UFC 129: Mark Hominick would have beat Jose Aldo if there was a sixth round

At least, that's what the Canadian hero says.

Hominick, despite getting his ass handed to him for the better part of four rounds, came storming back in the fifth and final frame, seemingly unaffected by his swollen and battered face, not to mention the nasty hematoma.

This wasn't the case for Jose Aldo, who faded quickly and looked worse and worse as the 25-minute bout went deeper and deeper.

The culprit for his lack of endurance may have been a sickness that he left untreated -- or it could have been the fact that he was up against "The Machine" and no matter what he did, he just couldn't put him away.

And, as Hominick tells the London Free Press, if he could have had just one more round, he thinks he would have taken the Brazilian out.

"I came in a 4-1 underdog. A lot of people didn't think I would last a round. I lasted all five. If there was a sixth round, I would have won. I knew he was running out of steam. I could hear him breathing hard after the first two rounds. I'm fine. The forehead is good. It's really gone down a lot. I was worried the referee would stop the fight. ... The way it works is I'll probably get two more fights and then another title shot. Besides, I don't know if (Aldo) wants another piece of me."

"Machine," indeed.

And as long as the current crop of featherweights are working their way up to a title shot of their own, in a division that isn't exactly the deepest of the seven major weight classes, it's not crazy to think Hominick could very well end up contesting for the title sometime next year.

Would a rematch go differently? Or would a fully healthy Jose Aldo have a different story to tell?

Have at it, Maniacs.