Aldo celebrates his new featherweight belt defense while Mendes is consoled by his team. Photo: Inovafoto
Nova União academy leader and head coach of José Aldo, Dedé Pederneiras, was very pleased with his fighter's performance in the main attraction of UFC Rio 5, last Saturday (25), when he defended the Ultimate featherweight belt against Chad Mendes.
More than happy with Aldo's performance, Pederneiras also did not spare praise for the fight as a whole, which is considered one of the candidates for “Fight of the Year” in 2014. “I give it [grade] 11. The fight was really very good . Aldo had several chances to end the fight, but it didn't happen. Credit for the Chad Mendes, which went well from start to finish. The combat was active for 25 minutes”, said Pederneiras, in an interview with the website of the “Combate” channel.
The coach also made a point of highlighting the mental strength shown by Aldo in the fight, always reacting when Mendes presented dangers. “Aldo has a very good head during the fight. He may be in a very bad situation, but he will respond very well. I think the key was mainly mental, controlling the fight”, he said.
“He knew that, if the fight remained standing, he would have a chance to finish or he would be better than Chad. Chad really impressed us for having been changing all that time. We expected more takedowns from him. When he took it down, it was a surprise, because we thought he would want to stay there until the end. But then Aldo caught the time and wasn't taken down once again. Chad entered, Aldo defended and fell on top. Chad's biggest fear was getting tired trying to take it down, but he held on until the end and did well. I thought the fight was great for both sides”, continued the coach.
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