Jose Aldo riled up for once going into Chad Mendes rematch at UFC 179

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Laughter is the universal language.

Jose Aldo was on the other end of the phone last week in Rio de Janeiro speaking in his native Portuguese with an interpreter turning the UFC featherweight champion’s words into English.

A single chuckle when asked about an incident where he shoved Chad Mendes at a media event this summer, however, needed no translation to explain Aldo’s feelings on his emergent rival.

“A lot of people were thinking this fight wasn’t a sellable fight because I’ve already beaten him once,” Aldo followed through the translator. “I’ve already knocked him out, so that was to prove them wrong, to spice it up.”

Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) looks to maintain his status as the only fighter to ever hold the UFC belt at 145 pounds Saturday in the main event of UFC 179 in Rio against Mendes (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC).

Fans wouldn’t dare slander Aldo’s impeccable fighting record, which includes a first-round knockout of Mendes via flying knee nearly three years ago at UFC 142. The only knock on Aldo during his reign as the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world has been his relatability.

He hasn’t turned into the star his talent justifies because of a perceived lack of personality. Aldo hardly ever speaks anything but stock sayings, and had been without a fighter to draw him into a pre-bout grudge.

That all changed over the summer when an announced rematch with Mendes, which was later canceled and rescheduled to this weekend, started to bring out some passion.

“He’s talked a lot of (expletive),” Mendes said on the first episode of UFC 179 Embedded. “We’ve never seen him do that before against any opponent. It’s good to know that it’s bothering him. This is real. I’m going to get in there and whoop his (expletive) in his backyard.”

Mendes thinks the new disposition will work to his advantage by getting Aldo to fight emotionally, but the champion’s team is just as certain that the rage is to their benefit. The conflict has inspired Aldo to work harder than ever, according to his coaches.

Aldo admitted his drive had increased but said Mendes and the next top contender Conor McGregor, who has spoken less than flattering words about the champion, had nothing to do with the motivation.

“There’s a lot more love for the sport than there ever was before,” Aldo said. “I have a lot of goals, a lot of records I want to break and I know I’m just getting started. Any record that I can break, and I say this respectfully and not to discriminate against anyone, I’m going to go out there and break it.”

There wasn’t as much heat surrounding the first time Aldo and Mendes met in the octagon — at least on the surface.

“The rivalry was always there,” Aldo assured. “People might not remember from the last time but it was there. It happens because we’re from two great teams.”

Aldo’s Nova Uniao fight team routed Mendes’ Team Alpha Male for years. Before the champion ever knocked out Mendes, he resigned Team Alpha Male patriarch Urijah Faber to a similar fate with a unanimous-decision victory in the WEC that sent “The California Kid” to the hospital after landing an excess of leg kicks.

There was no controversy in the Faber fight. Mendes always campaigned that he received an unfair shake in their fight when Aldo avoided a takedown against him by grabbing the fence.

The illegal maneuver that went un-penalized is a potential origin of the current feud.

“I don’t think it influenced the fight in any way,” Aldo said of grabbing the fence. “He had my back, and stayed on my back. I eventually got up and won the fight anyway.”

Team Alpha Male finally got its big win against Nova Uniao in May when bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw dismantled longtime champion Renan Barao. Aldo was livid when Team Alpha Male’s Instagram account posted a ribbing of Barao afterwards.

Although Mendes said he had no knowledge of what happened, Aldo started to take aim. He’s cursed, shoved and dismissed Mendes ever since.

“In the first fight, he followed his game plan and I finished him,” Aldo said. “There was not enough time to truly analyze the fight.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.