Last time Jose Aldo Jr. set foot in the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, he put on a memorable show, as he ran over Chad Mendes with a knee, then ran into the crowd for a wild celebration with his fans at UFC 142.
There were no such histrionics on Friday for the UFC 163 weigh-ins, as both the UFC featherweight champion and his Saturday night challenger, Chan Sung Jung, made weight. Both hit the 145-pound title-fight limit.
Aldo (26-1), who is now the second-longest reigning current champion in the UFC, is making the seventh defense of his UFC/WEC title. His last bout was his unanimous-decision victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 156.
Aldo gave a nod to the Rio fans in his post-weigh-in interview. “I prove myself the crowd, the crowd will push me to go forward all the time,” Aldo said.”
Jung (13-3), meanwhile, is stepping in for original opponent Anthony Pettis. The 26-year old “Korean Zombie” has made his name as a scrappy, crowd-pleasing underdog and has won each of his past three fights via finish.
But he’s been out of action nearly 15 months, as his last win was his fourth-round submission of Dustin Poirier in the MMAFighting.com 2012 Fight of the Year.
The “Zombie” addressed his underdog status. “No matter what people might think, I am confident in my ability to win,” Jung said through an interpreter.
The weigh-ins went mostly without a hitch, as the only fighter to miss weight was John Lineker, who came in at 129 for his flyweight bout with Jose Maria Tome. Lineker chose to accept a fine of 20 percent of his purse to take the bout as a catchweight rather than attempt an additional weight cut.
PPV Main card:
Jose Aldo (145) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145)
Lyoto Machida (205) vs. Phil Davis (205)
Cezar Ferreira (185) vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos (183)
Thales Leites (185) vs. Tom Watson (185)
John Lineker (129) vs. Jose Maria Tome (126)
FX prelims:
Vinny Magalhaes (205) vs. Anthony Perosh (205)
Amanda Nunes (136) vs. Sheila Gaff (135)
Sergio Moraes (170) vs. Neil Magny (171)
Ian McCall (125) vs. Iliarde Santos (125)
Facebook prelims:
Rani Yahya (145) vs. Josh Clopton (145)
Ednaldo Oliveira (205) vs. Francimar Barroso (204)
Viscardi Andrade (170) vs. Bristol Marunde (171)