Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
In the co-main event of UFC 142, Vitor Belfort overcame a number of hurdles before the bout and managed to submit huge opponent Anthony Johnson late in the first round. Johnson missed weight badly, coming in at 197 pounds after his weight cut went wrong due to some sort of medical issue. The win came in front of Belfort's home crowd in Rio, who went bonkers when the referee stopped the bout.
Johnson was the aggressor early, throwing wild strikes and getting a takedown. He landed one big shot on the ground, but Vitor locked him down and earned the standup from the ref. Belfort's eye was swollen, but he managed to get a few shots in on Rumble while being held against the cage. Another separation led to a quick Johnson takedown, but again he was able to do nothing and Mirgliotta quickly reset them. Johnson was visibly gassed and fell to his knees after throwing a kick, which led Belfort to eventually take his back, land some punches, and sink in a rear naked choke. Johnson tapped at 4:49 of the first round.
What was the high spot of this fight?
Probably the crowd reaction to the tap. Other than that, the shot that Rumble landed on Belfort landed on the ground was pretty brutal. That is what caused all the swelling around Vitor's eye.
Where do these guys go from here?
It's pretty easy to guess where Johnson's going - to the unemployment line. Dana White announced after the fight that Rumble would be released because this was the third time he had missed weight in the UFC. It was especially egregious because the fight was Johnson's first at middleweight. He moved up in weight so he wouldn't have these issues, and he couldn't even make 185 either. While I certainly expect to see him back in the UFC one day, for now he'll be looking for a place to fight. Hector Lombard vs. Anthony Johnson in Bellator, perhaps?
It's also pretty easy to state where Belfort is going from here. He is scheduled to be one of the coaches on the first Brazilian version of The Ultimate Fighter, and will face off with opposing coach Wanderlei Silva afterwards. Vitor and Silva have famously met once before, way back at UFC Brazil in 1998. Belfort stopped Silva by TKO in just 44 seconds.
Watch it now, later or never?
Now. Like the rest of the main card, this fight was full of action and ended early. You can also decide whether Mirgliotta's standups were justified or too quick.
UFC 142 Results: Wallid Ismail Reacts To Erick Silva DQ - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Six Fights To Make After Aldo Vs. Mendes - Ben Thapa
UFC 142 Results: Anthony Johnson Cut Following Loss To Vitor Belfort - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Winners, Losers, And Other Thoughts - Matt Roth
UFC 142: Rosi Sexton On Anthony Johnson And The Risks Of Weight Cutting - Bloody Elbow
UFC 142 Results: Anthony Johnson 'Likely Cut' Following Loss To Vitor Belfort - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 142 Results Video: Jose Aldo Vs. Chad Mendes Full Fight Highlights - Bloody Elbow
UFC 142: Aldo Vs. Mendes Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 142 Results: Jose Aldo Knocks Out Chad Mendes Then Celebrates In Crowd - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Vitor Belfort Defeats Anthony Johnson By Rear Naked Choke - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Rousimar Palhares Takes Home Mike Massenzio's Leg - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Erick Silva Disqualified In Fight With Carlo Prater - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Results: Edson Barboza Knocks Out Terry Etim With A Wheel Kick - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Post-Fight Press Conference Video - Tim Burke
Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - Episode 122: UFC 142 Results Review - Matt Bishop
UFC 142 Results: Thiago Tavares Defeats Sam Stout by Uanimous Decision - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Aldo Vs. Mendes Results: Gabriel Gonzaga Chokes Out Edinaldo Oliveira - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Aldo Vs. Mendes Results: Mike Pyle Knocks Out Ricardo Funch In First Round - Matt Roth
UFC 142 Aldo Vs. Mendes Results: Felipe Arantes Dominates Antonio Carvalho - Matt Roth
UFC 142: Aldo Vs. Mendes - Live Results And Play-By-Play For PPV - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 142: Aldo Vs. Mendes - Live Results And Play-By-Play For Undercard - Brent Brookhouse
0 recs | 40 comments
BE did a great job covering UFC 142.
mma.ly - January 16, 2012
I think we'll see
Rumble vs. Daley
Aaron Picar - January 16, 2012
lol and which weight class will they both fail to make weight at?
