Mateus Mendonça

Jesus Santos Aguilar vs. Mateus Mendonca
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Mendonca (-162), Aguilar (+136)

Round 1
The prelims roll on with the flyweights again, with Tachi Palace Fights vet Aguilar (9-2, 1-1 UFC) aiming to make it two in a row at the expense of the skidding Mendonca (10-2, 0-2 UFC). The Chute Boxe Diego Lima product made it to the UFC courtesy of 10 straight wins, only to run into brick walls of Javid Basharat and Nathan Maness to hand him a pair of losses. The two men with finish rates of 70% or above come together and touch gloves as referee Fernando Salas watches on, and they introduce themselves to one another with kicks. Aguilar kicks low, Mendonca kicks the body and presses all the way forward to scoop Aguilar off his feet. Aguilar fights back to his feet, and he resists a throw and pushes his foe against the fence to knee the thigh a few times. The pace slows to a crawl as Mendonca eventually tries to toss Aguilar to the mat, but he cannot keep him there for more than a second. Aguilar keeps grinding, and Mendonca sells out for a body lock takedown and an outside trip that succeeds in putting Aguilar down. Mendonca shifts quickly to side control, where he resides on top until Aguilar reverses him successful and starts bashing on top. Mendonca briefly threatens with a high guard, and Aguilar shakes out of it and scores some ground strikes while stacking Mendonca up. Mendonca hunts for a triangle choke, and Aguilar slams his way out of it at the bell.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar

Round 2
The second round opens tentatively, with both men pawing at one another from a safe range. Mendonca suddenly crashes the pocket and pursues a takedown, where he leverages Aguilar down to the mat. After some control time, Mendonca loses top position and Aguilar slings him down. The two scramble wildly, and Mendonca manages to take the back and start hunting for the neck. Aguilar turns to put his back against the fence, and Mendonca clings to him and bowls Aguilar over to move to half guard. The Brazilian practically jumps into full mount, and he unleashes a fury of right hands as Salas watches closely. Aguilar turns to his side and nearly gets pounded out, but he ends up surviving the assault and defend himself intelligently enough all while the crowd implores him to keep fighting. Aguilar jumps back to his feet with sheer force of will, and Mendonca tries to snatch up a guillotine choke. Aguilar pulls out of it, and he starts slugging. Aguilar hurts Mendonca in an exchange, and he shoots for a takedown instead of taking advantage of the damage. Aguilar relocates himself into full mount, and he starts slashing down with elbows. Aguilar postures up and smacks Mendonca around with strikes, and lowers himself down so as to not create openings to escape. Aguilar looks for more offense, and Mendonca use the moment to fight his way back to his feet. Mendonca shoots in from too far away, and Aguilar shoves him over and starts landing punches all while Mendonca elevates him. The frantic round ends with Aguilar in the air getting flipped over by his opponent.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Aguilar

Round 3
Aguilar swings for the bleachers to start off the round, and as Mendonca counters with a kick, Aguilar sprints towards him and knocks him over. On the way down, the Mexican snatches up a guillotine choke, and he tries to lock it down with full mount. By the skin of his teeth, Mendonca survives the submission and pushes Aguilar over, and he slides on top to move to half guard. Mendonca smothers from top control, opening up every so often to land a short right hand. Aguilar looks to hip escape or at least scoot himself to the fence, and Mendonca stifles him until Salas stands them up. Aguilar thanks the referee by going right to offense, swinging hard and stinging Mendonca. Mendonca throws back, and Aguilar answers with a level change. Mendonca uses the body lock to turn Aguilar around and chuck him to the mat like a basket of dirty laundry. A wild scramble ensues, and both men briefly take top position, until Mendonca winds up getting back control. Aguilar has one arm held tightly by his opponent, allowing Mendonca to drill him with punches from the free hand on the other side. Mendonca wraps up the body triangle and aims for the neck with a choke, and Aguilar hand-fights to stop the choke attempt. Mendonca allows Aguilar to turn so he can shift to full mount, but before he can rain down shots, Aguilar turns over. Mendonca locks down an unorthodox triangle choke as Aguilar does this, but time expires before anything comes of it. Based on previous tallies so far tonight, scorecards could be all over the map here.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Mendonca (29-28 Aguilar)
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Mendonca (29-28 Aguilar)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Mendonca (29-28 Aguilar)

The Official Result
Jesus Aguilar def. Mateus Mendonca via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)