The UFC 176 event scheduled for Los Angeles on August 2nd will be headlined by a re-match betqween UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. Look for Aldo to come in favored for the bout, as he was able to secure a first round KO over Mendes their first outing, and he has been solid and nearly untouchable in his title defenses since. For his part, Mendes has been running people over looking to get another crack at the UFC gold.
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The line for the first fight came in with Mendes a roughly 2 to 1 underdog, and the line should open about the same for this re-match. Mendes has clearly established himself as the #1 contender with 5 straight wins that include 4 stoppages since succumbing to Aldo in the first round of their first bout. Aldo has gone 3-0 in that time period, and because title fights are five rounds he has actually spent more time in the octagon than Mendes.
Mendes is going to be carrying a lot of pressure into the re-match. He himself is on the record stating that he is not used to losing going back to his wrestling days, and that the loss to Aldo has served to motivate him. Obviously, he was a runaway train returning to the octagon after the Aldo fight and it served as a positive motivation.
But it is time to talk about the Team Alpha Male jinx. Mendes is an integral part of the team’s ‘Big Three’, along with Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavides, and all three are treated as elite and champions. All three have titles in other sports, and notably Faber was a WEC champion, but UFC gold has eluded the team. And Benavides and Faber have both gotten second chances (and in Faber’s case, 3rd, 4th and 5th chances) and failed worse than the first time.
And really there is no reason to think things have changed and that Mendes will be the first from Alpha Male to carry UFC gold. Aldo is still longer, leaner and quicker, and he is still going to have to pay to get inside to strike or get takedowns. Not a good match-up for Mendes.
