UFC 142 is happening live next Saturday night from HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is set up to be an exciting start to the New Year for Zuffa. Headlined by the world featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo (20-1) defending the belt in his homeland against undefeated challenger Chad Mendes (11-0). In addition to a fantastic main event, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (10-3) will make his middleweight division debut against the former UFC light heavyweight champion and native Brazilian, Vitor Belfort (20-9).
Hosting the conference call for media today, all four men involved in the mentioned fights were on hand and focused to show why they are the best at what they do. Jose Aldo has not been defeated since becoming the WEC champion, transitioning into the UFC champion once the companies merged and shows no sign of stopping.
“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,” says Aldo leading up to this fight. He is honored to put on a show for fans and family knowing he can come out victorious over another member of Team Alpha Male. Defending the belt against his training partner and coach Urijah Faber, the champion feels even more confident against the new challenger – “I found a few things in his game I can exploit. I’ve trained very hard for this fight; I never underestimate any fighter and want to remain as champion.”
Since starting in MMA a few years ago, dominant wrestler and explosive Chad Mendes has been on a roll, winning eleven consecutive fights and never tasting defeat. Ready for a war in Rio, he is unphased by the home court advantage he will be against come January 14th, “Going into the champion’s own backyard is exciting. There’s no doubt that he is the best fighter in this weight class. He has some things he is better at than others, but he’s got no ‘holes’ in his game. But I feel I am the same; I’ve sat down with Urijah Faber (coach and friend) and we have come up with a great plan.”
While he is living out a chance to become the best in the world at 145lbs, the realization of where he has come from is still important and evident to him, “I knew I would be good at this sport. But to get a title shot after 11 fights is just a dream. I get to travel all over the world. I know this is a short window in my life and I am loving every minute of it.” If there was a tagline to accompany this bout it would have to be, don’t blink. Two skilled fighters looking to prove they are the better of the two and in a place like Brazil, almost promise fight of the night honors.
Cutting weight from as much as 220lbs in his career, Anthony Johnson was able to cut down to the welterweight class and do damage there. The time has come to make life easier and develop a better fighter and is being done with a move to middleweight. “Fighting at this weight is a lot of fun for me. This is easy. I’m 215 pounds right now. I am looking forward to fighting as a middleweight and being a better athlete, a thousand times healthier than I was at 170 pounds.”
Strong wrestling and devastating knockout power that “Rumble” holds will be trouble for “The Phenom” come fight night and he needs to be anticipating a war with the AKA fighter. “You are going to see a new, more dangerous “Rumble” at 185 pounds.”
Starting 2010 by a highlight reel loss for the ages, Belfort bounced back with a knockout win over Yoshihiro Akiyama in the summer. Now in his backyard to make another quest for the title belt, he is determined to end Johnson’s dreams of a championship, “I am so happy to be fighting on this card. I have the coaching with The Ultimate Fighter Brazil coming up (after this fight) but I am 100 percent focused on this fight with Anthony.”
Bringing the name and status of MMA as he does to Brazil, he is hoping that the sport will continue to grow, becoming as successful as he feels it truly can, “I do believe UFC will surpass soccer as the No. 1 sport in Brazil. It has everything in place – the stars, the athletes – to become the biggest sport in the world. I think it will overtake every sport in the world. People deny that, but I think it is already happening. The Junior dos Santos fight in November had more Brazilian (TV viewers) than Brazil vs. Argentina (soccer match).”
UFC 142 is live next Saturday night from HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at 7pm PST/ 10pm EST. Check local providers for viewing details.
