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Sportsbook.com was now offering Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendez fight odds for the upcoming UFC 142 fight. Get up to $250 in FREE CASH here.
Jose Aldo (20-1-0) vs. Chad Mendes (11-0-0)
Sportsbook.com Line: Aldo -260, Mendes +200
Headlining Saturday’s UFC 142 card in Rio De Janeiro is the featherweight championship featuring undefeated American Chad Mendes challenging Jose Aldo for the title.
Aldo first won the WEC featherweight crown with a TKO of Mike Brown, and since then has defended the featherweight title four times, including when the WEC belt was promoted to the UFC level. As a part of UFC, he defended it successfully twice against elite featherweights, winning via decision over Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian in the past nine months. Like Aldo, the undefeated Mendes moved from WEC to UFC and has handled the transition seamlessly, with two wins in 2011. Although Mendes is undefeated in his career, he matches up poorly against the reigning champion. The bread and butter of Mendes’ attacking style is takedowns, which Aldo has proven to be masterful at defending against, avoiding 94% of total takedowns in his career.
Aldo (20-1-0) has won 13 fights in a row, with his only career loss coming in an uncharacteristic lightweight fight in 2005. Aldo has an elite ground game that guides his attacking style, which is based in Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. 73% of his attacking skills come as strikes, with takedowns and submissions only comprising a small part of his game. Twelve of his 20 wins have come via knockout, although he won his past two by outlasting his opponents for wins by unanimous decision. While Mendes avoids 74% of incoming strikes, that will not be enough to overcome the champion in this fight.
Mendes (11-0-0) is undefeated in his career, but has not fought the same class of opponents as Aldo, who has fought the best of the best recently in Hominick and Florian. The tough part for Mendes in this bout is that his takedown-centric attack style (73%) should be neutralized by Aldo’s expert takedown defense (94%). Although Mendes is quick and one of the best wrestlers in the featherweight class, he should have trouble employing those tactics against Aldo in this fight.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
