Penick's Take
PENICK: UFC 142 post-fight notebook - Aldo thrills, Belfort moves toward Silva rematch(es), UFC on Xbox Live, and more
Jan 15, 2012 - 9:15:46 PM PENICK: UFC 142 post-fight notebook - Aldo thrills, Belfort moves toward Silva rematch(es), UFC on Xbox Live, and more

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC 142 didn't receive a ton of hype in North America, and as it competed with the NFL playoffs on Saturday night, the card was likely one of the least purchased events for the UFC in years. Despite that, those that tuned in for the pay-per-view card were treated to one of the most exciting main-cards in UFC history.

--Jose Aldo cemented his status as the best featherweight in the world with his most thrilling UFC performance. After being taken to the limit by Mark Hominick in April and following a five-round gameplan against Kenny Florian, knocking out Mendes the way he did was his coming out party to UFC fans. Those who haven't caught his WEC run - and to be fair those same people probably didn't watch on Saturday night - haven't seen the type of damage he can do to his opponents nor the spectacular finishes he can provide. He showed any doubters what he's capable of with that fantastic knee to send Mendes to the ground, and he's such a great finisher when he has an opponent in trouble that he was able to accomplish that finish within the final ten seconds of the round. It was an excellent statement and highlight for Aldo, and a legitimate star-making performance if the UFC can expose it to more fans.

--Vitor Belfort may yet get another shot at Anderson Silva. Though Anthony Johnson came in well over weight, leading to him gassing early, Belfort still looked good in weathering the early storm before taking over late in the first round. He forced Johnson to cover up, then took the opening Johnson gave him to lock on his first submission win in almost 11 years. If he smashes Wanderlei Silva as he'll be expected to do in June, the UFC may honestly consider bumping him ahead of Michael Bisping (if Bisping beats Demian Maia), even though he just lost to Silva last February. This was a good win for him in a crappy situation with Johnson's weigh-in issues, and it started off what could be a highly entertaining and successful year for Belfort in 2012.

--Rousimar Palhares is going to get another chance to break into the top end of the middleweight division after his win over Mike Massenzio, and he's going to need to make the most of it this time. He lost a decision to Dan Henderson and was knocked out by Nate Marquardt in his first two trips to upper tier competition, but he's shown time and time again he's got a vicious skill set that can bring him success. If he can show that he can accomplish that against a higher level of competition moving forward, he's definitely got the ability to snatch a leg on anyone in the UFC.

--Erick Silva's going to get a chance to appeal his disqualification loss to Carlo Prater with UFC executive Marc Ratner, who is in charge of commission-like duties for the UFC's overseas events. Silva was paid his win bonus by the UFC, who didn't agree with referee Mario Yamasaki's call that several shots were to the back of the head, and because of that he might be successful in getting it overturned to a "no contest." What is unfortunate is just how inconsistent certain rules are applied. Silva didn't land any more egregious "back of the head" strikes than Vitor Belfort has in two of his more recent wins, nor did they look any worse than what happens in so many fights when a fighter turtles up. Still, several shots did land to the back of the head, and Yamasaki made the call based on the rules as he saw them. Again, unfortunately inconsistent for Silva's sake, but he still got his win bonus from the organization after a second-straight quick and brutal performance.

--There aren't enough superlatives to shower on Edson Barboza for that spinning wheel kick he landed on Terry Etim. It was a thing of beauty, and one of the most brutal one-shot knockouts in UFC history. Etim crashed hard in the same vein as Nate Quarry against Rich Franklin and Sean Salmon against Rashad Evans, perhaps even more than those two. It was just an incredible strike, with an amazing visual to go along with it. Barboza's got a highlight reel finish for the ages, and he's going to get another big step up the ladder in his next fight.

--Final note: after the UFC on Xbox Live app failed for UFC 141, things went smoothly on Saturday for this event. They offered all those who registered for UFC 141 to access this card for free, and the stream looked excellent all night. The only negative at this point is the fact that the stream was a few minutes behind the broadcast on pay-per-view itself. It doesn't seem like a big issue, but in this day and age of social networking and immediate Twitter reaction to fights, it means those watching on Xbox needed to go out of their way to avoid being spoiled on a finish minutes before it happened on their screen. Again, not a huge issue, but it is something that can, and hopefully will, be improved upon for future broadcasts.