WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is the epitome of an MMA wrecking machine. On his feet, Aldo has the ability to demolish any foe with a ruthless arsenal of Muay Thai striking and pure knockout power.
The Nova Uniao BJJ black belt is also a lethal weapon on the ground, but we rarely see his jiu-jitsu prowess due to his impeccable takedown defense.
Aldo is unbeaten in the WEC with eight consecutive victories including seven stoppages. At WEC 51, Aldo once again proved his dominance with a second-round stoppage over Manny Gamburyan.
Some say Aldo is destined to reign over the featherweight division for a long time. Let’s take a look at the top 6 contenders in the WEC’s featherweight division (excluding Gamburyan) and analyze their chances of dethroning the Brazilian champion.
At the young age of 21, Grispi has already established himself as one of the featherweight division’s elite. He’s dangerous in all areas of the game and seems to improve dramatically with each fight.
Against Aldo, Grispi would have to employ a similar gameplan that Frankie Edgar used to defeat B.J Penn. He would have to stick and move, keep Aldo guessing and constantly put pressure on the Brazilian. The problem is, Aldo is much quicker on his feet than Penn is and Grispi doesn’t have the wrestling to bring Aldo to the mat at will either. Grispi might actually be favored to win this fight in a few years, but not now.
Chance of beating Aldo: 45%
This would be a fight where we would actually see Aldo’s ground game at work for a change. Mendes may just have the most dominant wrestling base in the featherweight division. Call him one-dimensional, but he’s extraordinarily great at that one dimension, and he’s still young in the sport. His other skills are developing quickly and he’s shown good finishing power.
Aldo successfully defended Mike Brown’s takedowns, but Mendes is a different beast. But Aldo is a nightmare on the ground and should be able to either submit Mendes or find a way to scramble back to his feet. But sometimes dominant wrestling is all you need to grind out a win over a seemingly unbeatable opponent.
Chance of beating Aldo: 40%
Aldo easily defeated Brown to win the featherweight title in a one-sided affair back in November of 2009. It’s difficult to imagine the former champion doing any better in a rematch with Aldo but there are a couple of factors that should be taken into consideration.
First of all, this is MMA and every fight is different regardless of previous outcomes. Now that Brown has dealt with Aldo’s unbelievable standup prowess firsthand he may come out better prepared for it in a rematch. This is such an unpredictable sport and Brown is intelligent enough to where he can make adjustments here and there to improve his performance coming off of a loss.
Chance of beating Aldo: 35%
Quite possibly the WEC’s most underrated featherweight, Nunes solidified himself as a top contender with a split decision victory over Raphael Assuncao at WEC 49 and a decision over Tyler Toner at WEC 51.
A kickboxer and BJJ black belt, a majority of Nunes victories have come by way of submission. A decision loss to L.C Davis proved that Nunes can be controlled by an overwhelming wrestler, which Aldo is not.
But Aldo does everything Nunes does, and he does it better. Even on the ground, Nunes won’t have much to offer against the pound-for-pound featherweight kingpin. Nunes and Aldo are also teammates and may never choose to fight each other.
Chance of beating Aldo: 25%
In terms of pure striking ability, Hominick may just be the only featherweight in the WEC that could hold his own with Aldo on the feet. The Shawn Tompkins-trained fighter has effectively utilized standup precision in his recent wins over Leonard Garcia and Yves Jabouin. He isn’t necessarily a knockout artist but his technique is excellent and he picks his shots very well.
Hominick could frustrate Aldo on the feet briefly but the Canadian really doesn’t pose much of a threat. Once Aldo finds his range, he would light Hominick up with vicious Muay Thai leg kicks and explosive punches.
Chance of beating Aldo: 25%
Don’t let his WEC record fool you: at 145 pounds, Roop is a very dangerous man with both a long reach and knockout power. Technically he should be 2-1 considering he was winning his fight with Leonard Garcia at WEC 47 before a point deduction resulted in a draw.
Roop is coming off a violent head kick knockout victory over Chan Sung Jung which may have propelled the Arizona native into contender status. He could be just a few wins away from squaring off with Aldo for the championship. Roop could certainly pose problems with his reach but Aldo is a far superior striker and it would only be a matter of time before Roop became just another highlight reel victim on Aldo’s resume.
Chance of beating Aldo: 20%