The UFC 142 event set to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is taking shape and almost finalized. The UFC announced two featherweight fights that will take place on January 14th. Featherweights Yuri Alcantara and Michihiro Omigawa will face off, as well as featherweights Felipe Arantas and Antonio Carvalho.
Alcantara(26-3) is a Brazilian featherweight who made his UFC debut back at UFC 134 which also took place in Brazil. Alcantara took a unanimous decision win over Felipe Arantas who is also on this card. Alcantara is known for finishing fights as that was only his fourth time ever allowing a fight to go to the judges.
Michihiro Omigawa(13-10) is a Japanese MMA veteran who has fought in several different promotions over his career. Omigawa was successful in his last outing, winning a unanimous decision over Jason Young at UFC 138. Omigawa is heavily respected despite his near .500 record, as almost all of his loses have been via judges decision.
Felipe Arantas(13-4) is a Brazilian featherweight who made his UFC debut back at UFC 134, losing to the aforementioned Yuri Alcantara. He took the bout on short notice when Antonio Carvalho had to pull out of the fight because of an injury. Arantas had won seven consecutive fights prior to that bout, finishing four of those opponents.
Antonio Carvalho(13-4) is a Canadian featherweight who will be making his UFC debut against Felipe Arantas. Carvalho was originally scheduled to debut against Yuri Alcantara at UFC 134, but was pulled from the bout due to an injury as mentioned earlier. Carvalho was victorious in his last outing, defeating UFC veteran Doug Evans via unanimous decision. Carvalho holds a notable split decision win over highly ranked featherweight Hatsu Hioki.
The UFC 142 card thus far is as follows:
- Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes(Featherweight Championship)
- Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
- Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
- Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim
- Fabio Maldonado vs. Stanislav Nedkov
- Erick Silva vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
- Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
- Antonio Carvalho vs. Felipe Arantas
- Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa