Brazilian Jose Aldo beat American Chad Mendes by unanimous decision to successfully defend his featherweight title in UFC 179 at Maracanazinho arena early Sunday.
With the victory, Aldo remained the only champion the division has known and extended his winning streak to 15, one short of Anderson Silva’s record of 16 straight victories from 2006 to 2012.
The highly anticipated mixed martial arts fight was a rematch of their encounter in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Aldo knocked out Mendes with a powerful knee strike to his face with a second left in the first round of that match.
Mendes extended the fight to the fifth round this time but still couldn’t come up with the victory. All three judges scored it 49-46.
“I deserved to win,” Aldo said. “He hit me a few times but I hit him a lot more. It was a great a fight and I’m sure everyone enjoyed it.”
It was the seventh straight successful title defence for the 28-year-old Aldo (25-1), who is unbeaten since 2005. He was under extra pressure as the only Brazilian to hold a belt among all UFC weight divisions. It could have been the first time in eight years that Brazil was without a champion.
The 29-year-old Mendes (16-2) had been dominant since his lone career defeat two years ago in Rio, winning four of his next five fights by knockout.
He was aggressive from the start this time, connecting early with kicks and punches and opening a wound on Aldo’s nose. But the Brazilian recovered fast and finished strong in the first round, twice knocking Mendes down with powerful strikes.
“He rang my bell for sure,” Mendes said. “I was just going so hard I didn’t know what was going on. I was just trying to push myself and obviously just outstrike him and mix things up well.”
Both fighters took fewer chances in the second round. Aldo made a strong charge near the end of the round but couldn’t finish his opponent.
Mendes tried to take the initiative more often in the final two rounds but did not have enough to turn things his way. Aldo finished with a heavily swollen left eye.
In the co-main, American Phil Davis (13-2), a former NCAA wrestling national champion, beat Brazilian Glover Teixeira (22-4) by unanimous decision to earn his first shot at challenging light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Teixeira lost to Jones in his previous fight.
In other main card fights, Iranian-American Beneil Dariush, who lost to Palestinian-American Ramsey Nijem at UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi in April, beat Brazilian Diego Ferreira in a unanimous decision in the lightweight division.
Dariush has now won both of his fights since losing in the UAE, including an August Fight Night submission victory over Tony Martin.
He outstruck Ferreira 54-24 and managed three takedowns to none.
Darren Elkins of the United States edged Brazilian Lucas Martins with a split decision in the featherweight division, as well.
Brazilian Fabio Maldonado got past Hans Stringer of the Netherlands with a technical knockout in the second round in a light heavyweight matchup, celebrating by hugging Silva atop the octagon.
In a preliminary fight, American welterweight Neil Magny beat Brazilian William Patolino by technical knockout in the third round to win for the fifth time in a row this year and tie Roger Huerta’s modern-era record for most UFC victories in a single calendar year.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
