UFC Undisputed 3 Predicts Jose Aldo over Chad Mendes at UFC 142

UFC 142 is this weekend, and many fans are arguing over who will win between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. Luckily, the people behind UFC Undisputed 3 have released another prediction to help settle the argument.

UFC Undisputed 3 ran 25 AI simulated matches and some of the results were quite lopsided.

Surprisingly (to me at least), Mendes won the first round 80 percent of the time. This comes as a surprise as most analysts predict Aldo to come out strong in the opening frame and has shown the tendency to fade in later rounds.

Mendes also had success with his takedowns during the simulation, achieving a takedown on 72 percent of his attempts. If Mark Hominick can manage to wrestle Aldo to the ground, Mendes should have no issues either.

Once on the ground, Aldo attempted 48 submissions throughout the simulations, but only won via submission once. This is one of the question marks in this bout.

Mendes hasn't face a lot of submission attempts in his career but was able to stifle Rani Yahya's BJJ game in their match.

On the feet, Aldo landed approximately 50 percent more strikes than Mendes. That number is likely to be a little higher as Aldo's striking is deadly while Mendes is no doubt a capable standup fighter, but would much rather make this into a wrestling match.

All in all, Aldo won 14 of the 25 simulations.

What does this mean?

It means this fight is likely a lot closer than what some people think it is. Aldo has looked vulnerable in his two UFC appearances and Mendes is no joke at 145 pounds.

Can Aldo stop the furious takedown attempts and keep his belt? Or will Mendes wrestle his way to a victory and take the title from the Brazilian?