Breaking down WEC 44: Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo

Justin M. Bowen

Jose Aldo during his workout at the Palms Monday in preparation for his fight Wednesday against Mike Brown for the WEC featherweight title.

By Brett Okamoto (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 12:21 a.m.

In 1986, before his first birthday, Jose Aldo got into his first fight — with a Brazilian barbecue pit.

He didn’t have much of a chance.

“My father left me in a box near the barbecue and my older sisters were playing, and threw me in the fire,” said Aldo, through his translator, Marcelo Meleiro. “They were just kids playing so they don’t say anything about it now. My older sister broke my head once, too. I have so many stories.”

The fire incident left a long scar on the side of Aldo’s face, but he doesn’t hold a grudge toward his older sisters.

In fact, the 23-year-old fighter who will face Mike Brown for the WEC featherweight championship on Wednesday can’t even keep his eyes from tearing up when his family is mentioned.

“For all of this to happen to me is a dream come true, I can’t even describe the happiness I’m living right now,” Aldo said. “To possess the opportunity to help my parents, sisters, the community around me — it’s a dream, I can’t explain it.”

Aldo was born in the Brazilian city of Manaus, a sprawling urban area located on the Amazon River.

His family and surrounding neighbors all lived in poverty, but Aldo says that he remembers a happy childhood within a loving family.

“I lived in a very poor neighborhood in Manaus, right next to the jungle,” Aldo said. “Each person didn’t have much money but I was a happy kid. Ever since I was 6 or 7, I would help my dad at his construction job, carrying rocks and things like that.”

On Wednesday, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro with team Nova Uniao, Aldo will find himself fighting for the WEC championship belt at The Pearl at The Palms against a fighter some are starting to consider the best featherweight of all time.

After taking on a barbecue pit as an infant, sounds like a piece of cake.

“I’m really happy to get while I’m young, a lot of guys take a lifetime to get this opportunity,” Aldo said. “It’s not through yet because I’m not the champion, but in this moment, I feel very blessed.”

Quick Hits:

Considering Aldo’s knockout power, it’s probably safe to assume that Brown would like to take this fight to the ground at some point.

The only problem is he doesn’t know what to expect if he gets it there.

“It sounds like he’s a world champion Jiu-Jitsu fighter, but all the footage I’ve seen he’s knocking dudes out,” Brown said on not finding any tapes of Aldo being taken down. “We’ll have to see where it goes when we get there.”

To mimic Aldo’s style, Brown spent an enormous amount of time sparring with another Brazilian knockout artist, Thiago Alves, who is known for ending opponents with straight punches and knees much like Aldo.

Aldo said he wasn’t intimidated by Brown’s camp.

“I don’t see the problem, I have really good guys in my camp, too,” Aldo said. “Thiago is a good fighter but I’m not scared because of who he trained with. I’m not impressed by that.”

By frame alone, Brown will appear the bigger fighter in the cage, even though he says that constantly training for five-round rights as the champion has inevitably led to him losing weight.

“I’m actually getting smaller training for five-round fights,” Brown said. “I prepare longer than I used to and it’s changed my body type, I think. But I’ll still have the strength edge, for sure.”

Although Aldo says he’s comfortable if the fight goes to the ground and even looks forward to showing his Jiu-Jitsu, his best chance probably still remains on his feet, where he’s finished off numerous opponents in highlight fashion.

Brown has said that looking for one angle in a fight is a quick way to get into trouble and he has no problem standing with Aldo, but look for him to shoot a takedown at some point in this one.

Last Time Out:

Brown: Unanimous decision over Urijah Faber at WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2

Aldo: First round win by TKO over Cub Swanson at WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2

The Lines: Brown minus-120; Aldo minus-110

Final Words:

Brown: On the tough crowd he faced in Sacramento in his last fight: "That was like a bucket of water in my face. We were at the weigh-in and the whole crowd was going nuts, booing, and (WEC general manager) pulled me away and said, ‘OK, let’s go. I don’t want them to start throwing things at you.’"

Aldo: "In my head, I’m going to try to forget it’s for the title. I’m going to go in like it’s just my next fight and try to forget all the attention and all the media. My head is really good for this fight."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.