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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Chad Mendes brought another level out of UFC Champ Jose Aldo on Saturday night, and though it was an admirable effort from the challenger, it still ended with a loss.
However, both fighters garnered considerable respect for the effort they put forth, and UFC President Dana White said afterward that he thought it was the best title fight ever seen in the division.
"That's the best featherweight title fight I've ever seen," White said on the post-show on Fox Sports 1. "It lived up to my expectations. This was a great fight for Jose and Chad was in shape coming in and brought out the best in Jose."
The assumption seems to be that Aldo will fight Conor McGregor next, and White thinks that fight could happen next summer if McGregor gets past Dennis Siver.
"Jose just finished this fight. We could have a fight between those guys in summer," White said. "Jose's pretty banged up and he takes time off after his title fights. McGregor has got to get past Dennis, first."
Penick's Analysis: The fight was fantastic, no question. Mendes made Aldo fight at a much higher pace than he'd had to fight in his last few defenses, and forced the Champ to respond to his offense consistently. Of course, Aldo responded wonderfully, scoring the most strikes he'd ever landed in one of his defenses. It's one of those fights which should firmly establish Aldo along with Jon Jones as the 1a and 1b pound for pound fighters in the world.
[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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