UFC 179 results: Jose Aldo blames loud Brazilian crowd for first round post-horn knockout punch on Chad Mendes

As the first round of the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes featherweight championship fight was drawing to a close last night (Sat., Oct. 25, 2014) at UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the champion unleashed a series of punches at the challenger. Many of them hit with deadly accuracy, including two that appeared to come after the horn had sounded to signal the end of the round.

The second nearly knocked Mendes out cold.

Despite what appeared to be an obvious infraction, one worthy of a point deduction at the least, a disqualification at most, the referee for the bout, Marc Goddard, did nothing. Mendes was whisked to his corner to recover as quickly as possible, and Aldo got off scot-free.

The reason?

It was too loud inside the arena. That's what both Aldo and Goddard are claiming, at least, as both remarked after the event that they couldn't hear the horn sound to signal the end of the round.

Goddard tweeted the following in response to criticism that he failed to properly officiate the bout:

At times tonight, I could not even hear ten second warnings. I could not even hear the bell. I had to watch the clock & the fighters.

— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) October 26, 2014

Apparently that makes me the worst in the world. Never mind the other 25 mins I done... It's all about the 2 seconds I could not even hear!

— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) October 26, 2014

It would be unfair to dismiss these claims as baseless because, well, Aldo was unleashing a flurry of punches and his home country responded with a thunderous roar of approval. It was incredibly loud on television; one can only imagine how loud it must have been inside the cage itself.

Still, there was quite clearly an infraction and while it did not appear to significantly affect the ultimately outcome of the fight, it absolutely played a part. That's unfortunate for such a thrilling, back-and-forth encounter.

Perhaps they'll get the chance to dance once more and it won't be marred by yet another missed call.