Event: UFC 142 Aldo vs. Mendes

Date: January 14, 2012

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Venue: HSBC Arena

Broadcast: Pay-per-view (10pm ET)

UFC 142: aldo vs. mendes Live Odds

UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes is an upcoming mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 14, 2012 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

The UFC recently returned to Brazil in August for UFC 134. It was the UFC's first show in the country since UFC 17.5 ("UFC: Ultimate Brazil"). The event sold out in just 74 minutes, and the UFC has vowed frequent return trips in the coming years.

In the main event of the evening, Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight championship against top contender and suffocating wrestling Chad Mendes. In addition, super popular Brazilian banger Vitor Belfort will get his chance to show off in front of his native fans against middleweight debutant Anthony Johnson.

Current champion Jose Aldo has had a death grip on the featherweight division for over two years and most recently thwarted Kenny Florian’s attempt to wrest the crown from the 145 pound king. Though Ken-Flo was able to launch a few vicious elbows it was a walk in the park for Aldo compared to the war he endured with Mark Hominick in April.

Jose Aldo had controlled the early rounds and had the challenger virtually out on his feet but Hominick refused to die. By the final round, Jose Aldo was on the receiving end of the punishment and hung on for dear life as he weathered a furious assault to retain the belt.

Aldo has not fought in his native Brazil in over 4 years and that was before he was fighting in the big leagues of MMA. In order to sharpen up his mat attack, Aldo has extended an invitation to top lightweight contender Gray Maynard to share some of his world class grappling techniques. He will need all the help he can get as his opponent has an affinity for taking the fight to the ground and keeping it there.

Chad Mendes is a former Division 1 All-American wrestler who has made a living by deftly avoiding the big strikers and making them pay when the fight hits the mat. He will need to employ the same strategy when he fights for the title as Jose Aldo has an arsenal of stinging Muay Thai blended seamlessly with a decent BJJ game that allows him to deal effectively with the mat masters of the sport.

This fight will feature a contrast in styles. The champion will do his level best to keep the fight standing up where he can school Mendes with his lethal straight rights, flying double knees and every other bone jarring strike in his repertoire. Mendes will need to avoid getting caught in a stand and trade contest that he simply cannot win.

UFC 142 adds Stanislav Nedkov vs. Fabio Maldonado to Brazil card:

A light-heavyweight bout between Bulgarian fighter Stanislav Nedkov (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Brazil's Fabio Maldonado (18-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has been added to January's UFC 142 event.

Nedkov, a former World Victory Road/Sengoku fighter, recently made his UFC debut and scored a first-round TKO of Cane at UFC 134. He's now undefeated at 12-0, and 10 of his wins have come via stoppage. His past victories have come over the likes of Kevin Randleman, Travis Wiuff and Kamen Georgiev.

Maldonado, who's also boxed professionally, made his UFC debut a little more than a year ago and scored a TKO victory over James McSweeney. However, his 11-fight win streak recently came to an end with a unanimous-decision defeat to Kyle Kingsbury in June at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.

Sign up at BookMaker Sportsbook and get betting odds to win the UFC 142 fights and information about this and all other sporting events!

UFC 142 MAIN CARD:

José Aldo vs Chad Mendes

Vitor Belfort vs Anthony Johnson

Rousimar Palhares vs Mike Massenzio

Erick Silva vs Siyar Bahadurzada

Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim

UFC 142 PRELIMINARY CARD:

Thiago Tavares vs Sam Stout

Paulo Thiago vs Mike Pyle

Fabio Maldonado vs Stanislav Nedkov

Rob Broughton vs Edinaldo Oliveira

Felipe Arantes vs Antonio Carvalho