UFC 142 will be the first major event that kicks off the most important year in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. This show is also a big deal because it is the first time that a featherweight championship fight will headline a UFC pay-per-view with Jose Aldo taking on Chad Mendes.
Aldo looks to continue his climb to the top of the pound-for-pound mountain. He has made a smooth transition from WEC to UFC with two successful title defenses against Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian last year.
Mendes is making quite a name for himself in the 145-pound division. He has compiled a perfect 11-0 record thanks to his strong wrestling and efficient striking ability. He is not an exciting fighter, but at the end of the fight, he always finds a way to get his hand raised.
Where: HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When: Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10:00 p.m. EDT
Watch: Preliminary fights at 8 p.m. ET on FX, main card fights at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view; online pay-per-view streaming (must pay $44.99) at UFC.tv, Yahoo! Sports, UStream, Android or iPhone.
FIGHT CARD
Main Card
Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo (c) vs. Chad Mendes
Middleweight Bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
Middleweight Bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
Welterweight Bout: Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater
Lightweight Bout: Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim
Preliminary Bout
Lightweight Bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
Heavyweight Bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ednaldo Oliveira
Featherweight Bout: Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Welterweight Bout: Ricardo Funch vs. Mike Pyle
Featherweight Bout: Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho
Aldo’s Keys To Victory
Use speed and power in the stand-up, and avoid going to the ground.
Aldo has not shown the same explosiveness he did when he was in WEC. Perhaps it is a product of lingering injuries, or perhaps he is starting to lose a step or two.
He will have to get back to being the feared striker he was when he was defeating Cub Swanson, Mike Brown and Urijah Faber in order to keep up with Mendes for a five-round fight.
Mendes’ Keys To Victory
Avoid getting hit early, and work the fight to the ground.
Mendes does not have enough power nor is he strong enough standing to keep up with Aldo for 25 minutes. He has to fight the way he always does: He has to prevent big strikes and grind his opponent down until he can take him to the ground.
He is one of the best wrestlers in UFC and has shown he is not afraid to just work an opponent over for five rounds before letting the judges decide the outcome. He is going to have to do that again to walk away as featherweight champion.
What They Are Saying
You would think that fighting in your home country in front of thousands of fans who are there to see you headline a show would add more pressure, but Jose Aldo is doing his best to remain cool.
From MMAWeekly.com:
“There’s more attention and it is a great pleasure to defend my title in my home country. It means everything for me to come back fighting in my country as a champion,” Aldo said recently.
“This is where I started, just with dreams and hopes, and now I am back as a champion. It is a great feeling, but I will try to think about it after the fight. I still have to train hard and win this fight.”
Chad Mendes sounds like he has all the confidence in the world heading into this fight. He told the Las Vegas Sun that he does something better than any of Aldo’s recent opponents.
“I don’t think any of the guys that have fought him have had the wrestling credentials or wrestling abilities to be able to get a hold of him, get him down and keep him down,” Mendes said. “So I think my skills, the things I’m good at, are key to beating a guy like Jose Aldo.”
Undercard Fight To Watch: Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
I am going to go out on a limb and call this the fight of the night. Granted, there is some precedent here.
Tavares has been given the bonus three times in his career—interestingly enough, they all came in losses.
Stout has also won three Fight of the Night bonuses and a Knockout of the Night in his last fight at UFC 131.
These two will never be more than gatekeepers in UFC, but they also seem to put on exciting fights that more often than not end with someone on their back.
Main-Event Prediction
Mendes is going to be the biggest test of Aldo’s UFC career so far. He is a great wrestler who knows how to work an opponent into fighting his kind of match. He has what it takes to get Aldo down to the ground and hold him there for five rounds.
However, Aldo is a more complete fighter than Mendes. He has the ability to hit as hard and fast as anyone in the sport, and he will catch Mendes with a punch as he is coming in for a takedown to end the fight.
Aldo retains via second-round TKO
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