Here are my heroes, goats, and sympathetic figures from UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.
HEROES:
Jose Aldo
The featherweight champion showed why he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and most dangerous strikers around. You can’t let your guard down against him for one second — even if it’s one second left in a round.
The lighter weight classes have always put on exciting fast-paced fights, but to have one who can also knock you out in a flash like the heavyweights do… that’s like having the best of both worlds.
Junior was a star with his lightning-quick fists (and his quick knee) and then elevated himself to superstar status with his even swifter beeline to the crowd, where he was treated like a hero by the fans in the arena in what was a truly transcendent image.
That capped off a night in which Brazilian fighters went 9-3 (with two of those losses in all-Brazilian matchups). And then the fans were treated to the Rio version of the Lambeau Leap.
Vitor Belfort
Once Anthony Johnson disrespected him and the fans by missing weight, vilifying himself to the crowd already on the Brazilian’s side, it just seemed there was no way he was going to lose this one. Not on his home soil.
While he was taken down a couple of times early, he was able to use his experience to hang in and work from his guard and he actually outstruck Johnson by a significant margin. He also waited for his opportunity and once Johnson got tired (presumably from the whole weigh cut problems), Belfort took advantage and executed a fine rear naked choke for the victory — and well-deserved celebration.
Edson Barboza
The 25-year-old striker came into the night undefeated in nine career bouts. He made it a perfect 10 with a kick worthy of such a score.
In fact, according to UFC announcer Joe Rogan, his was the first spinning wheel kick knockout in the history of the UFC. And the replay of victim Terry Etim immediately going limp and falling flat on his back was unlike any I’ve seen before.
In the post-fight interview, Barboza was quick to thank Jesus Christ for the spectacular victory. (Someone had to, considering Tim Tebow wasn’t on this particular night.)
The old guard
While young guys like Barboza, Thiago Tavares and Felipe Arantes had nice wins, it was an even more impressive night for the veterans. Rousimar Palhares, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mike Pyle (as well as Belfort) all had nice stoppages.
Palhares earned submission of the night, while Gonzaga was particularly impressive as well, looking resurgent in his return to the UFC, overcoming the big height and reach disadvantage of a younger fellow countryman in Ednaldo Oliveira and sealing a solid submission.
GOATS
Anthony Johnson
He misses weight by an embarrassing 11 pounds, offers no apology, then shows up fight night and competes with half the energy he typically has. He gives up his back late in the first and taps out to a choke with 11 seconds to go in the round. I expect he may have also tapped out from his UFC career.
I don’t know how much the medical issue was really to blame, but he probably shouldn’t have put himself in the position where the weight cut on the final day caused him to feel “off.” After the fight, UFC president Dana White said they’re probably going to cut him. “Three strikes and you are out. This is his third time that he hasn’t made weight.”
Referees
While I’ve praised Belfort and derided Johnson, the latter may have actually been hurt by some bad decisions by referee Dan Miragliotta, who stood the fight up pretty quickly three times in the first round, despite Johnson holding dominant positions.
But that was nothing compared to the controversy that emerged in the Erick Silva-Carlo Prater bout. Silva came out firing and put Prater down within the first half-minute, forcing a stoppage from referee Mario Yamasaki at 0:29 after a half-dozen strikes to the head.
However, he then said that he was disqualifying Silva for illegal blows to the back of the head. Replays showed he MAY have grazed the back of the head a couple times with his punches, but they were pretty inconsequential and it’s hard to say if they were even hitting the part of the head that would make them illegal (the 1-inch wide area from the crown of your head to the base of your neck). How many times have we seen a fighter graze the back of another’s head just before a stoppage without it being called never complained?
Not to mention Yamasaki never issued a warning. Joe Rogan questioned him about it, and he said he had to make a call in the moment (he can’t consult the replay). Many on Twitter (including myself) thought it was the wrong call. (And I personally didn’t have a problem with Rogan criticizing him either.)
SYMPATHETIC FIGURES
Erick Silva
The Brazilian was mostly likely robbed of an emphatic victory. This is not the same as Jon Jones against Matt Hamill, when Jones had his opponent already crushed and then he intentionally employed an illegal 12-to-6 elbow (though it seemed without realizing it was illegal) to add more damage to an already bloodied opponent. That was a fair DQ. Silva’s illegal blows were so inadvertent (if they even happened at all) that it’s really a shame they were called.
Chad Mendes
He fought really hard and had a great chance to stay undefeated and dethrone the champ. Unfortunately, in one of his best attempts to take Aldo down, Aldo grabbed the fence to prevent it. Aldo was warned, but it was too late.
Later, with little time to go, Mendes was working for another one, probably thinking he could seal a round and not expecting to be in any danger himself. He didn’t account for the quickness of Aldo, who had him down in seconds and knocked out literally a moment before the horn sounded. Yamasaki probably could have let it go an extra second. But he didn’t. (Not that it was the wrong call this time, it’s just that it could have gone either way).
Sam Stout
Much like Mark Hominick last month in Toronto, many people (not just Canadians) were pulling for Sammy in this fight considering what he and his camp had to go through this year after the death of their good friend and coach Shawn Tompkins. Stout didn’t make a silly mistake like Mark did, but he still didn’t look as good as expected in the first round.
Having said that he came back strong in the second and third and some thought he was robbed of the decision. Not me. While I did score the fight 29-28 for Stout while it was happening, looking back at the second-round stats, I now favour Thiago Tavares. He landed more strikes, and at a higher percentage, and had the more powerful shots. And he did more damage, opening up a cut.
While it would have been nice to see Stout get his hand raised and dedicate the win to Shawn, I think he made everyone who knew them proud nonetheless.