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| Jose Aldo celebrating a win in the crowd of Brazilian fans. |
Let me first tell you about what Aldo does right, everything. The most important aspect of mixed martial arts would have to be wrestling. Aldo not only has one of the best takedown defenses in UFC history (92%), but he often takes down top guys as well. So how about his striking? Also according to the UFC website, he has only been hit by 26% of the strikes his opponents throw at him. And when he does get him, he has the chin to eat it. He has never been knocked down or in any danger in any of his fights in the UFC or WEC. How is his submission game? Well when he entered the WEC he was supposed to take guys down and submit them, being a top level black belt in BJJ. However he would rather just knock people out with flying knees. And whenever the fight is standing, your legs are being battered by his nasty leg kicks. I would rather let Miguel Cabrera take a baseball bat and hit me in the thigh than have Jose Aldo kick my leg. Only 7 of his 23 wins have gone to a decision, so he is as good of a finisher as it gets at 145 pounds. Aldo really is the complete package when it comes to mastering every aspect of MMA. The lone criticism of Jose Aldo is his cardio problems, but he has addressed that. He used to have a tough time making weight and would be too drawn out, but he lost some body mass and has made his weight cut much easier. He no longer has a cardio problem, and can go 5 rounds easily.
Ok so obviously he has the full MMA game down, but who has he beat? Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and the Korean Zombie is quite the list of tough dudes, all of which Aldo has defeated. Faber is one of the best of all time, Edgar is a former champ, and many other people on that list are top end fighters. If Aldo is able to defeat Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 in impressive fashion, it will be hard to argue he isn't the best pound for pound guy on the planet.
So let's take a look at the other guys on the pound for pound list:
- Jon Jones-While many people say he became the top fighter on the planet when Anderson Silva lost, I disagree. The light heavyweight division is not what it once was. Vitor Belfort may be a pound for pound top 10 guy, but Jones barely survived an armbar attempt in that fight which saw his belt nearly vanquished. Oh and this Alexander Gustafsson guy really put the beating on Jones in his last fight. It was Gustafsson's fight for the taking until a 4th round spinning back elbow rocked Alex and saved Jones from losing a 3rd round in that close 5 round title fight. When you are barely squeaking through the competition it shows courage, it shows heart, but it does not show the dominance required to be the top of the pound for pound list. you are #2 in my eyes my good sir.
- Anderson Silva- Prior to UFC 162, Anderson was the #1 guy, but he lost. The best fighter on the planet does not lose. Anderson has always been the best, but he got knocked out. He can overtake Jones again if he redeems himself against Weidman, but until Aldo loses he is not the best in the world.
- GSP- I had GSP at #2 prior to me thinking GSP should have lost his belt at UFC 167. Again, a sign of weakness. Even if GSP did deserve to win that fight with Hendricks, he got his ass kicked. Aldo has never taken a beating like GSP did at 167 or gotten rocked like GSP did against Carlos Condit at UFC 154. GSP's days on this list may be numbered, so be happy he is still #4 Canadian fans.
- Chris Weidman-Right now he is a relatively unknown. Many people know he beat Silva, but don't know much else about him. There is basically a guy few have seen fight on top of the most talent rich division in the UFC. If Weidman beats Anderson again, he probably jumps to #2 pound for pound. If he beats Vitor, Machida, Jacare, Mousasi, and other title contenders at middleweight and defends his belt a bunch of times then he will jump to #1. However, he is currently lucky to be ranked 5th and only time will tell if this kid is the real deal or just a guy who landed the luckiest punch in UFC history.
- Renan Barao- Jose Aldo's training partner is the current bantamweight interim champ also fighting at UFC 169. If he unifies the belt and defeats Dominic Cruz it will be hard to argue he isn't a top 5 guy himself. He is also arguably the closest thing to Aldo when it comes to a long unbeaten streak, but his list of victims is not the deadliest. Yes I know McDonald, Faber, Pickett, Jorgensen, and Wineland are good, but they aren't unbeatable. Barao is young and should continue climbing the ladder towards pound for pound glory.
- Cain Velasquez-Cain has made 1 mistake his entire career. He was caught with 1 punch by Junior dos Santos that saw him lose his title only to come back better than ever. He is looking unbeatable at heavyweight following the trilogy win with JDS. Jones says he is coming to heavyweight to take Cain's belt soon, and Werdum, Barnett, Browne, and Hunt are in the mix too. He is good. But the heavyweight division relies too much on luck since 1 punch can end a fight. This has never been the most talented division and I don't think it ever will. While I would never put money against Cain, I assume he will get caught sometime soon. He has been beaten and has been in danger many times. Those are two things Aldo just doesn't do.
- Anthony Pettis- I saved Showtime for last to make a point. He is the current lightweight champion who is on the shelf due to injury. He pulled out of a fight with Jose Aldo because of an injury. He is still talking about making the cut to featherweight to win a 2nd title. Aldo has made hints that he plans on going to lightweight eventually as well. I believe these two will cross paths and I think it will be that fight that proves once and for all that Aldo is the king of the Octagon. I think Aldo would destroy Pettis with leg kicks and knock him out within the first 3 rounds. I think other top lightweights like Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thompson, and TJ Grant would all be demolished by Aldo. I think 90% of the welterweight division would lose to Aldo to be honest. Pettis is good, but he will be humbled by Aldo in the next year or two.
If you think I am wrong about Jose Aldo being better than every single fighter on the planet, leave a comment. Good luck proving me wrong though, Aldo is the pound for pound king and will be for a long time. When Lamas, Swanson, Mendes, Pettis, and other top guys are next on his list, my argument will only strengthen.
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Oh and if you want some footage of Aldo's brilliance, click some links below:
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