At UFC 176, World Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo will face Chad Mendes for a second time in a rematch of their first championship encounter back in 2012 where Aldo produced a memorable knockout win.
Despite the Brazilian’s first round victory, ‘Scarface’ escaped being taken down by the wrestling specialist at one point in the round with a significant fence grab, an illegal reaction often seen by fighters when struggling to defend a takedown while in arm’s reach of the fence.
Since then, Aldo (24-1) has completed a further three title defences establishing himself as one of the pound-for-pound best in the sport while perennial top contender Mendes (16-1) has continued to solidify his position as the no.2 ranked featherweight behind Aldo with a run of five victories featuring four knockouts. Aldo remains the only fighter to have beaten the American.
Despite the rematch now being set for Aug.2 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Mendes still finds himself angered by how the first encounter played out, and in a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, ‘Money’ explained that he will make a point of highlighting the issue beforehand with the referee.
“It sucks looking back on it. I’ve watched that fight multiple times, and it pisses me off every time. I mean, that definitely would have changed at least the first round… We’re definitely going to be talking to the refs beforehand this time, and I’m really going to be working on getting takedowns out in the open. A lot of those guys out there, you take them down against the cage, and they’re grabbing it every time. It’s definitely something we’re going to be focusing on.”
