What a freaking event! UFC Rio!

[Jacob Allen]

Mendes tried the same slam immediately after Aldo was told to let go of the fence. It was the same grip, same lift, same everything, 2 seconds later. Nothing happened that would lead me to believe the initial slam would have been substantially more effective than that one was.

[Chris Herzog]

Awesome event. Every fight had me jumping to the edge of my chair knocking my wife off my lap.

Was awesome seeing Palhares hugging the knee while transitioning during his leg attack to set up a awesome finish!

[Nat Cummings]

Did anyone else think that Johnson and Vitor were stood up a little faster than usual?

[David Rosado]

Did anyone else think that Johnson and Vitor were stood up a little faster than usual?

I'll hide my bias a bit. The argument could be made both ways. It could be made that it was good reffing. A ref is supposed to stand it up from inactivity. Rumble clearly wanted to replay his Hardy strategy. The ref might've sensed this and said, nah buddy, you're gonna have to fight.

Or it was bad reffing. The energy in that place was bananas. The energy between rumble and Vitor was crazy. With all that going on, the ref might've gotten a little over emotional and overanxious and stood them up prematurely.


Now, with my bias back on, either way, I'm glad it happened how it did. Rumble deserved no favors. I'm glad Vitor beat him.

[Nat Cummings]

I'll hide my bias a bit. The argument could be made both ways. It could be made that it was good reffing. A ref is supposed to stand it up from inactivity. Rumble clearly wanted to replay his Hardy strategy. The ref might've sensed this and said, nah buddy, you're gonna have to fight.

Or it was bad reffing. The energy in that place was bananas. The energy between rumble and Vitor was crazy. With all that going on, the ref might've gotten a little over emotional and overanxious and stood them up prematurely.


Now, with my bias back on, either way, I'm glad it happened how it did. Rumble deserved no favors. I'm glad Vitor beat him.

Yeah im satisfied. I just thought it was an observation worth discussing.

[Craig Feldman]

i was so mad (even though aldo is a beast) mendes could have done better than getting knocked out

[David Stager]

I won't take anything away from Aldo because that knee was a well timed thing of beauty but it might not of happened if he wouldn't of grabbed the fence. Mendes had that takedown secured, I would of really liked to see how Aldo handled being underneath Mendes.

Agreed. And I am sick of MMA reporters glossing over details like this. Nobody wants to mention this foul because it gets in the way of an otherwise awesome story. But the truth is, Mendes did have an answer for Aldo. His wrestling was good enough to take him down.

Would Aldo have won regardless? Sure, why not. But let's not kid ourselves, people are overlooking the foul because they want to remember the fight as perfect: "The champ was untouchable. Drawing on the energy of the hometown crowd, he turned in a flawless performance. And when the fight was over, overwhelmed with emotion, he ran into the stands and embraced his fellow countrymen." Or something like that.

[Doug "Minnesota"]

Mendes tried the same slam immediately after Aldo was told to let go of the fence. It was the same grip, same lift, same everything, 2 seconds later. Nothing happened that would lead me to believe the initial slam would have been substantially more effective than that one was.

What you need to understand is that the first toss, especially this slam Mendes was attempting works best on first attempt. Aldo knew he was going down, so he panicked and did the knee jerk reaction of grabbing the fence. Yes the second attempt failed, Aldo is a good enough fighter to imminently recognize whats happening and change his stance.

[Brent Smith]

Mendes will be back for that belt. Gsp got stopped his first time up for the title. Look at him now. If aldo didn't grab the fence, could it have changed te outcome of at least the first round? Maybe but they're both incredible fighters so really it doesn't matter. I blame Mario for Mendes losing..just because.

[Mike Nall]

There is a very good chance the takedown stopped by holding the fence would of stuck and Aldo would of been held down. The one he stood up from he was dragged down, and the one he grabbed the fence for would of been a slam, likely into side control or maintained the back contol he had. Mendes had him almost parallel to the top of the cage and nearly flattened out when he lifted him up for the takedown, that would of been much harder for him to pop up from.

The thing is, even if the ref deducted a point right away with no warning, you're still left with a KO finish in the 1st round. There was nothing about the grab that warranted a ref breaking the position. You either take a point or give a warning. The ref gave a warning, but either way, that round would play out the same way.

It's almost impossible to not grab the fence that 1st time. It's human instinct and hard to train against. Afterwards Aldo never grabbed the fence again, and he shrugged off all the subsequent takedown attempts and got his finish.

Aldo is amazing and his work with Gray Maynard really showed.