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The FLD Weigh-In: Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo
Written by Joshua Taylor   
Monday, 16 November 2009 13:15
This is a VERY busy MMA period and I think many of us are overlooking a fight with the potential to be an absolute barn-burner, FOTY candidate. This could very well be one of the fights that years down the road we say, "Man I remember watching that live and it was crazy!"

Personally I am super, super excited for this fight. Here is a breakdown of these fighters. I invite you to share your thoughts and anticipations for this bout and also your predictions.





WEC Featherweight Championship Title Bout
Mike Thomas Brown vs Jose Aldo
11/18/2009


Champion: Mike Thomas Brown
Record: 22-4-0
Wins: 4 TKOs, 12 Submissions, 6 Decisions
Losses: 4 Submissions
Team: American Top Team
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 145lbs

Background: Mike Brown entered the WEC as a highly regarded and experienced FW who had fought some of the best fighters all over the world. In his first WEC fight he beat the man who had just fought for the title in Jeff Curran and that win earned him a title shot against Urijah Faber who had long reigned as the best FW in the world. In their bout he TKO'd Faber in under three minutes. He has since beaten top contender Leonard Garcia and Urijah Faber a second time.

Brown trains with perhaps the best MMA fight camp today in American Top Team. With training partners like J.Z. Cavalcante, Jorge Masvidal, Gleison Tibau, Micah Miller, Thiago Tavares, Yves Edwards, and on and on.. every day he is pushed to the limit. He has partners who can test him in wrestling, BJJ, and striking, and that will undoubtedly help him when fight time comes.

J.T's Keys to Victory: Ground and Pound! In order to win this bout, Mike has to use his wrestling advantage to grab hold of Aldo, slam him to the ground, gain position, and land strikes. He has the ability to to end fights using his devastating ground striking, and the more rounds he does this the more tired, frustrated, and desperate Aldo will become which will only make it easier to continue his strategy.


Challenger: Jose Aldo
Record: 15-1-0
Wins: 10 TKOs, 2 Submissions, 3 Decisions
Losses: 1 Submission
Team: Nova Uniao
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145lbs

Background: Jose Aldo has been on an absolute tear lately looking like an unbeatable phenom. His last three wins have all ended in the first round and his past five fights have ended via KO or TKO. Simply put, the man is violent! He is always looking to end the fight via strikes and is always dangerous as he possesses one punch KO power.

Aldo trains with Nova Uniao which is an elite lighter weight camp housing fighters like Wagnney Fabiano, Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro, and Marlon Sandro. With such highly skilled training partners he undoubtedly is tested every day in training which will surely help him in this fight.

J.T's Keys to Victory: The takedown knee. Mike will likely be looking to bring the fight to the ground and one good counter to a double leg attempt is a knee to the face. Aldo has shown KO power with his knees and he is very quick to say the least, so when he sees Brown setting up for a takedown attempt he needs to cock his knee and let it fly.

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My Prediction: To start, I will make it known that I really like both fighters, and although I do have a slightly heavier bias towards Aldo, I will try to remain as objective as possible.

Aldo will very likely look to come out aggressive early and look for the TKO before Mike gets into a rhythm. Brown has shown a willingness to stand and trade even with dangerous strikers like Leonard Garcia, but in this fight I believe he will look for, and take advantage of, any opportunity he has to get the fight to the ground.

Standing, Aldo will have the striking advantage as he is varied and quick in his attacks, although Brown has shown he possesses TKO power with his strikes as well. On the ground, Mike is a brown belt and Aldo is a black-belt in BJJ so I dont see either having a significant advantage in that area. However, Brown was a state champion wrestler in high school and will have an advantage in the wrestling department. Therefore he will want to take the fight to the ground, control Jose, and use his G'n'P to win each round while looking for a TKO.

While all I really want is a competitive, fun, and exciting fight, my money will be on Brown to continually wrestle Jose to the mat, gain position, and rain down punches en route to a Unanimous Decision victory. I believe even if he gets rocked, he has the experience, power, and wrestling to grab Aldo long enough to recover and get himself back on track.

Conclusion: Wow, I cant stinking wait!!! You?