RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Jose Aldo stopped Chad Mendes with one devastating knee to the head with a second left in the first round Saturday night, defending his featherweight title in his homeland at UFC 142.
Aldo (21-1) spun and knocked the previously unbeaten Mendes senseless on his back with a perfectly timed right knee that caught Mendes (11-1) flush in the face. Aldo then landed two punches to Mendes’ defenseless head before referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout before the bell.
Aldo then bolted from the octagon and sprinted into the HSBC Arena crowd, which raised him on its shoulders to cap the UFC’s second event in Brazil in six months after a 13-year absence.
Brazil’s Vitor Belfort stopped Anthony Johnson with a first-round submission, and Rousimar Palhares beat Mike Massenzio with a first-round leglock.
