The UFC 179 card went down last night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a card that was headlined by UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo´s successful title defense against Chad Mendes. After 5 hard fought rounds, Aldo was comfortable ahead on the cards, with the judges giving Mendes one round. The match may have been a bit closer than that outcome would indicate, but Aldo certainly answered the challenge of Mendes, who has now been turned back at the title door twice.
It was a hard-nosed fight that tended toward the dirty, as eye pokes and other small infractions piled up over the five rounds. The champion started out strong, but Mendes did not go out easy as he was able to put together a stronger last three rounds that left a good overall impression. However, Aldo was able to answer Mendes at every turn. Aldo too, showed he can fight hurt, and he comes out of this fight with his stock likely raised.
What will be next for Aldo will greatly depend on the recently announced match between Conor McGregor and Dennis Siver. McGregor´s rare combination of winning, ethnic Irish support and mike control had him slated to get the next shot in most people’s opinion. Now the January 2015 gig with Siver casts McGregor’s foil in the role of a serious spoiler.
McGregor and Aldo will be a heated, passionate fight that the UFC will get a lot of mileage out of. McGregor, who was flown to Brazil and stayed in the suite of the UFC owners as their special guest, has hinted strongly that a major stadium event could be made around the fight in his native Ireland. As for Aldo, he cleverly noted that Brazil also has stadiums, so the choice of setting for that potential fight will be a very intriguing decision for the UFC brass.
Aldo did his job against Mendes, and he faced a lot of adversity in the build-up to the fight. When the gate closed however, he proved he was a notch above even Mendes, and he has been cool and nonchalant when speaking about McGregor.
Aldo did his job, now for the fight to happen, McGregor has to do his.
Here are highlights from the UFC 179 post fight press conference:
