Less than a month after successfully defending his UFC featherweight belt, champion Jose Aldo has his next assignment.
The Brazilian will return home and attempt to extend his current run of dominance over the division in a stern test against undefeated American Chad Mendes. The bout will take place at UFC 142 in Brazil, though an exact venue has yet to be officially announced.
UFC president Dana White broke the news to FoxSports.com on Monday night.
The matchup comes as no surprise. Shortly after Aldo defended the belt in a win over Kenny Florian at UFC 136 on October 8, White said that Mendes was his likely next challenger.
Aldo (20-1) has not lost a fight in six years, and has won 13 in a row. Since winning the WEC championship in Nov. 2009, Aldo has defeated all four of his challengers, even as the promotion was absorbed by the UFC and the belt was re-christened as the UFC championship.
Mendes is a perfect 11-0 in his career. He debuted under the Zuffa banner in March 2010 and has won all six of his fights. His most recent bout came against Rani Yahya at UFC 133, a fight which he won by unanimous decision.
Some have speculated that Mendes, a former two-time collegiate wrestling All-American, could give Aldo trouble by employing his grinding style. Thus far in his career, though, Aldo has been up to the challenge. According to FightMetric, he’s only been taken down twice in his last 10 fights, and has successfully defended 94 percent of the takedown attempts against him.
The Aldo vs. Mendes fight is the first one officially announced by the UFC for the January 14 event.