Jose Aldo defended the UFC featherweight title for a fifth straight time on Saturday, putting himself among elite company on the list of fighters to reach that milestone.
While Aldo took advantage of a Chan Sung Jung injury to finish his fight at UFC 1…
Jose Aldo defended the UFC featherweight title for a fifth straight time on Saturday, putting himself among elite company on the list of fighters to reach that milestone.
While Aldo took advantage of a Chan Sung Jung injury to finish his fight at UFC 163, the Brazilian was already well on his way toward victory by the time the bout was stopped in the fourth round. By disposing of another new challenger, Aldo is coming closer and closer to a seemingly inevitable move to 155 pounds.
Should that be Aldo’s next move?
Here are the matchups that could be upcoming for the 145-pound champion and the rest of the UFC 163 competitors.
In retrospect, it was only fitting that the injuries plaguing the original UFC 163 fight card carried into the actual fights that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. UFC flyweight champion Jose Aldo injured his foot in a title defense that resul…
In retrospect, it was only fitting that the injuries plaguing the original UFC 163 fight card carried into the actual fights that took place in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil. UFC flyweight champion Jose Aldo injured his foot in a title defense that resulted in challenger Chan-Sung Jung dislocating his shoulder mid-fight.
Bizarre indeed.
Arguably as troublesome, not a single bonus was awarded to a main card fighter—the best knockout, submission and overall fight took place during the preliminary fight card. It’s no surprise, then, that two of the five main card fights went to decision.
Nevertheless, there were a few memorable moments tucked away inside the pay-per-view fights of UFC 163.
Let’s get the core of things by ranking the main card fights in terms of explosive energy that resulted in moments you won’t soon forget.
Jose Aldo expressed in the UFC 163 post-fight press conference that he’d love to go the lightweight division if UFC matchmaker Joe Silva presented him with the proper opportunity.
That likely meant a title shot or, at the least, a No. 1 contenders bout…
Jose Aldo expressed in the UFC 163 post-fight press conference that he’d love to go the lightweight division if UFC matchmaker Joe Silva presented him with the proper opportunity.
That likely meant a title shot or, at the least, a No. 1 contenders bout. It’d be hard to say no to that offer, but Aldo should remain at 145 pounds for a number of reasons.
He’s had some tough weight cuts, and his conditioning is his biggest question mark. But it looks like that might be a problem of the past. If Aldo can maintain his weight to avoid the rough weigh cuts, he should stay at featherweight, where he is the unquestionable top dog.
MMA fans and the hobbled fighters themselves bore down on HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro for UFC 163, and the ensuing result was more injuries to an already battered card and some controversy seemingly perfect for reality television.&…
MMA fans and the hobbled fighters themselves bore down on HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro for UFC 163, and the ensuing result was more injuries to an already battered card and some controversy seemingly perfect for reality television.
Jose Aldo vs. the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, may have been the main attraction, but plenty of other bouts featured startling outcomes.
Perhaps no fight was bigger than Phil Davis vs. LyotoMachida, which left the latter questioning the judges and the rest of us wondering about the judging process.
Then you have Aldo emerging triumphant over the Korean Zombie. Aldo now has plenty of options in front of him after winning a wild main event.
If you dropped the necessary cash for the pay-per-view event, you’re probably pretty frustrated at the outcome, whether it was sloppy fighting or decisions by judges.
Regardless of the overall satisfaction with the end product, UFC 163 told us several things about the top stars moving forward. Let’s go over what appears to be in the cards for Machida and others as we sift through the aftermath of UFC 163.
Thales Leites Makes Triumphant Return
We’d be lying if we said the middleweight bout between Thales Leites and Tom Watson was a sexy one. It was, in fact, a sloppy one in which Leites emerged victorious courtesy of his ground work more than anything.
It’s a triumphant return for Leites, nonetheless, after spending time in smaller circuits. The best part? He scored the victory in his hometown after four years out of UFC.
So what’s next for the 32-year-old Brazilian? Well we now know he can remain competitive in the middleweight division, which is a start.
For now he’ll be held to two or three more buildup bouts. He was gassed for most of the fight with Watson, so working on his conditioning is the first step. After that, Leites may be able to work his way up to a title shot.
There’s a long path in front of Leites, but he started down it in a big way at UFC 163.
LyotoMachida Is Shocked and on the Rematch Trail
A large portion of the MMA world was left in shock last night as Bruce Buffer stepped to the mic and read Phil Davis’ name rather than Machida‘s.
