UFC 179 Results: Winners and Scorecards from Aldo vs. Mendes 2 Fight Card

After a three-week hiatus, the biggest MMA company in the world returned Saturday night with a compelling UFC 179.

The headliner featured a rematch between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. Aldo successfully defended his featherweight title, picking up a unanimous decision victory. Neither fighter controlled the fight for long stretches, with both enjoying fleeting moments of success.

Aldo did just enough to earn the victory. He connected with plenty of high-impact strikes on Mendes, particularly in the third round, and also avoided any dangerous situations in which the fight was close to a stoppage.

With the win, Aldo's record grows to 25-1, while Mendes' record drops to 16-2.

In the co-main event, Glover Teixeira and Phil Davis—both coming off losses—met in a critical battle to stay in the thick of the light heavyweight title picture. This bout also ended in a unanimous decision, with Davis coasting to the easy win. Teixeira never stood much of a chance, digging himself in an early hole and never climbing out.

According to UFC.com, Davis landed nearly 100 more strikes, which about sums up everything you need to know about the fight.

Preliminary Card

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Fox Sports 1 Prelims

Neil Magny def. William Macario, TKO (Round 3, 2:40)

Yan Cabral def. Naoyuki Kotani, submission (Round 2, 3:06)

Wilson Reis def. Scott Jorgensen, submission (Round 1, 3:28)

Andre Fili def. Felipe Arantes, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

UFC Fight Pass Prelims

Gilbert Burns def. Christos Giagos, submission (Round 1, 4:57)

Tony Martin def. Fabricio Camoes, submission (Round 1, 4:16)

Lightweight: Diego Ferreira vs. Beneil Dariush

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In a meeting between two intriguing black-belt prospects, Beneil Dariush defeated home-country favorite Carlos Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Dariush took control of the first round, landing 61 percent of his strikes and going after Ferreira's head and chin early and often. He also scored a crucial takedown in that first round, but it wasn't enough to deter or damage Ferreira.

Dariush gained control early in the second round. He locked up Ferreira near the fence and scored repeated blows to his opponent's gut. Dariush looked like he sapped his opponent's energy somewhat, but Ferreira broke free and took the fight back to the center of the ring. 

Ferreira hardly had time to enjoy the relative safety of the middle portion of the canvas. Dariush got another takedown and forced Ferreira onto his back, doing an excellent job of maintaining leverage and landing strikes to Ferreira's head and body with his right hand.

The third round was more dominance from Dariush. Much of this round was spent on the mat, with Dariush and Ferreira struggling to gain control and worm into an effective submission hold. Dariush wore down Ferreira and gave him no chance to land a significant blow. 

The 25-year-old Iranian lost to Ramsey Nijem back in April, but he has now reeled off two victories in a row and is 3-1 since joining UFC. This victory, which comes in his first appearance at a PPV event, should continue to build his stock.

As for “CDF,” this marks the first loss of his professional career after exploding onto the UFC scene with performance-bonus wins against Nijem and Colton Smith.  Even with this loss, he has shown enough talent to suggest he’ll bounce back.

This is just another reminder of the depth of the lightweight division.

Featherweight: Darren Elkins vs. Lucas Martins

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Badly needing a win after defeats in two of his last three trips to the Octagon, Darren Elkins got just that on Saturday night, taking out rising prospect Lucas Martins via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 30-27).

Elkins was in control throughout much of an exhausting fight. He scored a takedown in the first round, but landed just 38 percent of his strikes. Martins did his best to keep up with his wily opponent and did well to prevent Elkins from landing any truly damaging blows. 

Elkins' fighting style was not a hit with the crowd. He failed to generate much excitement throughout the fight, mostly grappling with his slightly overmatched opponent. The bout definitely didn't win him any new converts, but it was solid enough to ensure victory.

“The Damage” hadn’t lived up to his nickname recently (unless it refers to taking damage rather than doling it out), suffering a first-round knockout against Chad Mendes in 2013 and most recently losing a unanimous decision against Jeremy Stephens. Moreover, his grinding style, which produced just two stoppages (one via injury) in his first 10 UFC fights, wasn’t exactly winning anyone over.

However, this victory gives him some much-needed momentum in the division. One more win, likely against another prospect, and he could get another shot at a top-10 fight.

As for the 25-year-old Martins, it stops a three-fight win streak. The Brazilian should bounce back in exciting fashion.

Light Heavyweight: Hans Stringer vs. Fabio Maldonado

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After a failed venture to the heavyweight division, Fabio Maldonado returned to light heavyweight with a second-round TKO win over Dutch prospect Hans Stringer.

