First and Worst: Week of April 28 – May 4, 2014

By Adam Martin

First and Worst is an ongoing series for MMARatings.net, where every week Adam will make his pick for the best and worst newly-announced fight of the past week (Monday to Sunday). If you’d like to see any additions to this series, hit him up on Twitter @MMAdamMartin.

First: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2, UFC 176

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming UFC featherweight title fight between champion Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes, which takes place this August and which headlines UFC 176. It’s a rematch of the pair’s first bout at UFC 142 which Aldo won via knockout, but after lighting up every featherweight contender in his way since then, Mendes earned another crack at the champ, and this fight should be fantastic when it goes down.

The interesting part about this fight for me is that when these two men the first time in January 2012, Aldo was considered the most dangerous striker in the division, and Mendes was basically considered just a wrestler. However, since the pair first met, Mendes’ striking has gone to another level, as he’s scored four knockouts in his five wins since the Aldo loss, while Aldo only has one knockout win in his three victories, and that was a TKO via injury.

I’m not saying that Mendes is a better striker than Aldo, because that would be crazy. But what I am saying is that Mendes’ striking has improved leaps and bounds, and with the added threat of knockout power in his fists to go along with his amazing wrestling, it really makes this fight against Aldo a lot more interesting than the first one.

There’s no doubt that Mendes earned another crack at the title with five straight wins, but Aldo can shut up all the doubters who say he only won the pair’s first bout because of a blatant cage grab with another knockout win at UFC 176 this summer. And I can’t wait to see what happens.

UFC 176

• Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes (UFC Featherweight Championship)

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Nikita Krylov vs. Cody Donovan, UFC Dublin

My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming light heavyweight bout between Nikita Krylov and Cody Donovan, which takes place this July at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin. This matchup essentially pits the two lowest-ranked light heavyweight fighters in the UFC against one another, and for that reason alone I have to rate it as the worst new fight.

Both men are 1-2 overall in the Octagon, with Krylov having lost via stoppage to Soa Palelei and Ovince St-Preux on either side of his win over Walt Harris, and Donovan defeating Nick Penner, but then getting stopped by St-Preux and Gian Villante. In other words, both men have only one win in the UFC each, and neither is against a current UFC fighter. And the fighters they have lost to (except for OSP) are ranked in the bottom tier of the UFC roster.

Although both fighters have shown some decent standup skills in their fights, it’s clear that neither fighter has very good cardio, and neither fighter has a good chin, especially Donovan who has been brutally knocked out twice now in the Octagon. I understand from a matchmaking perspective this bout makes sense, but from a realistic point of view, neither of these fighters should be in the UFC based on the skills we have seen from them.

I am expecting a knockout in this fight either way, but just because there’s likely to be a stoppage doesn’t mean this is automatically a good fight for the fans. Although both these fighters have worked hard to make it to the big show, it seems pretty obvious neither is a UFC-caliber fighter, and the loser of this bout is almost guaranteed to be sent packing. And I wouldn’t be shocked if the winner isn’t far behind.

UFC Fight Night 46