UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has always been pretty even-keeled, never letting emotions affect his fights. But Aldo has made some unusual moves leading up to his defense against Chad Mendes on October 25, leading many to believe "Money" has gotten under the champion's skin.
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Aldo defeated Mendes in 2012 via a vicious first-round knockout with a perfectly timed knee. After Mendes worked his way back into contention, the two were expected to meet at UFC 176 in August, but Aldo had to pull out of the fight with an injury.
Mendes accused the champion of ducking him, which Aldo didn't take too kindly to and they traded barbs in the media. Then, at a media day event in Rio de Janeiro, the oft-stoic Aldo uncharacteristically shoved Mendes during a stare down. Aldo later said he did that to try and draw more interest to their fight, but Mendes doesn't believe him.
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"I think that's bull," he told MMAFighting.com. "[Aldo] lost his temper, he lost his cool and that's never happened before. So he's trying to backtrack and cover that up, like, we were just trying to sell the fight. If that was the case, if you were trying to sell the fight, you wouldn't come out and say that afterwards. That was him backpedaling for sure."
Mendes believes he's winning the psychological battle leading up to their bout at UFC 179.
"For me it's basically me thinking I'm in his head, man," he said. "We've never seen Aldo do this with any opponent. I think he feels threatened in his head, which is right where I want to be. When you get into a stare-off and the guy shoves you or pushes you, it's kind of funny to me. That's our job, and that's what we're supposed to do. If you don't want to be there, don't do the damn stare down. It's just funny to me to see him get frustrated and lose his cool."
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