Belfort vs Anthony Johnson set for UFC 142 Brazilian rumble

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Anthony "Rumble" Johnson will move up a weight class to compete in hostile territory against a former titleholder in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

He has a middleweight bout scheduled with Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort on Jan. 14 at UFC 142 in Brazil, the promotion announced Tuesday. Belfort, a Brazilian native who now resides in Las Vegas, has recovering from a recurring knee problem that forced him out of a Nov. 19 fight with Cung Le.

Johnson until now has competed in UFC as a welterweight, but he's one of the largest fighters in the 170-pound division. He has weighed as much as 230 pounds before starting a training camp, and once missed the welterweight cut by more than seven pounds.

But he probably won't have any size edge on Belfort, a former champion at light-heavyweight and heavyweight.

Belfort-Johnson puts together fighters known for their power.

Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama became Belfort's 14 knockout victim when he lost in August at UFC 133 in Philadelphia. Johnson has six knockouts in seven UFC victories, including an Oct. 1 first-round victory set up by a head kick on Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman.

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WOW!! That should be a fuckin fight!! How do you guys see this one going down?

Someone is getting KTFO.

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Those Brazilians that didn't get in on the party the first time around are slowly but surely being penciled in on the second trip to the South American country.

This time it's possibly the most famous of them all, as Vitor Belfort has been booked to sling leather against Anthony Johnson, who will be making the jump to middleweight (finally), at UFC 142 on Jan. 14.

UFC.com with the news:

"Verbal agreements in for what should be an explosive matchup as powerhouse Anthony ‘Rumble' Johnson moves up to middleweight to face ‘The Phenom' Vitor Belfort at the event," UFC president Dana White said.

Belfort was last in action this past Aug. 6 at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, cruising past Yoshihiro Akiyama via crushing first round knockout. It was his first win since his close encounter with Anderson Silva's foot back in February.

Now, though, he'll meet a strong wrestler -- with just as much power as "The Phenom" -- in his native land.



Anthony Johnson has long been fighting outside his "natural" weight class, having competed as a welterweight throughout his career.
There's just one problem with that -- he's a beast of a man that might actually belong at light heavyweight.

Life is about finding middle ground, though, and he's done just that by finally agreeing to move up to 185-pounds. He'll do so against a former champion and division title challenger. A win, combined with his two in a row at welterweight, would move him way up the ladder in a weight class light on challengers for the belt.

Anderson Silva vs. Anthony Johnson? Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but you never know.

UFC 142 will take place on Jan. 14, 2012, in Brazil. The main event will feature Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo defending his title against undefeated wrestler Chad Mendes.

Saucy

Rumble will not trade with Belfort. Rumble was afraid to trade with Dan Hardy at ww. He tried to for the first minute of the fight and then lay and prayed on him the rest of the time. So I highly doubt he will trade with Belfort.

Rumble will win by UD or Belfort wins by knock out.

On a side note, why would he want to go up in weight when you are so massive for 170. I just don't get that.

Gecko is absolutely right.
There is no way an intelligent Johnson will have the game plan to stand and trade with Belfort. I think Belfort is the best pure striker to ever grace the sport of MMA.

Johnson will go for takedowns and likely win by a decision from keeping a dominant position in top control.
If Vitor can somehow prevent a takedown, he will KO Johnson early.

As for the weight jump. Guessing it's probably just getting too tough for him to continue cutting so much weight.

Gecko wrote:

Rumble will not trade with Belfort. Rumble was afraid to trade with Dan Hardy at ww. He tried to for the first minute of the fight and then lay and prayed on him the rest of the time. So I highly doubt he will trade with Belfort.

Rumble will win by UD or Belfort wins by knock out.

On a side note, why would he want to go up in weight when you are so massive for 170. I just don't get that.

I forgot about the Hardy fight so you're probably right. After the fight was over he was saying to Rogan "Yeah we knew he was dangerous standing up so we wanted to take him out of his element blah blah blah"... which sucks. Sucks for the fans who want to see a guy get KO'd, at least. My guess is that he's really drained at 170 and has a tough time with the cut, but unlike Alves he actually would make a good MW.