January 13, 2012 – The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this Saturday, January 14, 2012, for UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes. The PPV event scheduled for the HSBC Arena will feature the namesake title bout featuring UFC 145 champion José Aldo defending his title for the first time since beating Kenny Florian at UFC 136 in Houston, TX. This time around he’s be taking on an undefeated Alpha Male in 11-0 Chad Mendes, a former NCAA wrestling champion who most recently beat Rani Yahya and Michihiro Omigawa to earn his shot at the belt.
Also featured on this card is “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort who takes on Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in a middleweight clash that should serve as a title eliminator towards an eventual showdown with the 185 champion somewhere down the road. Also appearing on the card are ADCC veteran Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares, rising star Edson Barboza, and Texas MMA’s own Carlo Prater.
Let’s break down the entire card and offer up our predictions.
UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes – Preview and Predictions
UFC 142 – Main Card (PPV)
Featherweight Championship: José Aldo (c) vs. Chad Mendes
Jose Aldo is back to defend his title against a fighter he’s been on a collision course with for awhile in Chad “Money” Mendes. Both these formidable featherweights have one loss between them with Aldo last beating Kenny Florian to retain his title while Mendes last won against Rani Yahya to gain this title shot.
Raul Rangel – José Aldo wins this one. You can’t go against the champ. He will strike and move and take this fight to the judges. I see him winning by unanimous decision.
Prediction: José Aldo by unanimous decision.
Mike Calimbas – The biggest question mark in this (and all) Aldo’s fights is his cardio and weight. He’s pretty much answered the questions everywhere else. The guy hasn’t lost save 1 time in 2005 but the fact is he’s sometimes looked drained recently. If he’s in shape and on top of his game, my feel is that this will look a lot like his bout with Urijah Faber. If not, Mendes will wear on him and eventually be able to take him down despite the fact that he has some of the best takedown defense in the game. This is a tough call to make but I see an upset brewing in this one.
Prediction: Chad Mendes by unanimous decision.
Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
This will be Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s first taste at 185 after much of his UFC career spent at welterweight. Despite the jump up, many believe Johnson will be the bigger fighter in this fight and a force to be reckoned with. We know his opponent Belfort is with mulitple titles to his record. Vitor heads into UFC Rio 2 looking for his second win in a row after beating Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.
Raul Rangel – Anthony Johnson is an awesome wrestler. Vitor will have problems trying to move out from bottom position, plus the dude looks stacked. I see the standard takedown, rinse and repeat, all the way to a unanimous decision
Prediction: Anthony Johnson by unanimous decision.
Mike Calimbas – Everyone seems to be focused on how big Anthony Johnson is when analyzing this fight. It’s true that “Rumble” will be the bigger guy but I don’t buy that it will be enough to beat Vitor. Let’s not forget this guy has fought guys like Randy Couture in the past and has grappled in the ADCC. Plus the last time he fought in Brazil, he straight-blasted Wanderlei into oblivion.
Prediction: Vitor Belfort by second round knockout.
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
Rousimar Palhares just might be one of the scariest people on the planet right now. Fresh of a successful season in the grappling circuit including a silver medla in the 2011 ADCC, “Toquinho” will be looking for his third win in a row in this one while Massenzio fights for the first time since beating Steve Cantwell at UFC 136 in Houston.
Raul Rangel – Rousimar Palhares is a great fighter that can lock a submission out of nowhere. I see a first round submission in this one.
Prediction: Rousimar Palhares by first round submission.
Mike Calimbas – The powers-that-be must not like Mike Massenzio that much. As Palhares showed in ADCC, he is one scrazy, scary guy. With a background in both BJJ and Luta Livre, his submissions are downright intimidating. Things don’t look good for Massenzio (a wrestler) in this fight.
Prediction: Rousimar Palhares by first round submission.
Welterweight bout: Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater
Texas MMA veteran Carlo Prater took this fight on late notice after an injury sidelined Siyar Bahadurzada. He’ll now face Erick Silva in this main card matchup. “Neo” comes into this one with 4 wins in a row including one against Cameron Dollar in Houston (Legacy FC 7) while Silva’s won 4 straight heading into his second UFC fight.
Raul Rangel – Both fighters have an awesome ground game but Erick Silva is on his way up while Carlo has been a veteran for quite some time and is still young enough to make some noise. I believe Prater will win via split decision.
Prediction: Carlo Prater by split decision.
Mike Calimbas – By all accounts, Erick Silva is the favorite in this bout. He trains with some of the best (Anderson Silva, Rafael Cavalcante, Ronaldo Souza) and is going to be bigger in this bout too. With that being said, Carlo has been on a roll. He’s a Texas MMA pioneer and I can’t bet against him.
Prediction: Carlo Prater by submission in the second round.
Lightweight bout: Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim
This battle pits two exciting fighters against one another in what could be a potential “Fight of the Night” candidate. Barboza is a Muay Thai expert while Etim has most of his wins by submission. Both competitors are looking to make some noise in the lightweight division and a win in this bout would do a lot for either of them.
Raul Rangel – Edson Barboza is an undefeated strong standup fighter that will keep this fight standing. That means it’ll be contested where he has the biggest advantage.
Prediction: Edson Barboza by unanimous decision.
Mike Calimbas – Terry Etim is a decent striker but Edson Barboza is a great one. He’s faster, has many more weapons at his disposal and isn’t easy to take down. Look for him to chop his opponent down in this one.
Prediction: Edson Barboza, TKO in the second round.
UFC 142 – Preliminary Card (FX)
Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
Prediction: Sam Stout
Heavyweight bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ednaldo Oliveira
Prediction: Gabriel Gonzaga
Featherweight bout: Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Prediction: Michihiro Omigawa
Welterweight bout: Ricardo Funch vs. Mike Pyle
Raul Rangel: Mike Pyle
UFC 142 – Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Featherweight bout: Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho
Prediction: Antonio Carvalho (Raul) Felipe Arantes (Mike)
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