· UFC 142: What We Learned

On paper, UFC 142 was not a star-studded event. However, by the time the crowd at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had left the building the UFC’s first pay-per-view of the year may end up being its most memorable. Although not every moment will be remembered in a positive manner, and there were several issues left to be settled, there is one question we can tackle following UFC 142: What did we learn?

Jose Aldo Knows How To Close A Show

Take your pick. Was it how he ended the fight against Chad Mendes, or how he celebrated the victory? Either way, Aldo made his UFC 142 experience special. After coming to the cage before a raucous ovation UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo spent most of the first round feeling out his opponent. After stuffing a series of takedown attempts and grabbing the fence to potentially avoid another, Aldo found himself struggling trying to shake Mendes off his back with just seconds left in the round. Aldo spun, and with the spin he threw a crushing knee that landed flush to the head of Mendes. Mendes fell back to the floor and Aldo leaped in with another shot to finish off his opponent just before the bell to end the round sounded, at the 4:59 mark.

Once the referee had waived the contest finished and Aldo was declared the winner, Aldo bolted for the cage door. He ran through the door and into the arms of his celebrating Brazilian countrymen. Aldo spent several minutes in the crowd before being hoisted on to the shoulders of fans and carried back to the ring. However, security could not control the situation and Aldo continued his celebration with a few members at cageside before finally returning to the cage for the official decision. The celebratory moment was as unpredictable and emotional as the young superstar’s fighting style, and like many of his fights, will be remembered for years to come.

Johnson, Miragliotta Mar Meaningful Bout For Belfort

The unlikely team of Anthony Johnson and Dan Miragliotta combined to make a mockery of what was to be an important night in the career of Vitor Belfort, fighting in his native Brazil for the first since 1998. Johnson, moving up from welterweight, started the derogation by missing weight badly for their middleweight match up. He weighed in an astounding eleven pounds over the contracted limit of 185 pounds. The miscalculation led to Belfort accepting the fight, and twenty percent of Johnson’s purse money, dependent on Johnson weighing in under the light heavyweight limit the day of the fight.

Johnson made his weight that morning, but the story doesn’t end there. Once the fight began, Johnson looked solid early. He landed a few big punches and took Belfort down. However, before either fighter could take an advantage of their positions on the ground, referee Dan Miragliotta would stand the pair back up and restart the action. After a few moments, the two clinched along the cage, and we quickly separated and restarted. The third stand up of the round came seconds after Johnson gained another takedown, before Belfort or Johnson even had a chance to do any damage.

Following that third restart, Johnson looked exhausted and attempted another takedown, but the veteran Belfort defended and took advantage of the wilting Johnson. He spun to Johnson’s back and eventually choked him out with a rear-naked choke. Johnson has sent been released by UFC for his repeated weigh-in blunders, and fans are still questioning the curious standups by Miragliotta.

Palhares Throws His Hat Into Title Contention

For those that have been waiting for a dangerous contender for Anderson Silva, Rousimar Palhares reminded the UFC world that he is still around and still as capable as any middleweight of putting the champion in trouble. “Toquinho” needed just 63 seconds to add Mike Massenzio’s knee to his trophy case of limbs. The deadly leg-lock specialist found the slightest of opening and sunk in the submission win when Massenzio did not move fast enough when avoiding a takedown attempt.

The win is Palhares’ seventh in nine UFC fights, his only losses came to previous title contenders Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson. And with a middleweight division devoid of challengers that pose much of a threat to Anderson Silva’s title reign, Palhares could be looking at a title shot if Michael Bisping or Chael Sonnen fail to impress in their bouts coming up at the end of this month.

Joe Rogan Loses Professionalism When Eric Silva Loses By DQ

It took just twenty-nine seconds for Eric Silva to end his fight with Carlo Prater. Following the lightning quick affair, referee Mario Yamasaki called for disqualification of Silva’s win, citing blows to the back of the head of his opponent that led to the victory. However, the fight is almost inconsequential now, following the in-cage actions of color commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan questioned Yamasaki’s decision, which is not out of the ordinary. But the manner in which it happened left fans divided in their opinions.

Rogan, after interviewing Silva, moved on to Yamasaki. With microphone in hand he attempted to have Yamasaki justify his decision as the two watched a replay of the ending moments of the fight. Yamasaki, who does not have the benefit of monitors and replays before making a call, stood by his decision to disqualify Silva. While Rogan, even after viewing the replay, stated that he saw no foul. The confrontation was obviously uncomfortable for both, and could likely overshadow the fight itself, but more importantly may have set a bad precedent of putting officials in a position to second guess their decisions based on public humiliation by television broadcasters.

Barboza Becomes An Overnight Legend

Gonzaga head kicking CroCop, Franklin punching Quarry, Evans landing on Liddell, Williams kicking Coleman, now add Edson Barboza’s spinning kick on Terry Etim to the list of memorable knockout shots. What had been a rather mundane fight up to that point was finished off emphatically by the undefeated Brazilian. The incredible victory will surely play for years on highlight packages.