ufc UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes

[D. S. Veteran]

After the monumental success that was UFC 134, the octagon returns to Brazil for UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes, with the main event being a FW title fight. It's the 1st PPV of 2012, a year with a completely hectic fighting schedule. It's also marks the end of the Facebook prelims, with everything airing on FX (which is in itself great, great news).

A pretty standard local-vs-international card, with everyone fighting a BR fighter.

Preliminary card (FX)

Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho - Carvalho, who holds a win over Hatsu Hioki, makes his UFC debut against Arantes who debuted at UFC 134 with a loss to Yuri Alc?ntara (who's also fighting on this card). Textbook undercard filler.

Ricardo Funch vs. Mike Pyle - Funch comes in as a late replacement to Paulo Thiago and gets to face-off against veteran Mike Pyle. Seeing how he was already cut from the UFC once before with a 0-2 record, combine that with the short notice and Pyle's skillset and I don't see any (reasonable) way for him to get the W.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa - Omigawa picked up a much needed win at UFC 138 to snap a 2-fight losing streak. Seeing how the UFC Japan card is already full, he will need to keep winning in order to be kept around in the UFC. In from of him is Alc?ntara, 26-3 with a 12-fight win streak including 2 under the Zuffa banner altough all of it at LW. If he can manage the weightcut to FW, it could eliminate the size disadvantage he had at LW and do something relevant in the division.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Edinaldo Oliveira - Gonzaga comes out of retirement in the UFC to fight Edinaldo Oliveira, an undefeated training partner of J?nior dos Santos. Seeing how he's replacing an injured Rob Broughton, one the UFC's current warm HW bodies, I don't think this fight is going to go his way. Does he still have the heart to succeed in the UFC or will he be a stepping stone for another young and hungry HW?

Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout - Stout is riding hight after his hightlight reel knockout of Yves Edwards. Facing him is the freaky looking Thiago Tavares, who always comes to bang. This should be a great fight.

Main card

Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim - Etim's rise in the LW division was stopped by Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 112. After that, an injury put him on the sidelines for more than a year. He returned against notorious dud Edward Faaloloto and submitted him with an arm-in stanind guillotine in just 17 seconds. He now gets the chance to prove he's still got it against on the most dangerous LW prospects around. Barboza is strong, agressive and always on the offensive. With the hometown advantage, Etim will need to get all his ducks in a row to get a win and continue his climb back to relevance. Barboza looks to put another notch on his belt and move up in competition, perhaps into a possible contendership fight.

Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater - Prater came in on short notice to replace an injured Siyar Bahadurzada. This is chance to get an UFC gig. Both he and Silva share a career in Mid-tier brazilian MMA promotions, despite different kind of fighting records. In my opinion Silva gets an easier (but not much) fight than he would have against Siyar, short notice and all that accounted. Let's see if he can make the most of it.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio - Paul Harris by leglock.

Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson - Rumble debuts at what should clearly be his weightclass. Unencumbered by the brutal cut he had to do in order to fight at WW, will Rumble be even more dominating? Belfort continues his narrative of "being back" but I think he never left. He's still unreliable if the fight keeps going and knocking out Akyiama, who hasnt'? Rumble has proven he has KO power in every limb and he's a strong wrestler to boot. He doesn't know BJJ but he knows elbows. Seeing the videos that the UFC has of Rumble training, Belfor better be ready. FOTN potencial, provided it even goes out of the 1st round.

Jos? Aldo vs. Chad Mendes - Aldo needs no introduction. Mendes, despite being an almost unknown to the casual fan (resulting in being passed over for a title shot by Florian), is a Team Alpha Male product that is currently undefeated and has the skills one would expect out of TAM and more. He's an extremely strong wrestler with capable striking that can bring the fight to Aldo (he hopes). He trains out of one, if not the best, camp for FW fighters and he has Faber, who had a 5 round war with Aldo, on his corner. If he can force his gameplan onto Aldo, he can take it. If he can't and tries to turn this into a stand-up war, his boxing won't be up to snuff for Aldo's offense. Chad Mendes is a clear underdog here but I think the fight will at least be a competitive affair.

[dippednbutter]

I think Faber had more of a drubbing than a war :p but with that said Mendes is a lousier Faber and should get clipped in Aldos home country.

I'm way way more interested in the Belfort/Johnson and Barboza/Etim scraps!!!

[D. S. Veteran]

I think Faber had more of a drubbing than a war :p but with that said Mendes is a lousier Faber and should get clipped in Aldos home country.

I'm way way more interested in the Belfort/Johnson and Barboza/Etim scraps!!!

Come on, you rank Faber over Mendes at FW?

[dippednbutter]

Come on, you rank Faber over Mendes at FW?

Sure do. Most of the alpha male team are just clones of faber (i know you heard that before). Mendes got good wrestling but his stand up lags behind Faber.

[MightyJordan]

Joe Silva was really blind looking at the Silva/Prater replay, wasn't he? I saw at least two shots to the back of the head there. Mario Yamasaki got it right, although I don't really think it should have been a DQ; should have been a No Contest.

Shame about Terry Etim losing, but at least he fell victim to such a spectacular knockout.

