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UFC 179: Aldo vs. Mendes
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Published: 10/25/2014  at  4:05:00 AM
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UFC 179: Aldo vs. Mendes

Saturday, Oct. 25 – 11:30 p.m. ET
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Jose Aldo (24-1) vs. Chad Mendes (16-1)

Featherweight title bout
Line: Aldo -210, Mendes +170

Jose Aldo defends his featherweight title on Saturday night in Brazil as he takes on Chad Mendes as the headline fight at UFC 179.

These two have already fought in their careers, as Aldo delivered a vicious knockout with his knee with only one second remaining in the first round at UFC 142 on Jan. 14, 2012. Aldo has been off for some time, posting his 17th straight victory on Feb. 1 at UFC 169 against Ricardo Lamas when he won a dominant unanimous decision. In that match, he held a 62-41 striking advantage with two takedowns and two submissions. Aldo is one of the most dangerous fighters in all of the sport because of his ability to win a match in many different ways. He is an incredible athlete who has as good of cardio as anybody in the sport. He has defeated some terrific fighters in his career, beating guys like Mendes, Kenny Florian and Urijah Faber. His opponent, Mendes, has also been on a tear as of late, winning his past five matches since falling to Aldo. In his most recent bout on Dec. 14, 2013, he was able to take care of Nik Lentz by way of unanimous decision thanks to four takedowns during the fight. Like Aldo, Mendes is a talented fighter who can attack in many different ways. At 29 years old, he is still in the prime of his career, and he will be looking to get the signature victory against Aldo. Although he is much more prepared than he was in the first fight between these two, his preparation will not change the result, as ALDO will take care of business.

"Junior" Aldo has 24 victories in his career, with 15 of them coming by way of knockout. He also has eight wins by decision, and the other one coming by submission. His biggest advantage will be if he keeps the fight on his feet. He will have an advantage when it comes to throwing significant strikes, as he lands 3.18 strikes per minute, compared to 2.42 for Mendes. While he does not win a lot of matches via submission, he does have a higher percentage on takedowns (72 percent) than his opponent (60 percent). However, he may try and avoid that, as Mendes has shown to be a world-class grappler. If Aldo is able to keep the fight on his feet and use his athleticism and cardio, then he should be in great shape to get the victory. For Mendes, he will need to use his biggest advantage, which is his powerful fists.

"Money" Mendes enters this match with 16 victories in his career, with eight of them coming by way of decision. He also has six wins by knockout, with the other two coming by way of submission. Mendes is very strong for this weight class, and that could be his biggest advantage. He has a takedown average of 4.99, while Aldo has an average of only 1.05. If he is able to take Aldo to the ground, he will have a great chance to get the victory. Mendes has shown the ability to win many matches with his cardio, but that will be tough to establish in this fight. If he is able to take Aldo to the ground, then he has a chance to pull off the big upset.


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