As Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson made their way to the Octagon, there was an equal amount of pressure surrounding both competitors. Needless to say, Belfort was able to withstand the onslaught early on from Johnson and take advantage of his poor ca…
As Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson made their way to the Octagon, there was an equal amount of pressure surrounding both competitors. Needless to say, Belfort was able to withstand the onslaught early on from Johnson and take advantage of his poor cardio to secure the victory by applying a rear naked choke near the […]
For only the second time in his illustrious career, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort had the honor of fighting in front of his home crowd at UFC 142, Brazil. As he did almost 14 years ago, Belfort did not disappoint, defeating Anthony “Rumb…
For only the second time in his illustrious career, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort had the honor of fighting in front of his home crowd at UFC 142, Brazil.
As he did almost 14 years ago, Belfort did not disappoint, defeating Anthony “Rumble” Johnson via rear naked choke—his first submission in nearly 11 years and only the third in a career that has spanned almost 16 years.
The bout itself was shrouded in controversy, as Johnson—who was making his debut at 185 lbs, having jumped a weight class from welterweight—was found to be over the weight limit during the initial weigh-ins at 197 lbs.
Still, the fight went ahead as planned with Belfort coming in at 205 lbs and Johnson 211.6 lbs before the co-main event kicked off.
Even though he was roughed up a bit and taken to the mat on several occasions, Belfort still managed to lock in the winning submission.
The time: 4:49 of Round 1.
Following the loss, Johnson (10-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) was subsequently released from the Zuffa-based organization due to his failure to make the required weight.
Since his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 126, Belfort has amassed a two-fight winning streak.
Also, at UFC 142, The Phenom (21-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC) proved that he’s still a world-class mixed martial artist as well as a threat to anyone in the middleweight division.
That begs the question, how close is The Phenom to a tilt at the title?
Well first off, there’s a rematch with Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, whom he defeated via TKO at the inaugural UFC Brazil.
That fight is penciled in for later this year, after the finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, where both combatants will be the opposing coaches.
If Belfort is successful in that matchup, then a top-10 ranked fighter looms, or dependent on the middleweight picture at the time, it could be a straight title shot.
With that said, Belfort is one, maximum two fights away from a shot at the UFC middleweight crown.
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(Check out the Gifs after the jump of Edson Barboza’s one kick KO of Terry Etim) Lightweight fighter Edson Barboza (10-0) kept his record perfect by stopping British fighter Terry Etim via third round knockout in the opening pay-per-view bout of UFC 142. What made it significant was that he did it with a wheel […]
Edson Barboza (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
(Check out the Gifs after the jump of Edson Barboza’s one kick KO of Terry Etim)
Lightweight fighter Edson Barboza (10-0) kept his record perfect by stopping British fighter Terry Etim via third round knockout in the opening pay-per-view bout of UFC 142. What made it significant was that he did it with a wheel kick to become the first fighter in the promotions history to score victory by that method.
Barboza ended the fight at 2:02 of the third round and walked away with the “Knockout of the Night” bonus as well as the “Fight of the Night” bonus, for a total of $130,000.
Gifs courtesy of IronForgesIron.com. Hit the link for more Gifs from the rest of the nights action.
“This is the spirit I wanted to come out with tonight,” said Aldo. “The fans here gave me so much energy. We knew Chad was going to try to take me off my feet. We prepared for that and I had a chance to land the knee. It connected and I finished the fight. I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to celebrate with my people.”
UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo joined an exclusive club Saturday night after knocking out challenger Chad Mendes with one second left on the clock in the main event of UFC 142. The fifth straight title defense (WEC/UFC) puts him in an exclusive group of other dominant champions such as Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, and Tito Ortiz.
“This is the spirit I wanted to come out with tonight,” said Aldo. “The fans here gave me so much energy. We knew Chad was going to try to take me off my feet. We prepared for that and I had a chance to land the knee. It connected and I finished the fight. I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to celebrate with my people.”
UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo joined an exclusive club Saturday night after knocking out challenger Chad Mendes with one second left on the clock in the main event of UFC 142. The fifth straight title defense (WEC/UFC) puts him in an exclusive group of other dominant champions such as Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, and Tito Ortiz.
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson (10-4) was competing for his job Saturday (Jan. 14, 2012) night when he stepped into the Octagon to face Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 142. Johnson would end up losing via first round submission to Belfort, and has now apparently lost his job as well. UFC president Dana White […]
Anthony Johnson (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson (10-4) was competing for his job Saturday (Jan. 14, 2012) night when he stepped into the Octagon to face Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 142.
Johnson would end up losing via first round submission to Belfort, and has now apparently lost his job as well. UFC president Dana White confirmed the news with MMAjunkie.com following the UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes event.
“This is his third time,” White said of Johnson’s failure to make weight for the third time in his octagon career. “Three strikes and you’re gone.”
“That was one of the most unprofessional things I’ve ever seen,” White said. “The guy was at 170 pounds. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen anymore, and this is the worst weightcutting disaster he’s ever had. He almost ruined the co-main event here in Brazil. I don’t know what else to say about that one. I’m not happy about it.”
Just over twenty-four hours before, Johnson was just hours from hitting the scales on Friday night when something started to go wrong forcing a UFC physician to step in ordering ‘Rumble’ to rehydrate immediately.
So despite reportedly being 1.5-lbs from the 186-lbs limit for middleweight, Johnson was given a bunch of fluids which pushed his weight up to 197-lbs by the time he hits the scales.
In White’s latest video blog for the event, he breaks the news to a visibly shaken Belfort, who is staying on target for his weight cut by busily chewing on ice through a towel. In the end ‘The Phenom’ and his camp agree to contend the bout at light heavyweight, with Belfort still meeting his contractual weight (186-lbs) qualifying him for 20% of Johnson’s purse.
The failure to make weight was Johnson’s third infraction having failed to make weight twice as a welterweight at UFC 76 and UFC 104. The move to middleweight was supposed to have negated the possibility of ‘Rumble’ missing weight.
For only the second time in his illustrious career, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort had the honor of fighting in front of his home crowd at 
