UFC 179 results recap: Jose Aldo vs Chad Mendes fight review and analysis

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight superstars Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes dueled over the position of champion last night (Sat., Oct. 25, 2014) at UFC 179 inside Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Looking to avenge the sole loss of his career, Mendes was super motivated to take out Aldo. Furthermore, Mendes wanted to prove that his stand up and overall mixed martial arts (MMA) game had improved, a belief his opponent did not share.

Aldo, though utterly dominant, has faced criticism recently for his conservative fight style. However, "Scarface" seemed unbothered by these comments and was merely interested in extending his title reign.

Mendes opened the bout by immediately pressuring his the champion and landing a hard leg kick. Moving in and out, the two fighters exchanged at a furious pace. Then, Mendes clipped Aldo with a left hook, dropping him briefly.

For about two minutes, Mendes and Aldo traded, with "Money" getting the better of most exchanges. After an eye poke paused the bout, Mendes got dropped by a wild Aldo punch. After recovering, the round seemed to end.

Then, Aldo dropped him well after the bell.

To start the second, Mendes returned to his movement, which he had abandoned after dropping Aldo. At the kickboxing range, both men actively feinted. On the feet, the two fighters exchanged pretty evenly for much of the round, as Mendes did not attempt any takedowns.

Mendes actually was the more active kicker of the two, as Aldo frequently looked for his jabs and counters.

The third round was a wild battle, as both men hurt each other badly. Mendes found some solid success with the uppercut and hurt Aldo with it, but then Mendes got hurt when he pursued the finish. Near the end of the round, Mendes momentarily hit a takedown. As usual, Aldo scrambled up quickly, but Mendes controlled him from back control and landed some hard knees/foot stomps.

This was one hell of a fighting going into the championship rounds.

Though Aldo scored with some punches, Mendes landed more punches and hard shots. Aldo was clearly tired -- both men were -- but Mendes landed the best strikes with a pair of hard overhands. Additionally, Mendes continued to land kicks, including a couple nice push kicks.

After aggressively exchanging in the opening moments, Mendes landed a nice double leg. About a minute later, Aldo worked up to his feet while Mendes landed some shots. Moments later, Aldo countered a takedown with a brief back take.

When both men moved back to their feet, it was clear they were tired. Still, the fighters traded punches fairly often with both men landing. The fight ended after Aldo attempted a flurry, missing most of his strikes.

A truly fantastic fight, worthy of UFC gold.

In the end, the judges decided that Aldo deserved the victory. Though the third and fifth rounds could have gone either way, Mendes failed to really push late.

Still, controversy follows these two. Mendes landed a pair of eye pokes, while Aldo scorched Mendes with two punches well after the first round expired ... and the referee, to our knowledge, never notified the ringside judges that it should not be scored.

Nonetheless, Aldo fought extremely well. His takedown defense held up and his Muay Thai was quite brutal. Plus, he absorbed some hard shots from a heavy hitter and stayed calm throughout.

For his next fight, Aldo will defend his belt against either Conor McGregor or the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson.

Mendes also put on a hell of a performance. Early on, he made good on his promise to utilize his speed advantage to hurt the champion on the feet. However, after rocking the Brazilian, Mendes went away from his movement and stood flat-footed in front of the champion, which is when he got hurt.

Though it's hard to earn a third shot at the champion, Mendes does have the advantage of putting on a "Fight of the Year" contender. It was a brilliant example of MMA at the highest level.

At UFC 179, Jose Aldo defended his title in an absolute war at the expense of Chad Mendes. How long can the Brazilian hold onto his strap?

For complete UFC 179 "Aldo vs Mendes" results and play-by-play click HERE.