UFC
UFC NEWS: Mark Hominick believes Champ Jose Aldo has never faced anyone with his striking ability
Jan 24, 2011 - 12:41:52 PM UFC NEWS: Mark Hominick believes Champ Jose Aldo has never faced anyone with his striking ability

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After dispatching George Roop in quick fashion on Saturday night at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 on Spike TV, Mark Hominick is now set to meet UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo at UFC 129 in April.

Following the win on Saturday, the Ontario native echoed statements he made leading into the fight about Aldo, and says he believes he'll be a completely different challenge for the incumbent Champion.

"Nothing against Jose Aldo," Hominick said at the post-fight press conference. "I think he's the best pound-for-pound fighter, fantastic striker. But he's never faced anybody with my striking capability. We'll see how he does against it. He's been making wrestlers look like poor strikers, and a lot of times, that's not too hard.

"He's not going to do that to me, and I'm going in there with that kind of confidence. I know he's the best in the world, but he's never faced anybody like me."

For Hominick, who has had success throughout his career in both the lightweight and featherweight divisions, he feels his best performances come on a bigger stage and with more on the line. Now, he'll get his first UFC title shot on the biggest stage possible in front of a hometown crowd in Toronto.

"This is the dream of every fighter – to fight for the title and to fight in front of your home province," Hominick said. "All of those things are on my mind, and I feel that's where I have my best performances.

"Now I'm 3-0 in the UFC, so those are the kind of fights I perform best in. I perform in the spotlight. Being semi-main event, co-headlining and fighting for the title, that's where I'm going to perform."

Penick's Analysis: Hominick is absolutely precise with his hands, and it's going to make for a definite challenge for Aldo. The phenomenal Champion will, of course, be favored heading into the fight, but the combination of speed, power and accuracy that Hominick brings with his striking game will give Aldo something very real to deal with on the feet that he hasn't faced to date. Hominick is absolutely right in that part of the equation. That said, we haven't seen anything from Aldo to suggest he can't handle another striker, so this makes for a very interesting title fight and it should be a very exciting fight as well. I'm certainly looking forward to it, and it gives the rest of the UFC's featherweight division another six months to continue sorting out who the next challenger will be.