By Ryan Kester

UFC 142: Rio: Aldo vs. Mendes
Aired live on PPV from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janerio, Brazil

1. Edson "Junior" Barboza (9-1) vs. Terry Etim (15-3) [Lightweight Division]

Round One: 10-9 Barboza. Very close round with Etim scoring a couple of takedowns, but Barboza found his range and landed many more shots than Etim.

Round Two: 10-9 Barboza. Etim was the aggressor, but every time he got in Barboza's range he ate a leg kick or a combination.

Round Three: More of the same until Barboza hit a perfect spinning wheel kick. Etim was out on his feet.

Official Decision: Winner by KO at 2:02 of the third round, Edson Barboza

Ryan's Rant: Holy crap. That kick was insane. Etim seized up and there was no question the man was out. That was absolutely brutal.

2. Erick Silva (13-1-0, 1 NC) vs. Carlo "Neo" Prater (29-10-1) [Welterweight Division]

Round One: Silva pounced on Prater instantly and did not stop swinging until the referee pulled Silva off of him.

Official Decision: Winner by DQ, Carlo Prater.

Ryan's Rant: Silva just got robbed. Yamasaki DQed Silva when he was obviously moving around and doing his absolute best to blast the side of Prater's head. Yamasaki seemed to admit that it looked like the shots were illegal live, even though the replay did not support his decision.

3. Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares (22-3) vs. Mike "The Master of Disaster" Massenzio (13-5) [Middleweight Division]

Round One: Palhares caught Massenzio early and rolled right into a heel hook. Massenzio tried to withstand it, but Palhares forced Massenzio to tap.

Official Decision: Winner by submission in 1:03 of the very first round, Rousimar Palhares.

Ryan's Rant: Very, very impressive display from Palhares. This has been an excellent card so far.

4. Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (20-9) vs. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (10-3) [Middleweight Division]

Round One: Johnson landed several huge shots early, but Belfort fought back and stuffed a series of takedowns. Very late in the round, Belfort got Johnson's back and locked in a rear naked choke. Johnson was forced to tap.

Official Decision: Winner by submission at 4:04 of the very first round, Vitor Belfort.

Ryan's Rant: What a fight. Johnson was about as aggressive as he could be, but Belfort was able to stay ahead of him and finished in impressive fashion. Not a dull second in that entire fight.

5. Jose "Junior" Aldo (Record) vs. Chad "Money" Mendes (11-0) for the UFC Featherweight Championship

Round One: Mendes did his best to take Aldo down, but Aldo was simply too slippery to control. Late in the round, Also slipped out of a back clinch, spun, and clocked Mendes with a knee that knee that put him to sleep.

Official Decision: Winner by KO at 4:59 of the very first round, and still UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo.

Ryan's Rant: What a great end to an excellent show. Aldo was so overcome with emotion after the fight that he ran right out of the Octagon and dove into the crowd. The atmosphere of the Brazilian crowd has been brilliant.

Overall Show: You really couldn't have asked for more from a UFC PPV. Every fight except the first ended in the first round. Erick Silva still got robbed by the DQ decision, but this was still an exciting, phenomenal card. If you're a fan of long, drawn out wars, you may have been disappointed, but this card was very entertaining for this viewer.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow UFC fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: