Jose Aldo’s latest title defense at UFC 179 will have little impact on his legacy.
Sure, Chad Mendes might be able to stamp his place in history by putting an end to Aldo’s 17-fight winning streak in front of what could be 11,000 of the champion’s coun…
Jose Aldo’s latest title defense at UFC 179 will have little impact on his legacy.
Sure, Chad Mendes might be able to stamp his place in history by putting an end to Aldo’s 17-fight winning streak in front of what could be 11,000 of the champion’s countrymen. Perhaps Aldo runs through Mendes once more, ruining Mendes‘ hopes of bringing a second title to Team Alpha Male.
He was the greatest MMA featherweight before fighting Mendes for a second time. He will be the greatest MMA featherweight after fighting Mendes for a second time.
The following slides illustrate the greatest moments that have helped solidify Aldo’s place in the UFC’s version of Cooperstown, New York.
Former WEC champion Mike Brown is returning for a featherweight bout at UFC on Fox Sports 1-1, where he’ll face Akira Corassani on August 17.That news was made official by the UFC on Friday (via Twitter) during a torrent of announcements for upcom…
Former WEC champion Mike Brown is returning for a featherweight bout at UFC on Fox Sports 1-1, where he’ll face Akira Corassani on August 17.
That news was made official by the UFC on Friday (via Twitter) during a torrent of announcements for upcoming fight cards.
Both men are looking to continue hard-fought winning streaks in their divisions, with Brown heading back into action more than a year after his last outing at UFC 146.
During the past couple of years, Brown has suffered from a string of injuries that have hindered his training and general health, including a torn ligament in his left hand (via MMA Fighting) and a knee injury that sidelined him from UFC on FX 1.
Brown had briefly considered retirement from MMA after a win against Daniel Pineda but instead signed a new five-fight UFC contract.
Corassani hasn’t been that much more active in comparison to his opponent, having fought only once a year so far since February 2011.
But this most recent fight announcement will give the Ultimate Fighter alumnus a relatively quick turnaround at just under five months—his most recent bout at UFC Sweden 2 (also known as UFC on Fuel TV 9) ended in a stellar unanimous-decision victory over Robbie Peralta.
Neither fighter is currently included in the official UFC rankings at featherweight, but the presence of Conor McGregor vs. Andy Ogle on the same card may determine some future matchmaking potential after the night is over.
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva doesn’t have the easiest job in the world. Not only does he have to find stylistic contests that will produce an enjoyable fight, but also provide intriguing matchups for the pugilists. After all, a motivated fighter is a bette…
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva doesn’t have the easiest job in the world. Not only does he have to find stylistic contests that will produce an enjoyable fight, but also provide intriguing matchups for the pugilists. After all, a motivated fighter is a better fighter.
Sometimes, a fighter can get work simply based on his name value. Even if a fight is against an unranked opponent, they may possess a certain level of recognition that warrants higher billing. Former champions or big stars imported from other organizations are easy sells for this very reason.
Why do you think so many fighters want to square off with Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva? It’s certainly not because of their divisional rankings.
By etching a win against a quality name onto your resume, you build your own legacy. When discussing a fighter’s worthiness of fighting for a championship, skills are rarely discussed. It’s all about who you’ve beaten in the past.
However, a name doesn’t always have a face. Some fighters may have earned their stripes but haven’t found their way onto your television. Oftentimes, notable stars from the past are discussed as pioneers by commentators, but their fights aren’t on modern highlight reels.
Here is a look at nine famous fighters who have earned their place in MMA history but fans likely couldn’t pick out of a lineup.
The main event of UFC 146 may still be a few hours away, but preliminary round viewers on Facebook just witnessed Mike Brown dominate Daniel Pineda. With the victory at the company’s latest pay-per-view, Brown has moved himself one more rung up the lad…
The main event of UFC 146 may still be a few hours away, but preliminary round viewers on Facebook just witnessed Mike Brown dominate Daniel Pineda. With the victory at the company’s latest pay-per-view, Brown has moved himself one more rung up the ladder in the Featherweight division.
Does this win mean that Brown will be facing Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo in the next few months? Probably not. But the win does get the Portland, Maine native back on his feet after losing two of his three fights in 2011.
The 11-year veteran has been in the world of MMA before UFC or any other companies were getting national recognition or deals with channels like FOX but his age began to show when he fell to Diego Nunes and Rani Yahya in back-to-back fights last year.
A veteran of the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting, Brown held the company’s Featherweight championship from 2008 to 2009, but now at age 36, he finds himself climbing the ladder once again.
Brown has now defeated Nam Phan and Pineda in consecutive pay-per-view events with UFC, both victories by unanimous decision.
After his victory Saturday night over Pineda, Brown said, “I feel good. The job is done. There was nothing fancy out there, but it’s another paycheck and another [win].”
From two straight losses to two straight victories, the former WEC star will look to keep his winning streak alive against whoever he steps in the cage with next.
Regardless of who his next opponent is, they will need to be on the lookout for a revitalized and confident Brown.
Oh, and finding a way to combat his deadly strikes such as the superman punch Brown opened up with against Pineda wouldn’t be a bad thing to put on the scouting report either.
Jose Aldo is a name that strikes terror into the hearts of many featherweights in the world. He is the No.1 ranked featherweight in the world, with a record of 20-1 (12 KOs), and is the former and last WEC champion as well as the current UFC Featherwei…
Jose Aldo is a name that strikes terror into the hearts of many featherweights in the world. He is the No.1 ranked featherweight in the world, with a record of 20-1 (12 KOs), and is the former and last WEC champion as well as the current UFC Featherweight champion.
Aldo burst on the scene on June 1, 2008, where he ran through Alexandre Franca Nogueira, a top prospect in the WEC who was debuting at the time. Aldo’s beatdown led to Nogueira’s release from the WEC and the climb of Aldo continued. Aldo went on a five-fight winning streak, with all fights ending in brutal fashion before challenging the champion at the time, Mike Thomas Brown.
As a fighter with nothing to lose, Aldo went into the fight as a slight underdog against the champ who had beaten Faber twice and arm-triangled Leonard Garcia. Aldo went on to dominate the powerful wrestler as Aldo used his stand-up and Jiu-Jitsu game to take Brown’s back and finish him via strikes in the second round. He retained the belt during the remaining lifespan of the WEC.
Before the WEC was merged with the UFC, Aldo successfully defended his belt against Faber and Manny Gamburyan. In the Faber fight Aldo worked a game plan to take Faber’s legs out, and it worked incredibly for him as Faber could barely walk after the fourth round.
Aldo seemed hesitant to finish Faber as he could have on several occasions in the final two frames of their fight. He silenced critics about not finishing Faber by turning the lights off of Manny Gamburyan in the second round, thus ending his reign in the WEC and beginning a new run in the UFC.
Aldo was off for a while after the Gamburyan fight with back problems which postponed a fight with Josh Grispi for his first UFC title defense. Number one contenders aren’t always guaranteed in this sport as Grispi was bested on New Year’s in 2011 by Dustin Poirier.
This opened the door for Mark Hominick who, with a victory over George Roop, was given the chance to fight for the belt.
On April 30, 2011 in front of 55,000 fans in Toronto, Canada, Jose Aldo was set to make his UFC debut as he defended his UFC belt in his opponent’s backyard. Many fans were expecting to see Aldo make short work of Hominick as Aldo was touted as a top pound-for-pound fighter.
Instead we saw Aldo dominate his opponent with great Muay Thai mixing in his take-downs with precision that would make GSP proud. Aldo’s cardio betrayed him as he was completely dominated by Hominick when he was put on his back in the fifth round. Aldo had done enough to win but he revealed a kink in his armor.
Aldo had another defense in 2011; this time was against two-time lightweight contender Kenny Florian who made the drop for a chance to finally wear UFC gold. Aldo again fought a conservative fight as he bested Florian by decision and sent him back to lightweight.
Jose Aldo is an amazing fighter with some of the best stand-up in the game, good wrestling and a good ground game. He is a BJJ black belt and trains with the Nova Uniao team in Brazil where great fighters like Marlo Sandro, Diego Nunes, Eduardo Dantes, among others are his training partners.
The scariest attribute Jose Aldo had was that go-for-broke killer instinct he showed in his fights in the WEC. Who can forget that eight-second KO of Cub Swanson with a double flying knee.
