UFC 142 Fight Card: First Impressions from the First Great MMA Benchmark of 2012

Last night, UFC 142 “Aldo vs. Mendes” took place in front of a sold-out crowd at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a night filled with some of the UFC’s top and fastest-rising Brazilian stars, and they all delivered a night filled with dramatic finishes and awesome fights.

In the co-main events, both Vitor Belfort and Jose Aldo cemented their status as two of the best fighters in the UFC by completely destroyed their competition. Here's some early commentary for UFC 142 “Aldo vs. Mendes.”

Just like usual, the UFC put forth a really interesting preliminary card that had fast fights, great finishes and some hard-hitting wars. Unlike most prelim fights, though, only one fight took place on Facebook. This event gave us our first glimpse at what a UFC event on FX feels like.

And to be honest…it’s not bad. I didn’t really notice any differences in the presentation of the UFC on FX, and that’s a good thing.

In terms of prelims moments that stood out, I have to say I was pretty happy to see Gabriel Gonzaga back in the UFC and winning his return by thrilling submission. I’ve always been a semi-fan of Gonzaga ever since the famous/infamous “Cro Cop Killer Kick.” He’s a solid journeyman and could give most UFC Heavyweights a real challenge.

I wish him the best.

The main card of UFC 142 saw every single fight end via spectacular finish, with four straight fights ending in the first round. I watched with a good friend, and we both leaped out of our chairs and shouted when Edson Barboza connected with a wheel kick that knocked out Terry Etim.

I told my friend “that’s an early candidate for Knockout of the Year.” Now that I’ve had a chance to sleep on it, I still think that’s going to be one of the highlights of the year in terms of epic KO’s.

Me and my friend fiercely disagreed on the disqualification of Erick Silva, and I can admit that the fact that Carlo Prater is a “dark-horse favorite” of mine may be influencing my decision. But here’s what I believe: The shot that knocked out Carlo Prater was behind the head. Prater was in deep trouble and would’ve been finished anyway, but the actual shot that finished him was illegal.

And if the actual shot that finishes you is illegal, I think you should be disqualified. This is a topic I may decide to explore more in-depth in the future. But for now, I’m going against the grain and actually saying that Mario Yamasaki made the right call.

Regarding Rousimar Palhares, my pre-fight judgment was sound. I said that so long as Palhares didn’t do anything stupid, he’d probably finish the fight in the first round. Thankfully, Palhares’ penchant for bizarre actions didn’t follow him to Brazil.

Now that he’s finished another tough fighter, I think you could make a serious case for Vitor Belfort deserving a rematch with Anderson Silva.

I know the winner of the Chael Sonnen/Mark Munoz fight is getting the next shot, so I think Belfort will fight at least one more time in the meantime. But make no mistake: Belfort deserves a title shot right now. I just think that, realistically, he’ll choose to fight one more time rather than put himself on the sidelines for another long stretch of time.

And in the main event, Jose Aldo proved me dead wrong and finally finished somebody in the UFC. As a super-fan of the WEC-era Aldo, I couldn’t be happier to be proven wrong. I’m glad that the UFC faithful finally got to see the hyped wrecking machine all us WEC fanboys couldn’t stop talking about.

I can’t wait to see what’s next for Aldo in the UFC.

All in all, UFC 142 was a great event that rose above its shortcomings to become the first major benchmark that all other UFC events in 2012 will be measured up against.

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.