UFC 142: Fighter Grades

This past Saturday night, Jose Aldo proved that not only is he the best featherweight in the world, but also one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA when he knocked out No. 1 contender Chad Mendes in the final second of the first round.

Also, Vitor Belfort proved size is overrated, as he submitted an extremely overweight Anthony Johnson in the first round of their "middleweight" bout.

In other action, Edson Barboza scored what will be the knockout of the year when he landed a wheel kick that sent Terry Etim in to la-la land. Erick Silva got, what most believe, robbed of a knockout victory over Carlo Prater, and Rousimar Palhares added another leg to his trophy case when he submitted Mike Massenzio.

Once again, it's time to take a look at the performances of each main card fighter and hand out some grades.

All photo props: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Jose Aldo: A+

For 4:59, Jose Aldo took Chad Mendes to school and gave him a lesson in "being a pure wrestling with weak stand-up can't take out one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world."

Aldo stuffed all of Mendes' takedown attempts with ease, easily out-struck Mendes and finished him off with a spinning knee. Aldo even landed a right hand just for good measure.

During the post-fight show on Fuel TV, former featherweight title contender Kenny Florian said there is nobody at featherweight that can dethrone Aldo.

Would anyone argue with him?

Edson Barboza: A

Wow.

That's really all you can say about Edson Barboza after his incredible wheel kick knockout of Terry Etim. Barboza easily won the first round, a case could easily be made that he won the second, and then the fireworks went off in the third when he knocked Etim in to next week.

Barboza is for real, folks. Look for him to make some major waves in 2012.

Carlo Prater: D-

Carlo Prater got owned, plain and simple. The only reason he did not get an F is because he technically won his bout against Erick Silva.

In the process of getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter, Silva landed what seemed to be a few glancing blows to the back of Prater's head. Even though there have been fighters who have beaten on the back of their opponents head much worse and got nothing more than a point deduction, the referee decided to disqualify Silva.

It took Prater 40 fights to step inside the Octagon for the first time. Even though he "won," don't be shocked if Prater is one-and-done in the UFC.

Terry Etim: C-

While Terry Etim was on the wrong end of one of the most amazing head kick knockouts ever, he did put up a good fight against Edson Barboza.

Etim did lose the first round, but a case could definitely be made that he won the second round. However, his hopes of winning the fight came to a screeching halt when Barboza's heel connected with his chin.

Etim is still a player at lightweight, but he has some work to do before he is ready to make another attempt to climb back toward the elite of the division.

Erick Silva: B++++++++++

Erick Silva is an absolute animal, as evident in his bout against Carlo Prater. Silva relentlessly mauled his over-matched opponent from the onset of the fight.

During the brutal beatdown, Silva landed a few questionable strikes to the back of Prater's head. Considering all the damage Silva did before landing those questionable shots, it's hard to imagining that anyone watching thought that Silva deserved to be disqualified.

Joe Rogan even pulled a Jim Gray after the fight and questioned the referee about the legitimacy of his decision. Even Dana White, via his Twitter account, thought the call was a load of you-know-what and gave Silva his win bonus.

Once again, Silva is another guy to keep on your radar.

Mike Massenzio: F

Let's be honest here: Mike Massenzio stood no chance against Rousimar Palhares.

To the surprise of nobody, he was taken down quickly, Palhares got a hold of a leg, and that was all she wrote.

Don't be surprised if Massenzio's second go in the UFC ends with this loss.

Anthony Johnson: Is There Anything Worse Than an F?

Oh Anthony Johnson, how many times can you fail in two days? Let me count the ways.

First, Johnson missed weight by 11 lbs. after moving up in weight. Vitor Belfort, to his credit, said he would take the fight anyway as long as Johnson didn't weigh more than 205 lbs. the morning before the fight. Johnson tipped the scales at 204.2, and the fight was on.

After missing weight, Johnson performed horribly. He landed a few good punches early that left Belfort with a right eye that was swollen shut, but that was about it. Belfort went on to own a gassed-out Johnson and submitted him with relative ease with a rear-naked choke.

Then after the fight, Dana White announced that Johnson was released after missing weight for a third time. There will be a promotion out there willing to take a risk with Johnson, but it is safe to say we'll have a man on Mars before Johnson is fighting in the UFC again.

Rousimar Palhares: A

In MMA, anything can happen on any given night, but did anyone have any doubts that Rousimar Palhares would actually lose to Mike Massenzio?

To many, this was seen as a showcase fight for Palhares. He made Massenzio look like he didn't even belong in the same building with him.

Another fight, another leg lock submission for Palhares. Props to my boy Rob Tatum for calling this fight to a tee.

Chad Mendes: F

The only success Chad Mendes had in this fight were a few leg kicks early on. It's just too bad that Mendes' stand-up—for lack of a better term—sucks.

At no point was Mendes able to get Jose Aldo to the mat, where nearly everyone believed was his only chance of winning the fight.

After Aldo stuffed all of the takedown attempts, it went all downhill for Mendes. With just seconds left in the round, Aldo landed a knee, followed up with a right hand, and knocked out Mendes with one second left in the round.

Mendes was Team Alpha Male's last chance to dethrone the featherweight champion. He came nowhere close to defeating Aldo, or even putting up a decent fight.

Vitor Belfort: A+

Vitor Belfort gets an A for his fight, then he gets the "+" for having the testicular fortitude to take the fight against a light heavyweight.

After making the long-awaited move to middleweight, Belfort's opponent, Anthony Johnson, came in at the weigh-ins horribly overweight.

Even though Johnson was way overweight, he only had a six-pound advantage over Belfort when they stepped inside the Octagon. Despite that fact, Johnson still looked much larger than Belfort.

Belfort was able to survive the early onslaught from Johnson, then went on to submit his exhausted foe.

With this win, Belfort inches himself closer to another shot at the middleweight title.