Since he has entered the UFC, Aldo has been fighting more conservative and is fighting to win. There is nothing wrong with that approach as welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has employed a similar tactic.
The downfall is fans love fighters who go out and finish fights. GSP has received plenty of criticism along with fighters like Jon Fitch for playing it safe, so to speak. This hurts Aldo’s marketability as he isn’t as popular as the Canadian superstar.
Aldo is being introduced to the casual fans in the UFC, and performances like the one against Mark Hominick won’t reassure his new audiences of why he is considered a Top 5 pound-for-pound fighter.
Aldo has a tall task in front of him come January 14, 2012, as he will headline UFC 142 in his native Brazil against Team Alpha Male’s Chad Mendes, who is a man who can very well dethrone Aldo and probably make the Brazilian’s riot with an Aldo loss.
Aldo will have to put on a vintage performance and finish Mendes off in front of his countrymen to establish his supremacy over the division and take a role similar to Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre and Jon Jones as an unbeatable force in his respected division.
Mendes will be his toughest test to date as he is a powerful wrestler with good top control. Nonetheless, Aldo has the skills to end this fight within three rounds and end it in devastating fashion. One can only hope that his fear of losing the belt does not interfere with his ability to finish the fight.
This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA. Follow us on Twitter @HurtsBad
At UFC 131 this Saturday in Vancouver, perennial lightweight contender Kenny “Kenflo” Florian will fight in his first ever match at 145 pounds, a featherweight tilt vs. former WEC fighter Diego Nunes.It will be Florian’s UFC-record fo…
At UFC 131 this Saturday in Vancouver, perennial lightweight contender Kenny “Kenflo” Florian will fight in his first ever match at 145 pounds, a featherweight tilt vs. former WEC fighter Diego Nunes.
It will be Florian’s UFC-record fourth weight class, after previously competing at 185, 170 and 155 pounds.
Florian decided to drop down in weight for a number of reasons. First, the UFC’s lightweight division was becoming crowded with the WEC merger, especially with the addition of contenders like Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis.
With the division getting clogged up in talent, Florian’s place in it was becoming unclear.
Second, after losing to Gray Maynard at UFC 118 in a No. 1 contender’s bout, Florian was all but assured a career as a 155-pound gatekeeper, especially after Dana White said he “choked” in big fights.
Florian, after all, had two cracks at the lightweight title previously, losing to Sean Sherk at UFC 64 and B.J. Penn at UFC 101.
And third, Florian dropped down for the challenge to satisfy his inner desire to become a champion.
Although he remains adamant he wants to be the lightweight champion one day, chances are that opportunity has passed him by. So he has set his eyes on the Jose Aldo’s 145-pound belt instead.
Although it isn’t set in stone, Florian may very well be next in line to Aldo’s strap. On a fairly recent episode of “MMA Live,” Florian (an analyst on the show) asked White if he would get a title shot were he to dispatch Nunes, to which White replied, “probably.”
It does make sense.
The featherweight division is shallow, as Florian is already the most recognizable fighter in it, even though he hasn’t fought at the weight yet. With Florian’s name value, the UFC could potentially promote Florian and Aldo as the main event on a pay-per-view.
The other thing is, there aren’t many contenders at 145 pounds right now. With the unbeaten Chad Mendes hooking up with Rani Yahya, the No. 1 contender’s spot is up for grabs.
If Florian can defeat the 16-1 Nunes—who, by the way, is Aldo’s teammate—he would be more than deserving. But that’s a big if.
Nunes is no walk in the park. Down on the scorecards to former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown in his UFC debut back in January, Nunes battled back with a busted-up eye to win a split decision.
His excellent kickboxing skills and stellar Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu make him one of the top dogs in the world at 145 pounds.
Florian is walking into dangerous territory this weekend. Should he defeat Nunes, he will likely get the next title shot. But if he loses, his career will be sent into limbo.
Not good enough to contend at 145 or 155 pounds, and already 35 years old, Florian would need to seriously rethink his MMA career should he fall to Nunes.
This is his last shot.
Florian’s career will be made or broken with his weight cut at UFC 131.
Former WEC champion Mike Brown is returning for a featherweight bout at UFC on Fox Sports 1-1, where he’ll face Akira Corassani on August 17.