Yes, plus lots of fighers are moving to murica, wanderlei, machida, khabib, and even the best bjj players are here marcelo garcia, mendes, renzo, etc.
It's home court advantage and other factors. A flight from Brazil to US is about 10 + hours, which really drains your body. Jet Lag. It takes up to 5-7 days for your body to fully adjust to new environment, so your body isn't performing at 100%. Most fighters fly in within a few days of their fight. The crowd. Having thousands of people root against you crushes your spirit and mind.
It's just one fight. It's not like Mendes is going to beat Aldo. Aldo is a great counter fighter, with great defense. Barao is not a great counter fighter. Barao's defense looked awful.
Can't the same be said for North American fighters that have to travel overseas as well? I'm not trying to offend others but it is much harder to accommodate Westerners then the rest of the world.
Dropping like flies? Barao and Silva were beat in upsets. Silva was old, Barao will be back. Other than JDS holding Cain's belt for a bit, what are you even talking about? This isn't some grand pattern here.
