Jose Aldo:
“There’s more attention and it is a great pleasure to defend my title in my home country. It means everything for me to come back fighting in my country as a champion.
I found a few things in his game I can exploit. I’ve trained very hard for this fight; I never underestimate any fighter and want to remain as champion."
Chad Mendes:
“Going into the champion’s own backyard is exciting. There’s no doubt that he is the best fighter in this weight class. He has some things he is better at than others, but he’s got no ‘holes’ in his game. But I feel I am the same; I’ve sat down with Urijah Faber (coach and friend) and we have come up with a great plan.
“When Urijah fought him, we didn’t red-flag his leg kicks, but obviously we have prepared for that in this fight."
Vitor Belfort
“I do believe UFC will surpass soccer as the No. 1 sport in Brazil. It has everything in place - the stars, the athletes - to become the biggest sport in the world. I think it will overtake every sport in the world. People deny that, but I think it is already happening. The Junior dos Santos fight in November had more Brazilian (TV viewers) than Brazil vs. Argentina (soccer match).
I am so happy to be fighting on this card. I have the coaching with The Ultimate Fighter Brazil coming up (after this fight) but I am 100 percent focused on this fight with Anthony."
Anthony Johnson
"It is an honor to fight in Brazil. I don’t mind fighting in anyone’s backyard, I am a fighter and the Octagon is the Octagon anywhere it is in the world.
Fighting at this weight is a lot of fun for me. This is easy. I’m 215 pounds right now. I am looking forward to fighting as a middleweight and being a better athlete, a thousand times healthier than I was at 170 pounds.
You are going to see a new, more dangerous “Rumble” at 185 pounds.”
Fightcard UFC: Rio
Featherweight bout
Felipe Arantes vs Antonio Carvalho
Heavyweight bout
Rob Broughton vs Edinaldo Oliveira
Light Heavyweight bout
Fabio Maldonado vs Stanislav Nedkov
Featherweight bout
Yuri Alcantara vs Michihiro Omigawa
Welterweight bout
Paulo Thiago vs Mike Pyle
Lightweight bout
Thiago Tavares vs Sam Stout
Lightweight bout
Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim
Welterweight bout
Erick Silva vs Siyar Bahadurzada
Middleweight bout
Rousimar Palhares vs Mike Massenzio
Middleweight bout
Vitor Belfort vs Anthony Johnson
Featherweight Championship bout
José Aldo vs Chad Mendes
