UFC 179: Aldo vs. Mendes 2 took place on October 25, 2014 from the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The main event was a rematch for the UFC Featherweight Championship as the reigning champion José Aldo took on Chad ‘Money’ Mendes.
Check out our biggest winners and losers from UFC 179 below.
Winners:
José Aldo: José Aldo entered UFC 179 as the reigning and defending UFC Featherweight Champion and had not suffered a defeat since November of 2005. Aldo was set to take on the red-hot Chad Mendes in a rematch from close to three years ago. At UFC 179, the Brazilian would successfully defend his championship for a seventh time in what was likely the fight of the year thus far. Mendes gave Aldo his toughest fight by far, but Aldo would not give up. Both men got hurt and dropped in the fight, but it was Aldo who was able to pick up the unanimous decision win in his home country. With his second victory over Chad Mendes, the Nova União product was able to improve his record to 25-1 and is continuing to prove that he is one of the most dominant champions in the history of the sport. Aldo not only proved that he is the best featherweight in the world, but his popularity surely will rise after what was the most exciting fight of his career.
Phil Davis: Phil Davis came into UFC 179 off of a devastating defeat to Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson back in April. Davis was set to take on Glover Teixeira who was also coming off of a defeat to UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. Davis entered the night with a record of 2-0 vs. Brazilians in Brazil. ‘Mr. Wonderful’ would improve that record to 3-0 with an absolutely dominant victory over the former title challenger. Davis was able to bully Teixeira for almost the entirety of the fight. ‘The Brazilian Killer’ picked up the unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 30-27. The Alliance MMA fighter was able to bounce back in impressive fashion and is quickly back into the hunt for a possible title shot.
Neil Magny: Neil Magny entered UFC 179 on a four-fight win streak all of which took place in this calendar year. Magny was set to take on the 23-year-old prospect William ‘Patolino’ Macario. Magny was looking to become only the second person in UFC history to win five fights in one year and that is exactly what he would do. The TUF 16 alum looked very impressive and was able to pick up the TKO victory at 2:40 of Round 3. Leading up to UFC 179 Magny had expressed interest in fighting a sixth time in 2014 and with a fight where he came out rather unscathed, Magny may do just that. Regardless if he is able to get another fight in 2014 or not, Magny is certainly a fighter to look out for in 2015.
Losers:
Glover Teixeira: Glover Teixeira was coming into UFC 179 off of a lopsided loss to the pound for pound king Jon Jones. Teixeira was looking to bounce back with a victory in his home country against Phil Davis, but this would not be the case. Glover dropped another fight in decisive fashion to the American. After winning 20 straight fights, the Brazilian has now lost his last two fights in which both were very lackluster performances in which he was unable to do much offensively. The 34-year-old’s title hopes are certainly looking bleak, but we will see if he can bounce back to his winning ways in his next fight.
Carlos Diego Ferreira: Carlos Diego Ferreira was coming into UFC 179 with a perfect 11-0 record and off back-to-back victories in the UFC that resulted in bonuses. Ferreira looked to be a big prospect in the lightweight division, but the Iranian Beneil Dariush would stop the Brazilian’s hype train. Ferreira looked like a complete different person in the octagon this time around and was unable to produce much offensively. Although he took the fight on short notice, Ferreira put on a performance he surely will not be proud of. The Brazilian prospect suffered the first loss of his career, as Dariush was able to capture the unanimous decision victory.
Scott Jorgensen: Scott Jorgensen came into UFC 179 off of a unanimous decision victory of Danny Martinez back in June. Jorgensen was set to take on Wilson Reis, but it would not be a good week for ‘Young Guns’. Jorgensen started off by missing weight for the first time in his career as he weighed in at 128 pounds, which is two pounds over the flyweight limit. Jorgensen looked solid early, but Reis would hit him with a devastating body kick and would shortly go on to submit him via arm-triangle choke at 3:28 of the first round. This may have very well been the last time that the Boise native has stepped in the octagon. The former WEC bantamweight title challenger is now 2-6 in his last eight fights as well as being 1-3 since his drop to the flyweight division.
