Brazil vs. New Jersey, part two.
After Dan Miller went down on points to Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 last August, Mike Constantino will send another middleweight from "The Garden State," Mike Massenzio, to battle the Brazilian Yeti when the promotion returns to Rio de Janiero for UFC 142, currently scheduled for the HSBC Arena on Jan. 14, 2012.
MMA Die Hards first reported the 185-pound match-up on Tuesday.
In what has become a somewhat unsettling pattern, Palhares was dazed and confused in his win over Miller as part of the "Silva vs. Marquardt" event. "Toquinho" had the AMA Fight Club product mounted and was dropping bombs, but inexplicably rolled over, jumped for joy and declared himself the winner.
Much to the surprise of Miller, referee Herb Dean and just about everyone else who was watching. The fight was restarted and he came back to secure the judges' decision, but left a large portion of the MMA fan base scratching their heads.
And it wasn't the first time.
The stumpy submission specialist has made headlines with his bizarre behavior and questionable stoppages since his UFC debut back in 2008.
Just ask Tomasz Drwal, who was damn near dismembered at UFC 111, despite tapping, after the Brazilian failed to release a heel hook when instructed to by referee Kevin Mulhall.
Palhares apologized, but it didn't save him from a 90-day suspension.
He also came under fire for his mental lapse in his 185-pound fight against Nate Marquardt in September of 2010. After trying to call time-out to accuse "The Great" of being greasy, he was knocked silly when the referee refused to stop the action.
And there was this little gem from this year's ADCC tournament.
Massenzio, by comparison, hasn't been making any headlines, likely due to his inconsistency inside the cage. Despite outperforming Steve Cantwell at UFC 136 just last month, the 29-year-old Ring of Combat (ROC) veteran is 3-3 in his UFC career.
A win over Palhares, in Brazil no less, will certainly get him noticed.
UFC 142 will feature featherweight champion Jose Aldo defending his 145-pound title against undefeated wrestler Chad Mendes. In addition, Vitor Belfort will strap on the gloves to try and ruin Anthony Johnson's debut at middleweight.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.
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