UFC 142: What happened in UFC's first pay per view event of 2012?
The Featherweight Championship was on the line in the headline bout of UFC 142 which hailed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Defending champion, Jose Aldo took on Chad Mendes in the main event. Mendes landed with a leg kick early but Aldo responded with a much harder one, which was so stiff, one wonders how it didn't shatter Mendes's leg.
Mendes wisely tried to take the champion down, but Aldo defended resolutely before another takedown attempt saw Aldo crash Mendes's ducked head with a huge knee and that was lights out for the challenger. Replayed over and over on highlight reels, that was one of the sickest KO's you will ever see.
The co-main event saw Brazilian legend, Vitor Belfort clash with Anthony Johnson in a Catchweight encounter after Johnson failed to make weight at Middleweight.
The larger Johnson caused Belfort no problems however as he handled his opponent with ease. Belfort withstood some early pressure from Johnson and landed some big strikes before hooking double under hooks for the rear naked choke and submission win.
Rousimar Palhares defeated Mike Massenzio in just one minute when he pulled guard and immediately went to work on Massenzio's right leg, securing the heel hook for the comprehensive victory.
An even more one-sided contest preceded that battle when Carlo Prater overcame Erick Silva in 30 seconds. In a bizarre twist, it was Silva who began more aggressively, charging Prater with a knee and jumping on him with punches to earn the win. Or so we thought. On replay, it showed that Silva had punched Prater in the back of the head one or twice in the flurry. Silva was disqualified and the bout was awarded to Prater. You don't see that every day. That fight was something that's for sure.
The opening bout was a Lightweight contest between Edson Barboza and Terry Etim. In a keenly fought bout, both men smashed each other with brain-rattling strikes before Barboza landed a stunning spinning wheel kick to knock the Liverpool born Etim out. Wow. That was brutal. Etim was out before he even hit the canvas. Stunning.
UFC 142, alike UFC 141 was another night on one-sided contests in the main but the opener and main event both featured highlight reel knockouts which make the event a must see.