With apologies to Conor McGregor, the finely tailored Irishman who has taken the Ultimate Fighting Championship by storm, Saturday night's UFC 179 event proved that the two best featherweights in the world reside Brazil and the United States.
McGregor will have his day in the sun, and I suspect it will come sooner rather than later; I've already stockpiled column ideas for the eventual day when we find out Dennis Siver has suffered a mysterious injury and has been forced out of his January bout with McGregor. Let's not pretend any of us will act surprised by that news.
The UFC finally has a hot 145-pound ticket on their hands, and much of it is due to Aldo's gutty performance against Mendes in the main event of UFC 179.
It was not Aldo's most dominant performance, but it might have been his best. For much of the five rounds, Mendes took everything Aldo could dish out. Where others have wilted under Aldo's enormous power, Mendes smiled, wagged a finger and fired right back. The only real knockdown scored by Aldo over five full rounds came after the bell in the first, when Aldo drilled Mendes with an absolutely blatant cheating punch.
He was not deducted a point. Not that it would have mattered; Aldo won 49-46 on all four scorecards. But this was a much closer fight than the scorecards suggest. I had Aldo winning 48-47 on my card; I saw cards swinging the other way for Mendes, and I can't blame anyone for scoring the fight however they elected to do so.
Mendes, despite being written off as too small and out of Aldo's league, delivered a top performance. He came up short again, but only just. He knocked Aldo flat on his back with a vicious left hook in the first round and continued to stun the champion throughout the fight. Even in a losing effort, Mendes gave the performance of his career.
Which fight would you rather see?
Afterwards, the focus shifted from the Aldo and Mendes bout to both men and their future dances with McGregor, who was sitting cageside. I suspected we'd see McGregor enter the Octagon, though he did not need to. Aldo referenced McGregor as a joker; Mendes was less subtle, saying he really wants to kick McGregor's ass.
There will be another day for McGregor. That is a guarantee. We are all excited about the future of a division that is shaking out with some top players: Cub Swanson, Frankie Edgar, Dennis Bermudez, McGregor, Mendes and Aldo. The future is bright for those at 145 pounds, and 2015 could prove to be very interesting for them.
But right now, we should all reflect on the greatness of a fight that should, barring any kind of craziness in the next two months, be remembered as the best fight of 2014 and one of the best UFC title fights of all time.
And we can look back and realize that, despite the long layoffs, constant injuries and the time away from the spotlight, Aldo is as good as we thought he was. He is one of the best fighters in the world.
And at UFC 179, despite a losing effort, Mendes also earned his seat at that table.
