazil has the native Californian anxious to take it to the longtime Brazilian champ.
“Home-field is huge—we were pushing for the fight to take place in the States,” said Mendes, who explained that between the roughly 17-hour flight, the time difference, the food (which he said was extra salty, making it tougher to cut weight) and the raucous Brazilian crowd (which is known to chant “you’re going to die” to opposing fighters), he’s ecstatic to be fighting in his backyard.
Mendes is a man hellbent on revenge, and on Aug. 2 he plans on getting it the most brutal fashion possible.
“I’m going in there looking to knock his head off,” proclaims Mendes, who seems a bit perturbed by Aldo’s prediction that he will be able knock him out for the second time.
“If he thinks this is going to be an easy fight, he’s in for a rude awakening. This is going to be the best Chad Mendes anyone has seen.”
All quotes obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise
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As most have been, Chad Mendes was defeated by UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo back in 2012 at UFC 142.
The first-round knockout sent Aldo crowd surfing and Mendes back down the divisional ladder.
But as one-sided as their initial meeting was, not…
As most have been, Chad Mendes was defeated by UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo back in 2012 at UFC 142.
The first-round knockout sent Aldo crowd surfing and Mendes back down the divisional ladder.
But as one-sided as their initial meeting was, not much has changed since then. Aldo remains one of the best pound-for-pound kings in the sport, and Mendes continues to thrive in the top-contender role.
To little surprise, the two 145-pound standouts will once again meet in August at UFC 176 in what can easily be considered the biggest rematch in featherweight history.
Outside of his first loss to Aldo, Mendes has been as prolific as the next guy. His professional record remains at a staggering 16-1 (11-1 under the Zuffa banner), including a current five-fight win streak powered by four finishes.
His evolution as a wrestler with dynamic punching power has arguably surpassed the somewhat lackadaisical approach that Aldo has displayed over his past few fights. That’s not to say that the champion hasn’t looked good, but his inability to go for the kill has manifested reservations about his potential moving forward.
Don’t get it wrong. Aldo is by far a top-five fighter in the world, but his tendency to cruise to victory has left many fans needing more.
In enters Mendes, a guy who has done nothing but go for the finish since Aldo dropped him with a last-second knee two years ago.
When you look at each fighter’s production since that illustrious night in Brazil, Money is the one who has looked more deadly. He’s secured three first-round finishes and became the first fighter ever to defeat Clay Guida by strikes.
Much of his success can be credited to Duane “Bang” Ludwig and his knack for turning athletes into monsters, but Mendes‘ newfound approach is simply a product of maturity. He no longer banks on his wrestling.
It’s there, always waiting to reveal itself, but Mendes has finally found his standup—not only in the sense of knocking fellow featherweights silly, but more so in his technique and ability to counter.
This is something that Mendes lacked when he and Aldo first met. So you have to wonder, will the new Mendes propose new problems for an old champ?
Without a doubt.
Mendes is such a better fighter now that it would be plausible to consider him a different contender all together—one who will not only push the pace and throw lethal hands, but also be ready to shoot for the takedown when the champ launches his patented leg kicks.
To think that Mendes won’t fare better this time around would be silly. He’s simply a more complete fighter than he was two years ago and a guy who has truly adopted fresh game plans and in-fight strategies to play into his strengths.
Aldo is obviously going to come prepared, but this Mendes is arguably going to be the best fighter he has ever fought—one who doesn’t really have too many weaknesses outside of potentially gassing late, which is Aldo’s biggest problem.
That means that fans are going to be in for one heck of a show. The favorite is still Aldo, but you’d be crazy to think Mendes isn’t going to give him a run for his money.
UFC featherweight title challenger Chad