UFC 179: Aldo Retained His Title on a Card With Six Finishes

José Aldo defeated Chad Mendes by unanimous decision at UFC 179, retaining the featherweight title with three identical 49–46 scorecards. The event took place on October 25, 2014, at the Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Phil Davis beat Glover Teixeira by unanimous decision in the co-main event. Event record

Across all 11 completed bouts, UFC 179 produced six finishes—a 54.5% finish rate. That overall figure hides a sharp contrast: five of the six preliminary fights ended inside the distance, while four of the five main-card fights went to the judges.

Full UFC 179 results

The table runs from the main event backward through the card. Time is the elapsed time within the listed round, not the total fight duration. Results and card sections follow the UFC event page; specific finish methods are documented in Sherdog’s event record.

Card	Winner	Opponent	Result	Round, time
Main	José Aldo	Chad Mendes	Unanimous decision	5, 5:00
Main	Phil Davis	Glover Teixeira	Unanimous decision	3, 5:00
Main	Fabio Maldonado	Hans Stringer	TKO, punches	2, 4:06
Main	Darren Elkins	Lucas Martins	Split decision	3, 5:00
Main	Beneil Dariush	Diego Ferreira	Unanimous decision	3, 5:00
Prelims	Neil Magny	William Macario	TKO, punches	3, 2:40
Prelims	Yan Cabral	Naoyuki Kotani	Submission, rear-naked choke	2, 3:06
Prelims	Wilson Reis	Scott Jorgensen	Submission, arm-triangle choke	1, 3:28
Prelims	Andre Fili	Felipe Arantes	Unanimous decision	3, 5:00
Early prelims	Gilbert Burns	Christos Giagos	Submission, armbar	1, 4:57
Early prelims	Anthony Rocco Martin	Fabricio Camoes	Submission, kimura	1, 4:16

Aldo–Mendes 2: what the scorecards show

Aldo’s victory was his seventh successful UFC featherweight title defense. It was also his second win over Mendes: their first meeting in 2012 ended with Aldo winning by first-round knockout; the rematch lasted the full 25 minutes. UFC main-event report

This was more than agreement on the final totals. Richard Bertrand, Marco Aurelio Borges and Guilherme Bravo each awarded Aldo rounds 1, 2, 3 and 5, with Mendes taking round 4. Every round was scored 10–9, producing 49–46 on all three cards. MMA Decisions scorecard record

That clear scoring agreement does not mean the fight lacked competitive exchanges. The UFC’s report describes both men hurting each other and notes that Aldo received no point deduction for the punches around the first-round horn. The recorded outcome remains a unanimous decision, not a finish.

For record comparisons, this win counts as both a title-fight victory and a defense: Aldo entered as champion and retained the belt. Those categories are not interchangeable across a career, as explained in title-fight wins versus title defenses.

The co-main event was more straightforward on the cards: Davis beat Teixeira 30–27 on all three ballots. UFC main-card report

Finish rate: 54.5%, driven by the prelims

Here, a finish means a KO/TKO or submission. The denominator is every completed bout at UFC 179, including both preliminary sections—not just the pay-per-view main card.

Calculated from the event results:

• KO/TKO: 2 of 11 bouts, or 18.2%.
• Submission: 4 of 11, or 36.4%.
• Decision: 5 of 11, or 45.5%—four unanimous and one split.
• Overall finish rate: (2 + 4) ÷ 11 = 54.5%.

Maldonado–Stringer supplied the main card’s only finish, giving that section a 20% rate (1/5). Combining the prelims and early prelims yields 83.3% (5/6). Neither figure contradicts the overall rate; they describe different bout pools.

UFC 179 is therefore a useful example of why card scope matters. Watching only the main card gives a decision-heavy picture; counting the entire event gives a majority-finish card. With the bout count fixed at 11, changing one decision to a finish would move the overall rate by about 9.1 percentage points. It is a precise description of this event, not a reliable estimate of any division’s long-term finishing tendency.