3. Fearlessness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLoTqWlTqdE One of the Aldos biggest advantages over his opponent is his command of the octagon. Similar to Anderson Silva, his presence alone makes his opposition suddenly conservative. Weve seen aggressive strikers like Mark Hominick and Chan Sung Jung become a shell of themselves in the first two to three rounds from fighting Aldo.
When I interviewed Ricardo Lamas last year, he spoke openly about the mystique of Aldo and how fighters are mentally beat before the fight begins with him. Lamas showed a resilient effort against Aldo by taking him down in the fifth round, although he was soundly defeated. Mendes has had experience against Aldo, which is critical when fighting against a world-class fighter. Once you have had some success against a world champion, the fear is all but gone. Chael Sonnen was a heavy underdog against Anderson Silva at UFC 117, yet annihilated him for four and half rounds before being submitted by a triangle choke. We saw in the rematch that Sonnen wasted no time in going for a takedown and successfully getting on top of Silva. That is simply from believing in your ability and being fearless, which Mendes possess in both those attributes. He showed that he had no problem getting inside of Aldo and making it an ugly fight. That fearlessness will be pivotal in trying to end one of the most dominant title reigns in MMA history.