He admittedly didnt turn out his usual firework performances that he did in the WEC for his first 2 UFC fights but "the real Aldo" resurfaced tonight and resurfaced in front of his hometown audience. That lead to the usual shit talk that he wasnt all that, etc and that Mendes was gonna easily beat him.
IMO he was really not 100& for Hominick fight and I say that as a Canadian who is a big fan of Mark's technical striking game. Againt Florian, it was due to Florian's generalship and strategy and execution that Aldo was not as killer though he did have some moments of dynomite.
I guess you cant blame people for thinking that if guys like Hominick and Florian were able to either get Aldo down or keep the td pressure on him, Mendes was gonna give him hell but my opinion was that, as noted above, he was well below 100% for Hominick and that Florian's rangy, technical striking coupled with a well executed game plan kept Aldo on a more defensive and patient game.
Mendes looked great. He may have beaten any other FW tonight. But the question of whether he would be able to close the distance on Aldo was answered - he did not do it very well.
He did get in pretty deeply or in pretty good on Aldo with his 3-4 td attempts and Aldo's tdd was better than I expected. That one double that Mendes got, Aldo popped back up right away. But i think the key was that Mendes was more weary of Aldo's striking and was not nearly able to close the distance on Aldo as Florian did. People still do not take into account MMA generalship as much. Florian got off first most of the time with strikes and closed the distance to the clinch or also single leg attempts.
Aldo slipped out of Mendes' single attempts as he did Florian's but i think the key was Mendes just was not able to set up his shots and close the distance as well with Aldo. Aldo also got off early with leg kicks. Wasnt sure if Chad was gonna be able to time the shoots of the kicks but it was apparent early that he wasnt gonna have an easy time with the kicks.
Aldo did seem to grab the fence that one time but the other time Chad popped him down after that, Aldo stepped back up. Then Mendes had all sorts of time on Aldo's back but Aldo got out again and BOOM!
Sweet redemption for Aldo to come back in highlight reel form and in Rio.
He truly is one of the sport's P4P kings and was so before he came to the UFC. 3 wins later over 3 of the best FWs and passing with flying colors over his supposedly toughest stylistic challenge.....all the doubters really should have all respect due.
Aldo is something special. He is one of the best fighters in the game AND is a class act on top....and had a Pat Cash/Wimbledon type celebration to boot.
Nuff respect due to Jose already.
Fuck, my good shit always slept on too but one more bump for Jose then ....it goes to sleep like Mendes ;p
Voted up.
And I agree: He beat a very game Chad Mendes. Mendes looked great, mentally and physically. Having wrestled in college at the same time as Chad, it's crazy to me that Aldo avoided those takedowns.
Aldo is something special. And the celebration was one for the ages.
wiggum - Voted up.
And I agree: He beat a very game Chad Mendes. Mendes looked great, mentally and physically. Having wrestled in college at the same time as Chad, it's crazy to me that Aldo avoided those takedowns.
Aldo is something special. And the celebration was one for the ages.
Ya Mendes' TD's were unbelievably fast. Aldo's training with Maynerd definitely paid off. 
wiggum - Having wrestled in college at the same time as Chad, it's crazy to me that Aldo avoided those takedowns.
LOL
well said as usual wasa, will vote up when when I can
I have to say he seems to be the greatest champion the UFC has right now, as far as overall character and how he carries himself. Right next to Edgar/JDS/GSP. Just a class act all around, and really pours some pure emotion out there.
Aldo is one of the greats...
ttt
japetto -wiggum - Having wrestled in college at the same time as Chad, it's crazy to me that Aldo avoided those takedowns.
LOL
Not sure what the LOL is for. Mendes was one weight class above me, so my teammates were focused on beating him at nationals. We spent a good deal of time preparing for him and watching him wrestle, so I have a decent idea of just how good he was.
Plus, he beat one of my teammates, who himself was a great wrestler. He was easily THE guy in his weight class his senior year and got hosed in nationals.
What's with the LOL?
Wiggum, i think the big difference was that Mendes was not able to set up his tds as well as he can with others because he was wearier of Aldo's striking and Aldo has great footwork.
But....Aldo's tdd too surprised and was better than expected.
Aldo is just the man. Maybe my fav fighter right now.
DamnSevern - well said as usual wasa, will vote up when when I can
Thx mang
LayNprayNINJA - I have to say he seems to be the greatest champion the UFC has right now, as far as overall character and how he carries himself. Right next to Edgar/JDS/GSP. Just a class act all around, and really pours some pure emotion out there.
Well, Andy's striking is other worldly but diff than Aldo's. He's also a human HL reel. Jones is the most skilled right now imo cause he has simply showed it all. But Aldo is like GSP with the killer instinct GSP used to have.
ttt
Love Aldo... my favourite FW, but he grabbed the shit out of the fence when Mendes was looking for a slam. Haven't seen this mentioned here, regardless, it goes to show how good Mendes' takedowns are!
Delighted Aldo got the finish, and what a celebration, I thought he was going to knock heads in the crowd!
TKOhYeah - Love Aldo... my favourite FW, but he grabbed the shit out of the fence when Mendes was looking for a slam. Haven't seen this mentioned here, regardless, it goes to show how good Mendes' takedowns are!
Delighted Aldo got the finish, and what a celebration, I thought he was going to knock heads in the crowd!
lol there were a ton of threads on this dude, almost as many as the "did they just call him Marijuana?" threads.
and he grabbed it once though it would have been a decent slam imo, not sure how that shows how good his tds are when the rest of the 4-5 were stuffed or Aldo popped back up even off a double blast. Aldo also got back up after the fence grab when Mendes popped him down.
ChokeEmOut -Wasa-B -LayNprayNINJA - I have to say he seems to be the greatest champion the UFC has right now, as far as overall character and how he carries himself. Right next to Edgar/JDS/GSP. Just a class act all around, and really pours some pure emotion out there.
Well, Andy's striking is other worldly but diff than Aldo's. He's also a human HL reel. Jones is the most skilled right now imo cause he has simply showed it all. But Aldo is like GSP with the killer instinct GSP used to have.
Jones has not shown EVERYTHING. He has no hands and rarely uses them and gets by using his reach with kicks.
Silva and Aldo on the other hands have shown it all.
Come on, man. What did Jones get Machida with? Finished with a sub yeah but he hurt him twice with his hands. How many other guys other than Shogun have even touched Machida with their hands?
Even without the hands, you saying Andy and Aldo have more versatile attacks than Jones?
Bader: td to top position guillotine
Shogun: flying knee, to standup beatdown, GNP, kitchen sink
Rampage: stick n move to td and RNC
Machida: hurts Machida with punches, drops him, standing guillotine
ttt (more bumps, i lied)
Have Some.