Rob Young - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Rumbleweight. Then Daley can cheapshot Rumble after he misses weight.
Aaron Picar - January 16, 2012
That woujld be a great fight honestly…unless Rumble decided to wrestle of course…
SentientAndroid - January 16, 2012
I rewatched the card Dan stood up rumble when he was in guard for 40 seconds without an attempt to pass both times.
I think MMA should have an unwritten 45 second guard rule. NO stand ups from the ground unless your in full guard for 45 seconds or longer. Side mounts, half mounts, and legs thrown over the shoulder for triangle/armbar attempts reset the clock.
This way “inactive” from the guard wont be so subjective, as each ref has their own ideas what that means. We must take the subjectivity out of reffing.
terzergoss - January 16, 2012
Reffing will always be subjective
That is never going to change.
discoandherpes - January 16, 2012
Whats the rule for referee stoppage due to swelling of the eye? Does the ref have to stop it if he cant see out of it or is partial vision ok?
Day Man - January 16, 2012
I think it’s down to the doctor’s discretion. If the eye is completely swollen shut, then the fight normally gets stopped – ie Fedor vs. Silva. But if there is still partial vision, I think the fight is generally allowed to continue.
@KatanaClothing - January 16, 2012
That’s what I figured – I just think its interesting that normally the fight wouldn’t have been stood up so quickly and it would have gone to the end of the round where a doctor would have looked at his eye and had to make a decision
Day Man - January 16, 2012
Those standups were bad and when rumble had vitor against the cage he breaks it that fast.. now see I thought mirgliotta did good in the Kimbo Thompson fight but he was horrible Saturday I don’t ever want to see him ref a fight again
psychoblack - January 16, 2012
Slap yourself
Those standups were warranted and were refreshing to see. I’m sick of people getting takedowns and then running the clock while just laying on top of their opponents failing to mount any kind of significant offense or improve their position. Dan Miragliotta did a great job in this fight in my opinion, and u mad that rumble got faded.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012 via mobile
No excuses Rumble lost fair and square
But he stood them up to damn fast, you can’t say that Dan breaking up the clinch against the fence was alright.. You don’t even know what fade mean slap yoself.. You agree with the standups because your one of those ppl holding a grudge because rumble missed weight and that blatant hate is blinding you
psychoblack - January 16, 2012
regardless if those standups are refreshing to see, it clearly seems like there is some sort of double standard is AJ gets stood repeatedly when Volkmann can just volkman bell to bell
Robert V-U - January 16, 2012
true.
I wish Volk would’ve been stood up just as fast one the ref caught on to what he was doing.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
*once the ref caught on
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
Over or under that the Vitor vs. Silva fight will last longer or shorter with the same result????
Mr.Kib - January 16, 2012
Either way he’ll get ran through again.. He ain’t on silva level matter of fact nobody in the mw division is
psychoblack - January 16, 2012
I meant The Axe Murderer…the next guy Vitor is going to be fighting, but what you say is the truth….in this comment at least.
Mr.Kib - January 16, 2012
A few people on BE reckon the Vitor against Wanderlei fight hasn’t actually been confirmed, only that they’ll coach against each other. I don’t mind them coaching opposing teams, but the fight is one of the most brutally one sided matches that can be made in the UFC.
sheikybaby - January 16, 2012
The mismatch is why I find it so intriguing, like Palhares vs Massenzio. One guy is clearly on another level, and I expect a pretty spectacular finish.
Baby Wads - January 16, 2012
Vitor
Is going to murder the Axe Murderer.
taptomyarmbar - January 16, 2012
Yeah, I dunno how I managed to miss the news that Vitor and Wandy are going to coach TUF because I check BE pretty much every day but I’m not sure this one will even go the 44 seconds the last fight did.
Vitor’s hands are still lightening fast, the moment he touches Wandy it’s done.