[D. S. Veteran]

Joe Silva was really blind looking at the Silva/Prater replay, wasn't he? I saw at least two shots to the back of the head there. Mario Yamasaki got it right, although I don't really think it should have been a DQ; should have been a No Contest.

Shame about Terry Etim losing, but at least he fell victim to such a spectacular knockout.

The one shot that is arguibly to the back of the head, lands there due to Prater moving so it's clearly not intentional. It barely grazes him and the shots that put him away are clearly to the side of the head. In my opinion Silva was robbed. It almost on the same level of bull**** as the Okami DQ win over Silva.

[D. S. Veteran]

Here are my notes for this card. It was a great way to start off the PPV year. It's also great that the Facebook prelims nonsense is over. UFC on FX was pretty great.

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho - This ended up being a pretty energetic fight with good exchanges all around. Both guys showed great skill and should get a place in the televised cards pretty soon.

Preliminary card (FX)

Ricardo Funch vs. Mike Pyle - Pyle did what was expected of him, KO'ing Funch into oblivion. The combination of being a short notice replacement and just not up to snuff skillwise did Funch in. That straight right was like a missile. With losses to Jake Ellenberger and Rory MacDonald, Pyle isn't going anywhere in the WW division but he serves as a great litmus test. Funch will probably get another fight, has some goodwill credit from coming in on short notice.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa - I almost died laughing when the pre-fight segment called Omigawa a legit threat. Sure, 1-2 in the UFC (all decisions), great threat he is. And now he's 1-3. Christ, just admit he's a dud and send him back to Japan or Tachi Palace. He starts the fight by eating a knee and wincing, I don't know why Alc?ntara didn't finish him right there. He completely dominated Omigawa on the feet and on the ground. That armbar in the first was brutal, credit to Omigawa for not tapping. If he keeps that up, he may end up being a player in the FW division. Omigawa should be cut and allowed to build himself back up, maybe a cut to BW to revitalize his career? To think he was once considered a credible threat to Jos? Aldo... a totally gassed Alc?ntara got full mount on him in 10 seconds.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ednaldo Oliveira - Heart, check. Gonzaga looked great in his return to the UFC. He showed the drive that was lacking in the Brendan Schaub fight and put away Lula with a stellar performance. Instead of trying to relive his Cro-cop KO, he fought smart and played to his strengths. Instead of turning the fight into a brawl he took advantage of Oliveira's weak ground game to submit him. Had the fight remained upright, he would have been at a slight disadvantage. With the Strikeforce HW division folding, there will plenty of fights waiting for him in the future. Edinaldo will get another chance to prove himself.

Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout -

Main card

Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim - Goddamn! Etim was pretty tentative the whole fight, not being able to impose his gameplan on Barboza due to his defensive wrestling and overall agressiveness in the kicks. That finish was Anderson Silva like. A truly amazing kick when everybody was already guessing the scoredcards. Barboza keeps climbing the LW ladder but is he ready for a Mid-Top tier opponent? I hope they bring him along nicely and don't throw him to the sharks. Maybe a fight with Pettis?

Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater - Silva was robbed. Like I said, the one shot that is arguibly to the back of the head, lands there due to Prater moving so it's clearly not intentional. It barely grazes him and the shots that put him away are clearly to the side of the head. He also corrected his punches when he saw it himself. A DQ should only result if the illegal strike is responsible for the other fighter being unable to continue, and even then the ref should stop the fight and give the other fighter time to see what he can do.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio - Called it :rofl:Did anyone think it would go any other way? Paul Harris is a monster of a MW. He always comes in with the same gameplan and there isn't much anybody can do to stop him due to his massive strength advantage. This is also his downfall, he's predictable. If he keeps winning, he'll get a shot at Sonnen's title in 2013 maybe. I also don't know why it took so long for Massenzio to tap. If Paul Harris got a hold of my leg, I would tap immediately before he evens started cranking.

Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson - Johnson is cut and it's totally deserved. He moves up to MW and misses weight by a mile (looking at his frame in the ring he pretty much needs to fight at LHW)? He isn't contrite about it? And then to top it all, he loses? Bye bye bye. He looked pretty agressive in the opening minutes, even delivering a powerful elbow that smashed Belfort's right eye pretty bad. But then he started to gass, badly. Belfort showed great striking and clearly great grappling in his victory. It's almost a shame that he will fight Wanderlei in the TUF Brazil finale because it's a fight that doesn't boost him up the MW rankings, seeing how Wanderlei is pretty much a shadow of his former self. Maybe they can put Belfort against Paul Harris next, provided he beats Wanderlei again (he probably will).

Jos? Aldo vs. Chad Mendes - For a moment there, it looked like Mendes was going to turn this into a 5 round grind. And then Aldo delivered a brutal knee and it was all over. This is the Aldo that had everybody tunning into the WEC. What a knee and some brutal follow up shots, putting Mendes out of comission. It was perfect, the way he grabbed the wrist to stop Mendes from defending and BAM! Mendes keeps his #2 FW ranking and will continue to be a force to be reckoned in the division, the FW Jon Fitch (pre-Hendricks). Aldo will probably fight the winner of Hioki vs Palaszewski. It's still too soon for Koch or Poirier. And it's a suicide move for the Korean Zombie. I would like to see him fight Hominick again.