UFC 142 Recap: Jose Aldo and Vitor Belfort dominate in Brazil

It seemed that many fight fans were not anticipating UFC 142 as eagerly as some of the more recent UFC fight cards and for those that slept on this card, I can only offer my condolences, because you really missed out. 

Any questions that may have lingered about Jose Aldo’s ability to withstand a wrestling based attack were answered early on in the main event as he stuffed each of Chad Mendes’ seven takedown attempts before putting him out with a well placed knee.

The knockout came with exactly one second remaining in the first round and after he finished Mendes, Aldo ran from the cage and into arms of the crowd, where he was lifted onto the shoulders of the Brazilian fans, it was truly something to behold. With the help of security Aldo eventually made it back to the Octagon.

Question after seeing Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes:

-Who can stop Jose Aldo? I know this question has been asked of many champions in the past, but honestly a quick glance through the featherweight rankings says that, unless someone moves down from lightweight, Aldo’s reign could be a fairly long one. 

Notes and more questions following UFC 142:

-Is there a more passionate MMA fan base than Brazil?  After seeing the crowd reaction at the last two UFC Brazil events I would have to say the Brazilians have surely passed the Canadian fans by as far as their passion goes.  If the UFC does decide to have an event in a soccer stadium in Brazil, the energy level will be incredible.

-What kind of upside does Rousimar Palhares have? With a massive amount of power and devastating heel hooks, Palhares is one of those fighters that is so good at one thing that he could have a huge upside just using that one technique. 

-Was Erick Silva robbed? Many fans and pundits are saying that Erick Silva was robbed of a first round knockout by referee Mario Yamasaki who disqualified Silva for illegal blows to the head. In fact, Joe Rogan called Yamasaki out right in the center of the Octagon, forcing him to watch the replay in slow motion, where it seems as if his confidence in his call wavered a bit. UFC President Dana White also offered his take on the disqualification via twitter, “BS call for Erick Silva.”

-Did the knockout by Edson Barboza lock up knockout of the year?  The spinning wheel kick that Edson Barboza delivered to the chin of Terry Etim was a thing of brutal beauty, knocking Etim stiff almost instantly. Anyone hoping to top that knockout will have to deliver something very special.

LowKick.com UFC 142 main card awards:

-Fight of the night: Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim.  Terry Etim did his best to take Barboza to the ground, but there was no way that Barboza was going to all Etim to gain a takedown.  Every time Etim looked like he had a takedown Barboza would work his way back to his feet and outstrike Etim before ending the fight in spectacular manner.

-Performance of the night: Vitor Belfort. This may be a controversial choice, but hear me out. Belfort could have been shaken up by the fact that his opponent came in at 197 pounds for a 185 pound fight, but he wasn’t. He moved past it, focused on getting the win and earned the victory as well as 20 percent of Anthony Johnson’s purse. Belfort was a true professional through all of the drama of this weekend.

-Finish of the night: Edson Barboza.  If you missed the spinning wheel kick that Barboza used to end his fight against Terry Etim, you need to do whatever you can to track a video of that down and revel in it’s sheer power. 

Further Reading: UFC 142 Wrap-Up: Barboza gets $130k, Palhares & Etim take home $65k

Photo: Tracy Lee for CombatLifestyle.com