Mike Thomas Brown vs. Jose Aldo

Odds: ( Brown / Aldo)

The main event of the evening is a Featherweight Title showdown between champion Mike Thomas Brown and top contender Jose Aldo.  Brown, a perennial underdog it seems despite his unbelievable accomplishments, has continually defied expectations and handled all comers, including former champ Urijah Faber twice.  Aldo, though, is probably his most dynamic and well-rounded opponent to date, so if Brown wants to keep his Featherweight crown he is going to have his hands full.

Aldo, who fights out of Brazil’s Nova Uniao camp and is currently riding an impressive eight fight win streak, has been a complete wrecking machine thus far in his WEC tenure.  In his last three fights, Aldo has destroyed three quality opponents, including Cub Swanson, with strikes inside the first round.  Despite the fact that he has only two wins by submissions, and that his one loss came to a rear naked choke, Aldo’s ground game is also extremely potent.  He tends to use his grappling “in reverse” though, to keep himself out of trouble so that he can deal out damage on the feet.  What makes Aldo’s standup is so potent are not just his speed and power, but his explosiveness and his ability to unleash a barrage of strikes with all four limbs coming from a variety of angles.

Mike Thomas Brown, the Featherweight champion and consensus world #1 Featherweight, knows a thing or two about explosiveness, power, and well-roundedness himself.  Brown’s ground game is unmatched in WEC’s Featherweight division, with a remarkable 12 of his 22 wins coming by submission, including against top competitors such as Leonard Garcia and Manny Reyes Jr.  Against then-champion Urijah Faber, Brown proved that he also packs quite a wallop in his hands, laying out the champion with a huge power punch.  In the rematch, he showed how far his standup has come by out-striking the highly regarded Faber for large stretches of the fight.  Another important asset Brown brings to the ring is his size, which is outrageous for a 145 pound fighter.  Brown is easily the biggest guy in WEC’s Featherweight division, and coupled with his top-level skill set, that is a dangerous combination.

Despite Aldo’s vicious striking assault and dangerous athleticism, I don’t think he will be able to hang with Brown’s strength and technique on the ground.  Brown is good enough to hold his own in the standup, at least for a while, although Aldo has the edge there.  His punching power is serious enough, though, that he can use it to set up takedowns and get Aldo down, which is what he needs to do to win this fight.  On the ground, Aldo is skilled, but Brown is better, and when you give Brown top position and take into account his size and strength advantage, Aldo is going to find himself in over his head on the ground. 

Fight Prediction: Brown by Rear Naked Choke, round 2.

1.  Chris Kirton on November 18th, 2009 9:56 pm

   I have always been impressed with the former champ Mike Brown and the new champ Jose Aldo Jr. I would love to see a rematch as soon as Aldo Jr. defends his belt against Uriaja Faber. What does Mike Brown think of my ideal?