Brazilian MMA fans got a little taste of the old school alongside some new school to go with their fights Saturday at UFC 142, in Rio de Janeiro. As national treasure and MMA legend Vitor Belfort and his featherweight counterpart Jose Aldo, both reigned supreme in their co-main and main event fights, respectively.
Aldo, who became just the sixth man to finish a fight in the UFC with one second left in the first round, stormed out of the cage and into the crowd after his thrilling victory. With security pulling him away, and rabid fans tearing at his body, the kid they call Junior had the world of Mixed Martial Arts in his palm.
Coming into the fight the raucous mob of Brazilian fans were deafening as Aldo hit the runway for his walk-in. And by the time the two fighters met in the center of the cage to open the fight, the crowd was already chanting in a crescendo of perfect unison, “This is the spirit I wanted to come out with tonight. The fans here gave me so much energy,” said Aldo after his victory.
The first round was just a waiting game. He stalked, sprawled, and stymied his opponent, Chad Mendes, until the final moments when he struck from out of nowhere. Coming off a body lock which saw Mendes briefly have Aldo’s back, the Brazilian turned into his opponent effectively timing a knee that when he completed his rotation, met with Mendes’ chin.
And for Aldo, that’s exactly how he planned it, “We knew Chad was going to try to take me off my feet. We prepared for that and I had a chance to land the knee. It connected and I finished the fight.”
As for his epic post-fight celebration, one just has to smile, “I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to celebrate with my people.”
A truly great moment in MMA history, indeed.
Speaking of MMA history, think about this--when Vitor Belfort debuted in the UFC, I had just gotten Billy Madison on DVD, and I was still bummed about Melrose Place being canceled a few years earlier. Yeah, I watched Melrose Place, so what?
1997 doesn’t seem that long ago, and if tonight is any measuring stick, Vitor Belfort feels the same. Tonight, looking like the 19-year-old phenom, who burst on the scene all those years ago, secured his fourth first round stoppage in his last four wins, over an overmatched and underwhelmed Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.
“Rumble,” who had endured a difficult weight cut, was actually moving up in weight to avoid any complications. Previously fighting at welterweight, and now middleweight, Johnson couldn’t even make that on the day of weigh-ins. So the fight was ruled a catch-weight bout and 20% of Johnson’s purse was given to Belfort.
Ouch.
Not only did Johnson lose the cash, but he more importantly lost the fight. Early on in the fight it seemed as if Johnson had a chance. He peppered Belfort with some shots, and briefly had him in a spot of trouble, but as the round wore on, and Belfort took control, Johnson began to fade, “My legs just got really tired. I didn’t get beat up in there and he really didn’t hurt me with what he hit me with. I just got tired,” Johnson stated after the bout.
“A loss is a loss. I’ve got to figure this thing out,” he added as the look of obvious disdain was written across his face.
For Belfort, the fight ended with a submission, and not a KO which the former champion has been so accustomed to. No matter how the fight ended, for Vitor and his legions of fans this was about celebration, “I had the whole country (of Brazil) behind me and I could feel it in there tonight. Next to God and my family, my fans are one of the most important things to me. Rio, America, all over….I love my fans,” said Belfort.
After surviving some early pressure, it was obvious to Belfort what Johnson wanted to do in the fight, “I didn’t stop the entire fight. He kept trying to take me down and I kept fighting it. ‘Make him quit.’ That was my goal and I did just that.”
Both Aldo and Belfort are national treasures, who are headed in positive directions. For Belfort, this is his second win over a top opponent since losing to division kingpin Anderson Silva in February of ’11. Undoubtedly he will be at the top of the list for his long awaited re-match with Silva, if and when the “Spider” is ready to fight in 2012.
Aldo, who has supplanted himself among every respectable pound-for-pound list on the planet, is simply put, one of the best in the world. He’s 21-1 in his career, and hasn’t lost in 7 years. Not only that, he finishes most of his opponents and is undefeated in his UFC career. And with his amazingly memorable celebration at UFC Rio, chances are, he earned himself a few more die-hard fans.
What a night.
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