WEC 44 Betting - Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo
by Nick Meyer
He’s not quite as popular as Urijah Faber, but Mike Thomas Brown has still made quite the name for himself as the WEC Featherweight Champion. And there’s no doubt that Brown has something else that fighters seek out just as much as fame and money in most cases: respect.
Brown, the pint-sized but crazy-strong wrestler and knockout artist, looms as one of the most respected champions in all of MMA because of his work ethic and two impressive wins over Faber, who was considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport when Brown first defeated him.
On Wednesday night, Brown will face what could be just as difficult of a challenge against Jose Aldo, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a fearsome striker who has the hand speed to make things extremely difficult for Brown in his quest to retain the title.
Brown is still the favorite going into this fight, however, sitting at -130 odds to win in the BetUs.com Sportsbook compared with even money for the underdog Aldo.
Aldo presents unique challenges to Brown because he can negate his powerful haymakers with his long reach and he also is such a good grappler on the ground that Brown will have to be wary about pushing things too far with his wrestling and getting caught in a good position.
Brown has been underestimated before, but this time around, it seems like he may have met his match in Aldo.
With a three-inch height advantage over Brown at 5’9, the 15-1 Aldo should be able to keep the 5’6 Brown, who boasts a career record of 22-4, at bay.
Brown will try to play the Mike Tyson role and get inside of Aldo’s defenses to land powerful shots, but it will tough to do against someone as quick and smart as Aldo is as a boxer.
That means this fight could come down to whether or not Brown can wear Aldo out from the top position as a wrestler. Brown’s cardio is a little more reliable at this point in his career, but Aldo has a few more ways to finish the fight.
This is a fight that could go either way, and depends a lot on which WEC warrior can dictate the style of the fight.
Considering that Aldo has the size advantage and the quicker hands as well as his BJJ pedigree, he seems like a good bet as the underdog in this one. It won’t be easy, but if Aldo can work as hard as Brown during the fight, he has a great shot to win.
The pick: Jose Aldo by TKO in the 3rd round (Even money).