Stringer proved to be the more versatile, agile fighter by scoring two takedowns in the first five minutes. The Dutch destroyer definitely had the advantage, staying on top of Maldonado and forcing him to fight just to avoid any dangerous submissions for nearly the entire round.

Maldonado, perhaps aware of the fans' waning interest after the Elkins fight, came back with a vengeance in the second round. After another Stringer takedown, Maldonado gained the upper hand and scored a TKO via punches with just 55 seconds remaining in the round.

Maldonado’s time at heavyweight lasted a whopping 35 seconds, as he was crushed by Stipe Miocic back in May. He now has four consecutive wins at light heavyweight, though, with this one serving as his first PPV victory in four years.

Ranked No. 15, he’s clearly still capable of making some noise in the back half of the division. The 34-year-old should see a better opponent in his next fight.

Stringer is now 1-1 under the UFC banner.

Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira vs. Phil Davis

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In a battle between two fighters coming off a loss but still vying for a title shot, Phil Davis defeated Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Davis absolutely dominated this fight from start to finish. He landed 109 strikes to Teixeira's 14, but the numbers only tell part of the story.

He utilized his superior quickness and upper-body strength to great effect, constantly grappling with Teixeira and gaining leverage. Davis improved as the fight went on, chasing Teixeira around the ring and racking up nine total takedowns. He failed to get his opponent in a submission hold, but instead spent the majority of his time pounding Teixeira with blows to the head and taking him to the mat.

In what is surely going to be a highly discussed post-fight statement, Davis stated that he would like to fight Anderson Silva in a future match, per the UFC broadcast.

After falling to Anthony Johnson in April, this was a much-needed victory for Davis to remain in the hunt at the top of the division. With Jon Jones scheduled to defend his title against Daniel Cormier in January, and Rashad Evans potentially taking on Alexander Gustafsson later that month, we’ll have to wait for those two results to play out before knowing what comes next.

Still, the 30-year-old has likely earned a shot against the winner of one of those fights.

Teixeira, who lost a title fight against Jones back in April, will take another step back toward the middle of the division.

Featherweight: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes

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With his second win over Chad Mendes during Saturday’s main event, Jose Aldo remains the only featherweight champion in UFC history. Aldo won the incredible five-round fight via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).

Mendes, wearing the blue trunks, scored the first significant blow, a big left hook that sent Aldo crashing to the canvas.

To his credit, the champion came right back and scored several stinging blows. The official broke up the fighters for a brief period of time to check on the status of Aldo's left eye—following a poke—and eventually deemed him okay to continue the fight. 

It's a good thing he did, because Aldo sprang forward like a coiled cobra. After Mendes brought Aldo crashing to the ground, Aldo got up and landed a huge left-handed blow to Mendes' chin that sent him sprawling to the mat. Aldo pounced and landed several strong blows to the head before Mendes could extricate himself from the situation. The pace and violence of the match was stunning to behold.

Aldo came close to losing a point at the end of the round when he rocked Mendes with two late blows, but the referee refrained from altering the score.

Mendes bounced around the ring in the second round, forcing Aldo to wait to line up his blows. Mendes embarrassed himself somewhat, whiffing on a kick to the head and falling flat on his butt, drawing a huge, unsympathetic roar from the crowd. 

The third round continued right where the second left off, with both fighters striking from distance and waiting for the right opportunity. Things got crazy with two minutes left in the round. Aldo stunned Mendes with a hook the side of the head, then Mendes came right back and rocked Aldo with a furious uppercut.

Unfazed, the champion landed an uppercut counter and then knocked Mendes backward, chasing him down across the ring and just missing on landing a crushing blow with his knee. The spectacular round finished in a standing clinch up against the chain links.

Mendes, despite his face looking like raw steak, grew into the fight and did well to dodge Aldo's quick hands in the fourth and land several nice blows of his own. The changing tide of the fight set up a compelling fifth and final round. 

Mendes came out and scored a big takedown early in the fifth, but Aldo did well to avoid a great deal of damage. The two fighters went toe-to-toe to close out the fight, with both trying to land powerful blows and gain the upper hand late in the match. Aldo was clearly exhausted and could hardly see out of his souffle of a left eye. He stayed strong and did just enough to hold off a late flurry from Mendes.

Aldo has successfully defended his title seven consecutive times since being promoted from World Extreme Cagefighting. It’s also the third time he has done it in front of his home country.

Aldo, who is No. 2 behind Jon Jones in UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, has beaten the top four contenders in the featherweight division. As such, everyone will be itching to see his next defense come against the electrifying Conor McGregor, whose meteoric rise has turned him into one of the most captivating individuals in the sport.