Aldo, who has an astounding 20 wins and only one loss, defended his WEC featherweight title two times before the WEC was dissolved and he was promoted to the Undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion. He has since defended his UFC title twice, against worthy competition in Mark Hominick and former lightweight title challenger, Kenny Florian. Aldo has finished 14 of his 21 opponents, with 12 of those finishes coming by way of knockout.
Aldo began his career with five straight stoppage victories in his native Brazil. He travelled to England for two straight fights, which took place in consecutive months, and won both by knockout. Aldo was at the top of his game, a perfect 7-0, heading back to Brazil for his first fight at lightweight against fellow countryman Luciano Azevedo. Aldo suffered his first, and only loss of his career to Azevedo, and dropped back to featherweight before rattling off three straight. After an impressive 10-1 start to his career, Aldo joined the UFC sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting.
In his first four fights under the WEC banner, Aldo finished all of his opponents by knockout, and earned a number one contender bout against fellow rising prospect Cub Swanson. Swanson had 13 wins under his belt, with 10 finishes. Aldo came into the bout with a similar record of 14-1 with 11 finishes. It was sure to be an exciting fight to say the least. Aldo made quick work of his foe, knocking Swanson unconscious just eight seconds into the fight with a spectacular double flying knee. After ending the fight with possibly the biggest highlight of his career, Aldo moved on to challenge dominant champion, Mike Brown. Aldo made the champ look like an amateur, pushing the pace in the first round, and in the second round taking his back and raining down punches. The fight was halted at 1:20 of the second round, and Jos é Aldo was crowned the WEC Featherweight Champion.
WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby did not give Aldo any breaks as it was announced that his first title defense would be against former titleholder and a man many thought would never lose the title, Urijah Faber. In what could still be considered his most dominant performance, Aldo kept Faber at bay utilizing over 30 successful leg kicks that left Faber badly bruised following the fight. Aldo effectively dodged, as Faber only landed 27 strikes in their five-round affair. In the fourth round, Aldo sent Faber sprawling and pounced on him, quickly trapping Faber’s arm in a crucifix and raining down punches. The fifth round saw Aldo not engage much, and carefully secure the unanimous victory.
The next time Aldo entered the WEC cage, it was against The Ultimate Fighter 5 finalist Manvel Gamburyan. Aldo did not miss a step as he throttled his opponent with an onslaught of kicks and punches, ultimately knocking out his foe in fewer than two rounds. With his quick victory over the Armenian, Aldo was eager to defend his WEC belt again.
In October of 2010, the WEC merged with the UFC, and on November 20, 2010 Aldo was upgraded to the Undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion. After recovering from a neck injury, and after six-months on the shelf, Aldo was set to face the Canadian, Mark Hominick at UFC 129 in Hominick’s native Ontario. Slated as the co-main event alongside a welterweight title clash between Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields, Aldo and Hominick stole the show, winning Fight of the Night honors.
The fight began with both fighters exchanging quick on the feet. Aldo’s speed advantage was immediately obvious, but Hominick looked to actually be a bit bigger than his Brazilian foe. The fight didn’t stay standing for long, as Aldo quickly tossed Hominick to the mat. To defend, Hominick quickly attempted to lock up and armbar but Aldo slipped out, and landed some heavy elbows. The second round continued much the same as Aldo scored two takedowns, and won on points.
The third and fourth frames saw Aldo and Hominick get into more than a few heated exchanges on the feet. In the third round, more strikes were thrown than in either of the previous two. If not for a perfectly timed one-two combination that set Hominick to the floor late in the round, Hominick would have walked away with a round. It was in round four that the biggest punch of the night was thrown, and fans saw possibly one of the most gruesome sights in MMA history.
Aldo came out with his typical strong leg kicks, and Hominick was beginning to slow. He knocked Hominick down again with a nice combination and began to rain down strikes from top position. A hematoma close to the size of a golf ball developed on Hominick’s head, but he continued to come forward, looking like sloth from The Goonies. The fight was halted to examine the lump, and the doctors allowed the action to continue, and essentially gave the okay for Aldo to destroy him for one more round. The fifth round saw Aldo and his traditional points stall. He had four rounds under his belt, and sat back and basically took a nap, much like the final round of his first title defense against Faber.
After a one-sided, and rather uneventful unanimous decision victory over former lightweight title contender Kenny Florian, Aldo was named one of the UFC’s most dominant fighters, and considered a pound-for-pound stalwart.
The Brazilian striker’s next challenge lies in undefeated wrestler Chad Mendes. Mendes, who was also a fellow WEC fighter, is a teammate of Urijah Faber, so he will have some insights into Aldo’s game. Mendes, one of the division’s top wrestlers, compiled a 30-1 record his senior year, so there should be no secret as to what his game plan is going into the biggest fight of his life.
Aldo’s takedown defense is the second best among champions in the UFC, at 90 percent; a statistic Mendes will have trouble swallowing. Another tool he will have in defending the takedown other than the outright sprawl is his vicious leg kicks. Look for Aldo to use those to keep Mendes off balance.
The takedown is really Mendes’s only option offensively, but he does have a decent counter striking game. His striking defense is an impressive 74 percent, and his takedown defense is even better than Aldo’s. He has never been taken down in his seven fights with the WEC and UFC. The weak side to this statistic is that he has only faced seven takedown attempts.
In his last four fights, Mendes has scored 20 takedowns. He earned eight of them in a fight against striker, Cub Swanson in 2010. It has been hammered over and over again, Mendes is an incredible wrestler, but what is it that Aldo possesses?
Aldo has over half of his career wins by knockout, and he has shown that he isn’t afraid to take chances in order to score the knockout early in his career, ala Cub Swanson. Lately, he has been rather cautious in his striking, and even gave up the fifth round to Hominick in a fight that he dominated. The question is whether we will see a motivated Aldo, or a bored one like we saw in the Hominick and Florian fights. The skill he possesses is unquestionable, but he hasn’t pushed the pace to apply in it some time. Is this the fight where we will see a highlight reel knockout?
If Aldo decides to sit back and admire his performance early like he has in the past, then we could see a new champion at the end of the night. Still, Aldo has enough skills on the ground, with his take down defense, and his submission skills to not get suffocated by Mendes. Mendes keeps it close, but Aldo pulls it out in the fourth, with a late knockout.
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