NE188 - January 16, 2012
Sick KO coming
Hopefully it’s Wandy’s last fight, because it might take him months to wake up if Vitor lands one on him
taptomyarmbar - January 16, 2012
To be clear, it’s not the TUF that airs in the States, it’s a new version down in Brazil.
Fraser Coffeen - January 16, 2012
TUF will be hard work
With subtitles – time to learn portugese
taptomyarmbar - January 16, 2012
For sure... Learning a new language is hard work, but its good for your brain
Btw… All though I liked all the fights on this card, the Vítor vs Rumble fight was the one that got the adrenaline pumping and I found my self rooting for Vitor, i found that odd, since I don’t care about either fighter. Maybe it was the whole weightcutting situation, that swayed me in Vitors Direction
Hugin - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I’d learn Portugese just to see if that female translator they had at 142 is as bad as she seems. She seemed awful.
taptomyarmbar - January 16, 2012
Sorry if this is a stupid question
But does that mean there is a TUF going to air in the US/UK with X weightclass/ X/Y as coaches…along with a seperate TUF airing in Brazil with Wandy/Vitor? Or is this years TUF simply set in Brazil, entirely Brazilian fighters and will be subtitled? I’m assuming the latter as opposed to running two seperate TUF’s essentially at once.
NE188 - January 16, 2012
The former. TUF as we know it will be with Faber and Cruz coaching. In Brazil, they’ll get their own TUF with Vitor and Wand.
Fraser Coffeen - January 17, 2012
Thanks for that
Also very interesting. Are we going to see the Brazilian TUF or is it only being aired over there? I can imagine a Brazilian TUF being far more exciting fight wise. I know that’s probably a silly assumption to make on my behalf but I just get the feeling it would be worthwhile viewing.
NE188 - January 18, 2012
Vitor's swelling
I was under the impression his swelling came from that nosedive he took to the mat when his foot got stuck on AJs shoulders. The punch to the face likely worsened it.
deathbydegrees20 - January 16, 2012
While the standups had little to do with the outcome
As far as I am concerned, to say they weren’t a bit premature is a little absurd. Johnson is te kind of guy who can easily do damage from the guard, and if there’s one thing Tito Ortiz showed us, it’s that you can beat the breaks off of someone from in their guard.
I think the fact that AJ pissed off the mma universe is coming into play here. It’s not as if he was getting his Tyron Woolley on. Either way, he broke mentally an gave up on himself, he didn’t even try to defend the choke. To say I was underwhelmed by every aspect of his performance would be an understatement.
JaeeJaee - January 16, 2012 via mobile
This was a really good fight
I was really impressed with Vitor! Both men came out really aggressive (Johnson at first), but towards the end of the fight when Vitor had Johnson backing up, he instantly poured on the aggression and threw a kick that caught Johnson on the shoulder. If we would’ve had another round or two of that, I think it definitely would’ve been fight of the night.
SentientAndroid - January 16, 2012
I think we were watching different fights.....
Rumble realized he didn’t have a hope in hell on the feet and then went for takedowns. One problem….he had no gas to do anything. He quit because he knew it was the easy way out in the choke. He didn’t wanna stad up again and get KO’d. Fight of the night if it went 2 more rounds? Wishful thinking IMO.
Taiter - January 16, 2012
I was watching the same fight as sentient android.
Rumble gassed and that was what made the difference. Once he lost steam he realized vitor had plenty of juice and he no longer wanted to be there.
JaeeJaee - January 16, 2012 via mobile
:(
idk man, they were really going at it. True enough Johnson gassed, but it wasn’t on the same level as Kimbo/Houston Alexander gassing.
SentientAndroid - January 16, 2012
No it wasn't on the same level as those two.....
……but it wasn’t good.
Taiter - January 16, 2012
Rumble is a Disgrace!
and Wand is going to get murdered. I really don’t wanna see that happen but it’s going to. Terrible fight for Wand and really does nothing for Vitor other than fill his pockets…..which I guess is great for Vitor.
Taiter - January 16, 2012
If anything, the stand ups were beneficial to Johnson. If the fight went to the second round, Rumble most likely would be dead tired and getting knocked out badly.
dancingChicken - January 16, 2012
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