After a terrific five round encounter this evening in the main event of UFC 179, Jose Aldo emerged as the unanimous decision victor against a game Chad Mendes.
Round One:
We’re underway in the main event of the evening. Mendes with a solid leg kick to start. He’s taking the center of the cage looking eager to get things going. He lands another hard leg kick.
Aldo lets fly with a few hard punches. A body shot too. Mendes still trying to lands to the leg as Aldo opts for punches.
Mendes connects with a punch and Aldo drops to the mat just for a moment, but he seems ok and is straight back up.
Good head movement from Aldo as Mendes looks to let punches go. Aldo with aggressive punches and an equally hard kick behind it.
Mendes digs to the body. Aldo with a left hook. Right hand for aldo, and a counter punch from Mendes. Another nice punch from the challenger.
Big kick for Aldo. Body punch for the champ and Mendes lands a short flurry of punches to the head. Nice work from him.
Aldo gets poked in the eye forcing a stoppage. The doctor takes a look at him and then we’re good to go. Aldo’s got a little blood showing near his nose.
Both men exchanging in close. Aldo is fired up and lands a big knee strike to the head, but Mendes is remaining in on a takedown attempt. He’s down, but aldo is right back up.
Aldo lands a punch and drops Mendes! Mendes tries to kick him off, but Aldo is on top and into mount.
Mendes manages to get back up in the final seconds of the round. Aldo pressing forward with confidence and starts to unleash a combination of straight punches just as the buzzer sounds and two big blows land afterwards, one of which slumps Mendes down to the mat. Mendes wobbles back to his corner! That wasn’t good, those punches were late and the challenger was hurt by them.
Round Two:
Mendes looks to have his feet back under him as they get into it in the second. Aldo with a kick and he stumbles off of it. Mendes with a kick then charges in on a takedown attempt. Aldo stuffs it. Mendes looks for a big knee, but his foot connects with his groin forcing another stoppage.
Aldo’s ok to continue. Lots of movement from Mendes. He corks off a couple of punches and catches a kick partially from Aldo.
He comes in reaching for big punches that come up short. Mendes with a head kick, but Aldo chops his legs to knock him off-balance instead.
Mendes landing hard kicks as they exchange in the middle of the cage. Another kick from Mendes. Aldo snapping off hard jabs into Mendes’ face.
Mendes with a nice punch. Aldo lands hard to the body. Mendes wings a big hook, but Aldo ducks under. He lands another nice body strike. He goes upstairs with a head kick that’s just blocked and no more.
Mendes feeling out with the jab and then lands a solid punch. He connects with a good left just as the round ends.
Round Three:
Back to it they go and Aldo is unleashing big, fast punches here. Mendes right in there though. Eye poke again suffered by Aldo, that’s his second of the fight.
Aldo shakes his head in frustration as the referee warns Mendes that if it happens again he’ll have a point deducted.
They go back to it and heavy leather is being thrown here. Aldo letting his anger out in his strikes, but Mendes survives.
Big left hook from Aldo has Mendes off-balance. Aldo pressing forward unloading strikes. Mendes digs in and returns fire. He’s not as fast as the champ, but he packs a mean punch.
Really big uppercut lands for Mendes and he might be hurt. Mendes with another couple of big blows including an uppercut and Aldo looks stunned.
However, he then bites down on his gumshield and blasts back with nasty punches and now it’s Mendes is stumbling and hurt! This is turning out to be a war. Aldo chasing him down and throws a knee and they are trading in close. Thing slow down in the clinch and they have a moment to say something to each other and smile before an exciting round draws to a close.
Round Four:
Mendes with a leg kick and then a push kick. Mendes lighter on his feet here as Aldo waits poised perhaps looking to counter. Big wound-up hook from Mendes misses.
Aldo with a glancing left hook. Mendes scorees with an uppercut. He lands a body kick. Jab for Mendes and a right hand. Aldo’s face is fairly banged up at this stage with blood under his left eye.
Aldo complaining about something, perhaps another eye poke, but there’s no stoppage. Mendes tries to land a punch and gets met with two on the counter instead. Streak of blood down Aldo’s face now from that cut under his eye.
Good right hand counter for Aldo. Body shot and one upstairs from Mendes. Aldo not fighting with the same aggression as he was earlier. Mendes with a leg kick and it’s checked which clearly didn’t feel good.
Aldo with some solid jabs. He suddenly leaps into a knee strike that just misses.
Round Five:
Into round five with all to play for here. Mendes with a punch to start. He lands a hard left and another hook while Aldo connects with a right of his own.
Body kick for Mendes. Mendes bundles in on a takedown and catches the champ off-guard for a change. He almost stays standing, but Mendes adjusts and secures it at the second attempt.
Mendes patiently trying to ensure he can keep his opponent down, but Aldo looks poised to stand at any moment. He does manage to wall walk up and gets the fight back to striking range.
Big punches for Aldo and then a big knee, but Mendes catches it. Somehow Aldo manages to end up on top, but Mendes gets up.
They separate with half the round remaining. They start to exchange. Uppercut for Mendes wings past Aldo’s head. Aldo snaps the challengers head back with a big punch and staggers him backwards.
Nice left hand for Mendes. Mendes charges forward for a takedown and it’s stuffed. Aldo complains about a potential groin shot but the ref says fight on. Mendes trying to push forward in the final 30 seconds. Aldo checks a kick.
Both men still willing to trade, but this one’s headed to the scorecards after a great five round battle.
Decision:
Close fight then, but the judges have a definitive winner in mind and it’s Jose Aldo who retains his title with a unanimous decision victory (49-46).
