UFC 179 Results: Fights for Jose Aldo to Take Next

As if anyone needed further validation of Jose Aldo's greatness, the champ put on a display at UFC 179 that reminded fans of his former WEC days.

Aldo's fight with Chad Mendes started nearly the same as the T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao bout earlier this year, with the Team Alpha Male fighter dropping the champion early. But instead of the knockdown setting the tone for the entire fight, Aldo's championship resolve showed through as the Brazilian scored a knockdown of his own to end the first frame.

In the end, Aldo did enough to defeat Mendes and retain his belt. The champion may have been marked up on his face more than we've seen in quite some time, but Aldo cemented (if it wasn't clear before the fight) that he's the best featherweight of all time.

The fight with Mendes was billed as a grudge match between two rival gyms, so there was some emotional investment with both fighters heading into this fight. Given that and Aldo's bruises, it will likely be some time before we see the Brazilian back in the cage.

When Aldo does return, he'll have no shortage of bout agreements to sign.

Conor McGregor

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The obvious choice for Jose Aldo's next title defense hails from Ireland, and in case you didn't know, Conor McGregor is the UFC's No. 1 contender.

I say UFC's No. 1 contender because his resume doesn't exactly scream title shot. Still, he has done everything that's been asked of him since joining the UFC and continues to be one of the biggest stars in the company despite not being a champion.

An Aldo vs. McGregor fight would easily be the biggest (in terms of pay-per-view buys) featherweight title fight in UFC history. McGregor had already familiarized himself with the Brazilian fanbase prior to UFC 179 and could very well give the UFC its first opportunity to host an event at one of Brazil's stadiums.

McGregor's striking is his strong, suit which feeds into Aldo's biggest strength. I wouldn't take McGregor over Aldo in a striking matchup, but there's no question the Irishman could hang with the champion.

But, that's assuming Aldo wants to keep it standing. We saw him use his grappling against Chan Sung Jung in a fight that many expected to exclusively feature striking exchanges. Aldo may choose to emulate that strategy once more given that we've seen very little of McGregor's grappling ability during his UFC tenure.

Cub Swanson or Frankie Edgar

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Although Conor McGregor is the UFC's top pick for Aldo's next opponent, the winner of the upcoming Cub Swanson vs. Frankie Edgar fight should be the one standing opposite the champ in the Octagon.

Swanson entered a strange spot in his career during the initial merger between the UFC and WEC. He lost in his UFC debut to Ricardo Lamas, which was followed by a long layoff and put Swanson at 2-3 in his last five fights.

However, since the loss to Lamas, Swanson has been on an absolute tear by winning six in a row. He continues to look like a different fighter from his WEC days and would undoubtedly love another crack at avenging his 2009 loss to Aldo.

Looking to derail Swanson's run of success is Edgar, the former UFC lightweight champion. Edgar also has a loss to Aldo, but their fight was far more competitive than Swanson's loss to the featherweight champ. Edgar's recent record doesn't look impressive (he's just 2-3 in his last five), but two of those losses were razor-close decisions.

Outside of the losses, Edgar has looked the part of a top contender by taking out Charles Oliveira and BJ Penn. Edgar needs a strong showing against Swanson to validate himself as a top contender, but given the UFC's positive relationship with Edgar and his knack for putting on exciting performances, chances are the company won't have any issues with pushing Edgar into a future title fight.

Dennis Bermudez

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Dennis Bermudez is on quite a roll lately and without a doubt has an argument as to why he should be the one facing Aldo for UFC gold.

Bermudez ended up on the losing end of The Ultimate Fighter finals matchup with Diego Brandao but has won every fight since. Included in those wins was a Fight of the Year candidate against Matt Grice and a huge victory over Clay Guida in his last outing.

Although Bermudez is on a roll, the UFC hasn't done a lot to promote him as a worthy title challenger. Outside of his fight with Guida, many of Bermudez's fights weren't in high-profile situations.

If the UFC was still all about sports, then Bermudez would be in line for a title shot given his winning streak, but he will need to get on a keyboard to start promoting himself if the promotion isn't going to do it for him.

Ahead of Bermudez is a showdown with former title challenger Ricardo Lamas. If Bermudez can get past Lamas, he'll have two victories over well-known names. Hopefully, he'll take full advantage of his post-fight speech to get some press to match his winning ways.

Anthony Pettis

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If Jose Aldo is as unhappy with his current pay as he says he is, he doesn't have to look any further than a potential superfight with current UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

This fight was originally scheduled for UFC 163 of last year, but an injury to Pettis forced him off the card. The two camps exchanged words, but eventually Aldo's camp issued an apology. But as anyone who has been around fighters will tell you, rarely do words get exchanged and then simply become water under the bridge.

Aldo and Pettis are among the sport's two best strikers, and it's hard to think of a way that this fight would be boring to watch. Pettis is not only effective with his striking, but he's shown to be creative as well. Aldo's head movement is great, and his boxing is crisp even without his dreaded leg kicks.

We saw that Pettis is no slouch on the ground against Benson Henderson, and Aldo has a pretty solid ground game as well. This fight represents a true superfight for the UFC given that both men are still in the prime of their careers and have UFC gold around their waist.

Note: This fight is dependent on Pettis defeating Gilbert Melendez. There's still intrigue in an Aldo vs. Pettis fight if Pettis isn't the champion, but there's no need for the bout to happen if both men aren't champions in their division.