UFC
UFC 179: Chad Mendes says Jose Aldo's been a "hermit crab" in Brazil, isn't carrying his weight in fight's promotion
Oct 16, 2014 - 10:50:35 PM UFC 179: Chad Mendes says Jose Aldo's been a "hermit crab" in Brazil, isn't carrying his weight in fight's promotion

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"He doesn't do enough to carry his weight as far as media goes. He never does and he never has. He's a prime example: You hear all the promo stuff and I don't hear him speaking, not one time. I'm here talking, I'm selling the fight, and I'm pushing for it. There's nothing about Aldo. He's got to do something. I can't carry this whole fight on my back. I need some help selling the damn thing. I want to punch you in the face. Do you want to punch me in the face? Tell us what you want to do. That's him being a hermit crab in Brazil... That's your role as the champion – you've got to sell fights. You've got to talk about it. You can't just keep to yourself and be a little hermit and stay in Brazil. You've got to talk about it and put yourself out there and let people know about it. That's what makes it entertaining."

-In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Chad Mendes rips into his UFC 179 opponent, UFC Champ Jose Aldo, for not doing his part in selling their fight into next week's pay-per-view card.

Penick's Analysis: It's actually a fair criticism, and given the way Aldo has failed to capture a wider UFC audience on pay-per-view, that could be one factor keeping some from getting interested in him. Unfortunately, despite Aldo being one of the longest reigning Champs with a long history of excellent performances under his belt, he just hasn't gotten people to see him as a "must-watch" commodity. A lack of awareness due to a lack of media could be a part of that, certainly, though he still gets featured fairly consistently. Regardless, Mendes believes he'll beat Aldo, and he wants to be more accessible as a Champion from there. If he pulls it off, we could very well see a ton of talking done between him and Conor McGregor into a fight next year.