UFC 142 is set to go down tomorrow night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and it will feature a main event between UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (20-1) and No. 1 contender Chad “Money” Mendes (11-0).
It will be the UFC’s third trip to Brazil and second since August. At UFC 134, 10 of 11 fights ended with a Brazilian emerging victorious. Standout home-country fighters on this card include Aldo, Vitor Belfort, Rousimar Palhares and Edson Barboza.
“I don’t know if there is any more pressure for Jose Aldo being the headline fight,” said UFC president Dana White. “I think, the fact that he is fighting in Brazil for the first time, not only in front of the crowd there in Brazil, which was crazy last time, but the amount of people watching in his home-country. Some guys thrive on that. I think Jose Aldo is one of these guys that this is something that will motivate him.”
Aldo was last seen defending his UFC title for the second time against Kenny Florian at UFC 136. He won a unanimous decision, which was his second in a row. His other title defense came against Mark Hominick at UFC 129.
For this bout, Aldo brought in former UFC lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard in hopes of preparing for the wrestling and takedown ability of Mendes, a former NCAA Division I wrestler. Mendes is 11-0 in his professional MMA career with two UFC wins over Michihiro Omigawa and Rani Yahya.
“Gray Maynard not only has the exact same style as Chad Mendes, but he is bigger and stronger,” White continued. “If Jose Aldo has been fighting off Gray Maynard’s takedowns and getting ready for those nasty takedowns because you know that’s all he is going to see.
“This is a big deal for Aldo, and hopefully, this is going to be the fight that is his breakthrough fight. He’s going to come out and pull out all the stops and be the Jose Aldo that everyone remembers.”
UFC 142 will be available on pay-per-view and feature a main card with Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes, Anthony Johnson vs. Vitor Belfort, Mike Massenzio vs. Rousimar Palhares, Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater and Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com