Filed under: UFC, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsJose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the U…
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
The fight I think the UFC really wants to make for Aldo is against Kenny Florian, who has more name recognition than anyone else on the UFC’s featherweight roster. If Florian wins his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, he’ll instantly step into title contention — and into the featherweight Top 10.
But for now, the No. 1 featherweight appears headed toward an August showdown with the undefeated Chad Mendes — and on my featherweight rankings, that’s the right call.
(Mendes thinks he can expose Aldo on the ground using his wrestling prowess)
Number one UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes watched Jose Aldo grind out a decision win over Mark Hominick live at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and walked away from the event with the confidence that he can beat the previously thought invincible UFC featherweight champion.
Mendes told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto yesterday that he isn’t buying the excuse that the Aldo was sick going into the bout or that the strain of cutting weight after adding muscle the past several months left him in a weakened state strength and conditioning-wise.
(Mendes thinks he can expose Aldo on the ground using his wrestling prowess)
Number one UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes watched Jose Aldo grind out a decision win over Mark Hominick live at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and walked away from the event with the confidence that he can beat the previously thought invincible UFC featherweight champion.
Mendes told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto yesterday that he isn’t buying the excuse that the Aldo was sick going into the bout or that the strain of cutting weight after adding muscle the past several months left him in a weakened state strength and conditioning-wise.
“The weight cut might have been part of it but I’m sticking with it’s a completely different kind of conditioning when you’re on the ground. His wrestling and grappling conditioning is not the same as his standup conditioning,” Mendes explained. “Being explosive on the feet is different than grappling, with the squeezing and pushing and pulling. It’s different on your muscles. We haven’t seen him on the ground a lot and I think that played a part in how tired he looked.”
The morale boost the fight gave him will be a great springboard for Mendes to begin camp for his eventual clash with Aldo at a yet-to-be-determined date.
“I just remember thinking, ‘Wow. This isn’t what I thought it was going to be,’” Mendes recalled. “Honestly, it’s what I wanted to see, though. We haven’t seen anybody get on top of him or him do much grappling.That’s really the only place I wanted to see this guy and getting to see it was a huge confidence booster for me.”
UFC president Dana White announced during the post-fight press conference Saturday night that Mendes is likely next in line for a shot at the belt, but “Money” reveals that his shot has been secured for a while.
“My manager started talking to Dana [White] about this about a month ago,” Mendes said. “I was just telling somebody I can’t believe it’s already here – fighting for a UFC world title. I’ve only been fighting for less than three years. It’s awesome. I’m pumped.”
Filed under: UFC, NewsTORONTO – Following his first UFC featherweight title defense at UFC 129 on Saturday, Jose Aldo has his next likely opponent already lined up.
UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference at Rogers Cen…
TORONTO – Following his first UFC featherweight title defense at UFC 129 on Saturday, Jose Aldo has his next likely opponent already lined up.
UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference at Rogers Centre in Toronto that Aldo, who beat Mark Hominick by unanimous decision in the UFC 129 co-main event, will face Chad Mendes at UFC 133 in Philadelphia on Aug. 6.
“That’s a curveball for me right now, (but) I think we’re looking at Jose possibly fighting Philly,” White said.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Chad Mendes following his UFC 126 win over Michihiro Omigawa about his performance against the Japanese fighter, fighting in the UFC in the first time and why he thinks he’s ready to fight for the title.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Chad Mendes following his UFC 126 win over Michihiro Omigawa about his performance against the Japanese fighter, fighting in the UFC in the first time and why he thinks he’s ready to fight for the title.
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — This is the UFC 126 live blog for Michihiro Omigawa vs. Chad Mendes, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV preliminary card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Mendes (9-0) enters the UFC undefeated in four WE…
LAS VEGAS — This is the UFC 126 live blog for Michihiro Omigawa vs. Chad Mendes, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV preliminary card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Mendes (9-0) enters the UFC undefeated in four WEC fights. Omigawa (12-8-1) went from 4-6 as a lightweight to 8-2-1 since dropping down to featherweight. The winner here will likely face the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick for the WEC featherweight strap.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Michihiro Omigawa about his return to the Octagon against Chad Mendes at UFC 126. The Japanese MMA star talked about why he chose to come back to the UFC now, how he has improved as a fighter since dropping down to featherweight and the state of Japanese MMA.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Michihiro Omigawa about his return to the Octagon against Chad Mendes at UFC 126. The Japanese MMA star talked about why he chose to come back to the UFC now, how he has improved as a fighter since dropping down to featherweight and the state of Japanese MMA.
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
TORONTO – Following his first UFC featherweight title defense at 
LAS VEGAS — This is the