Machida is right there with the fans and has already asked for a rematch, as he stated in an interview with MMAFighting.com:
So why the outrage? Simple—classic Machida fight. Evade relentlessly, pick points, land strong attacks and go back into evasive mode. Most had Machida landing a large number of significant strikes over the course of the night, but it simply was not enough in the minds of the judges.
Large portions of the MMA community have expressed disbelief at the result, including Dana White:
It was an unfortunate turn of events for Machida in front of a home crowd, but certainly one he can recover from. As of now we have no doubt Machida will continue to ask for a rematch.
Machida can ask away about rematches, but he needs to spend the off time between fights finding a way to score more points. He needs to convince the judges—not himself through picky, conservative attacks—that he deserves to have his hand raised.
Jose Aldo Shines in Sloppy Bout
Leave it to the main event of an already sloppy card to not live up the hype. Jose Aldo took care of business as usual, but not in the dominant fashion you would expect.
Instead, Aldo won the first three rounds of the fight but did so without most of his signature kicks, as he appeared to break his foot on the first kick he attempted.
It took Chan Sung Jung, also known as the Korean Zombie, apparently struggling to get his arm back in its socket for Aldo to pounce and finish the fight in the fourth round.
So what’s next for Aldo? There are a plethora of rematch candidates in his division, including Cub Swanson, Frankie Edgar and Ricardo Lamas. But there is also the possibility of Aldo jumping out of the featherweight division. After five straight title defenses, is it really that hard to see Aldo making the jump to another division?
Probably not. He discussed the option in the post-fight press conference and essentially said he would leave that decision up to Joe Silva and Co.:
Should Aldo and his team choose to move up, he could be looking at the winner of the lightweight bout set to take place between Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 164.
In other words, it’s time for Aldo to finally move up into a more competitive division or settle for a rematch against opponents he has already defeated.
We’ll see what happens.
Follow me on Twitter for more news and analysis @Chris_Roling
Phil Davis (12-1-0) certainly knows how to stir up controversy in Brazil—his hotly debated decision victory over Lyoto Machida at UFC 163 nearly resulted in Rio de Janeiro’s fans collectively forgetting that he had once submitted hometown favorit…
Phil Davis (12-1-0) certainly knows how to stir up controversy in Brazil—his hotly debated decision victory over LyotoMachida at UFC 163 nearly resulted in Rio de Janeiro’s fans collectively forgetting that he had once submitted hometown favorite Wagner Prado in his own native Brazil.
Jose Aldo was supposed to be facing Anthony Pettis at UFC 163. After a training injury forced Pettis out of the contest, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung was moved into the main event slot.
It was a smart move by the UFC. Even if Jung had been out of…
Jose Aldo was supposed to be facing Anthony Pettis at UFC 163. After a training injury forced Pettis out of the contest, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung was moved into the main event slot.
It was a smart move by the UFC. Even if Jung had been out of action for an extended period of time, he remains a fan favorite and can be guaranteed to put on an exciting show.
That is until UFC 163.
“The Korean Zombie” looked timid and didn’t push the pace like he typically does. Instead of looking to launch his offensive flurries, Jung stood on the outside which allowed Aldo to get his range. The pace also allowed Aldo to maintain his offense without tiring in the later rounds.
Even the champion didn’t look himself as he was not displaying his trademark leg kicks. Apparently Aldo injured his foot after throwing the first kick, so Aldo gets a pass on not utilizing the leg kicks. Outside of that, Aldo actually showed a different area in his game as he used his grappling skills to take “The Korean Zombie” to the mat.
It looked as if Aldo was using a “wall and stall” type of attack in the later rounds, but he was still able to use his excellent head movement to avoid and counter much of what Jung was throwing. It looked as though Jung was ready to unleash the inner Zombie but once again fell into a conservative game plan in the fourth round.
At first I believed Jung wanted to start slow in order to let Aldo tire himself out, but he did nothing to make the champion exert himself. It became clearer that perhaps Jung simply froze while competing on the biggest stage in his career. Still, he should get props from any fan for taking a fight against the best featherweight in the world after sitting on the sidelines for so long and for how he handled the shoulder injury.
Jung’s shoulder injury was a terrible way for a fight to come to an end, but Aldo would’ve found his hand raised at the end if the fight had gone the same way it had been.
Considering fans were anticipating some wild striking exchanges, you could easily make the case for the fight being a bit disappointing. However, the fight was very telling about the champion, as he showed he’s not afraid to take the fight to the mat if it benefits him. Now fighters will have to worry about a takedown attempt rather than just his dangerous striking game.
