There are moments in mixed martial arts history that remain etched into the hearts and minds of mixed martial arts fans – Hardcore followers vividly remember Kazushi Sakuraba snapping the arm of Renzo Gracie or Wanderlei Silva brutalizing “Rampage” Jackson with his thai-clinch.
Tonight Jose Aldo gave us another moment we won’t soon forget – Defending his title for the first time on Brazilian soils the Nova Unao product faced arguably his toughest challenge to date in the All-American wrestler Chad Mendes.
Mendes realized early that he wasn’t easily going to get the champion off his feet, Aldo stuffed his takedowns and punished his legs with kicks similarly to how he chopped the legs of Mendes’ mentor and training partner Urijah Faber.
In the dying seconds on the round the challenger got the closest to taking him off his feet relentlessly looking to slam the Brazilian to the mat but Aldo was able to escape and smash the face of the Alpha Male protégé, a few quick shots to the downed American later senior referee Mario Yamasaki quickly stepped in to stop the action.
Aldo wasted no time looking to celebrate sprinting out of the cage and jumping into a sea of his supporters in a feel-good moment to close the nights proceedings and retain his 145-pound championship.
Here are what the champion and challenger had to say post-fight;
JOSE ALDO:
“This is the spirit I wanted to come out with tonight. The fans here gave me so much energy. We knew Chad was going to try to take me off my feet. We prepared for that and I had a chance to land the knee. It connected and I finished the fight. I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to celebrate with my people.”
CHAD MENDES:
“Jose is a great champion and he was the better man tonight. He showed why he’s one of the best fighters in the world. I knew it would be hard to take him down, but I kept trying. I tried to keep the pressure, but he is just so tough and his takedown defense is great. I wanted the title so bad.”
