Mendes: Aldo Doesn’t Carry His Weight As Champion
With October 25’s UFC 179 quickly approaching, the war of words between Chad “Money” Mendes and Jose “Scarface” Aldo wages on. Aldo will defend his title against Mendes in the evening’s main event on October 25 2014 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The bout is a rematch of their early 2012 title fight, which saw Aldo knockout Mendes in the last second of the very first round.
As media responsibilities increase for both fighters as the event nears, it appears that “Money” feels he is alone when it comes to promoting the anticipated scrap. The challenger spoke with MMA Junkie regarding the topic:
“He doesn’t do enough to carry his weight as far as media goes. He never does and he never has. He’s a prime example: You hear all the promo stuff and I don’t hear him speaking, not one time. I’m here talking, I’m selling the fight, and I’m pushing for it. There’s nothing about Aldo. He’s got to do something.
I can’t carry this whole fight on my back. I need some help selling the damn thing. I want to punch you in the face. Do you want to punch me in the face? Tell us what you want to do. That’s him being a hermit crab in Brazil.”
This is not the first time Aldo has been criticized for not being a big draw or for his inability to sell a fight. The champion’s unwillingess to speak English may play a role in this, as well as the fact since coming over to the UFC, it seems Aldo has lost his killer instinct to finish fights in the fashion that fans love him for. All these issues aside, Mendes believes “Scarface” could be doing a lot more to promote UFC 179:
“That’s your role as the champion – you’ve got to sell fights.You’ve got to talk about it. You can’t just keep to yourself and be a little hermit and stay in Brazil. You’ve got to talk about it and put yourself out there and let people know about it. That’s what makes it entertaining.”
The Team Alpha Male product went on to criticize the champ, stating that Aldo has become satisfied with his position at the top of the featherweight rankings and that may indicate that he hasn’t evolved much:
“Aldo’s very good at what he does – his jab, his hook, his low kick, his knees. He beats everybody doing that. There’s nobody that’s made him have to change his style. He gets in there and he’s comfortable because every person he’s fought so far hasn’t been able to stop those. He’s comfortable and he gets in there and does what he does best and does enough to win. He gets his check and goes home.
I’m going to be the guy that’s going to get in there and test his heart, test his will and push him into those later rounds and really test his skills levels. It take a guy like me to take him out of his comfort zone and do something different.”
If Mendes can indeed do what he says he will, it could be a true test for the champion. On the contrary, it could be a chance for Aldo to prove to critics that he is as dominant as he seems and is a true champion.
Although Aldo will most likely be favored due to his lengthy reign as champ and the fact that he won the first time, Mendes thinks he has the advantage:
“I lost the first time, so I feel like I have more ability to change in the rematch. I feel like it’s harder to beat the same guy twice. You get in there and you face a guy and you get to feel their power, their strength and their weaknesses.
Retraining for the same guy you can schedule it around that stuff and change the game plan for certain things. Obviously I lost the first time, so I feel like there’s a lot more weight on his shoulders for the rematch.”
It looks as if the animosity and trash talk will continue until these two combatants step into the octagon and the cage door closes at UFC 179. Will Aldo be able to keep his winning streak alive and prove he is the best at 145 pounds, or does Mendes really have what it takes to dethrone the king?
