Expert picks: Clay Guida breaks down UFC 179

UFC featherweight star Clay Guida checks in this week and lends the Cagewriter team a hand by breaking down the main and co-main events for tonight's big UFC 179 world title card in Rio. Check out Clay's picks, and then let us know who you've got in the comments section!

UFC 179 main event - Jose Aldo defends his featherweight UFC world title against Chad Mendes in a rematch

This fight is a long time coming, since Jose and Chad's first fight two and a half years ago. Jose Aldo has definitely proven to be arguably one of the greatest fighters of all time.

You don't say that about just anybody. It's been what, five, six, seven years since he's last been defeated?

I remember seeing him fight for the first time in the WEC, when Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver the first time, and he knocked the dude out. I thought, 'wow, this guy has got something. He's talented.' We've also seen Aldo shake off some pretty good wrestlers over the years.

You could make the argument that Aldo was more impressive in the WEC than he has been in the UFC, but you know how it is. In the UFC, you're fighting the best of the best and top athletes every time out. Every fight is five rounds, and Aldo doesn't get any easy fights, ever.

Tonight, however, I think Chad Mendes is going to have Aldo's number. Compared to the last time he fought Aldo, and lost, Chad is much more well-rounded on his feet, now.

He's more calm, and he feels more at home standing and trading. The difference in this fight will be if Chad gets to take Aldo down, which I think he can do. I hope they've been working on that.

We've seen it time and again with Aldo. By the fourth and fifth rounds, he's often already done so much damage that he can usually coast. He's either leg-kicked you into oblivion, or he's worn you down some other way where rounds four and five don't make a difference.�

I think it's going to be a different story this time around, with Chad. Unfortunately, in the first fight they only had five minutes to feel each other out, but I'm sure both camps have been doing a lot of game planning around footage study.

I think ground game and conditioning and who drives harder in those championship rounds is going to be crucial, and I think Chad can win there. We've seen Jose take some pretty good shots. He's got a good chin.

We've also seen Chad take shots, and he's got a pretty good chin. Both men are good on the ground, and have knockout power. I think whoever shows a little bit more grit in the later rounds is going to win.

I've got to go with the wrestler in this one. Looking at both their recent histories, I think this has a good chance of going all five rounds.

Sometimes the five rounders are awesome, though. This one is going to be a banger of a fight, and I'm looking forward to my buddy Chad bringing the belt back to the States.

Light heavyweight contenders Glover Teixeira and Phil Davis meet in the UFC 170 co-main event

As a former NCAA Division I wrestling national champion, Phil is hard to keep off your legs, man. But, I think fighting and losing to Anthony Johnson had an effect on him.

When someone hits you as hard as Johnson hit you, it makes you think, and pause. And, if another guy can hit you as hard as Johnson, it's Glover Teixeira.

We saw that with Glover's fight against Jon Jones last April. Jon beat him up and down, but there was always one hook, or one cross that Glover would come back with and hit Jones to keep him honest.

I was sitting front-row for that one and Jon's eyes got as big as baseballs everytime Glover hit him with one of those. That type of power is an intangible.

Not to mention that, every time Jon took Glover down, Glover got back up quickly. We know that Phil is going to want to get the take down in the first few minutes, but it's going to be hard for him to win if he can't keep Glover down.

Both fighters are coming off of tough decision losses, so you know they are both looking to prove something. But I think Phil may have some trouble getting over his last loss, more than Glover has with his.

I love Penn State, where Phil wrestled, and I'd like to see him bring one back to his home town, but this one is a toss-up with the slight edge going to Glover. Realistically, I've got to go with Glover by decision.

Follow Clay Guida on Twitter @ClayGuida and Yahoo MMA @YahooCagewriter

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/expert-picks--clay-guida-breaks-down-ufc-179-184623325.html

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