The Ultimate Fighting Championship began its events in 2012 with UFC 142 on January 14. The year saw the successful UFC Featherweight title defense by José Aldo at UFC 142, the crowning of Carlos Condit at UFC 143 as the Interim Welterweight Champion, a new Lightweight Champion in Ben Henderson at UFC 144, a tournament to crown the first UFC Flyweight Champion at UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann as well as the finales of The Ultimate Fighter 15 and The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.

UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes was held on January 14, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The event featured José Aldo defending his UFC Featherweight Championship against Chad Mendes. Aldo became WEC Featherweight Champion on November 18, 2009, which was later converted to a UFC Championship, and has defended his title four previous times with stoppages. Five of the last six fights, all wins, for Mendes resulted in unanimous decisions. Aldo defeated Mendes by knock out in 4:59 of the first round with a knee.

The co-main event was a bout between Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson. The day prior, during weigh-ins, Johnson failed to make the 185 pounds (84 kg) weight limit for the match and was 11 pounds (5.0 kg) over weight. Belfort agreed to fight Johnson in a catch weight bout of 197 pounds (89 kg) if Johnson did not weigh more than 205 pounds (93 kg) on fight day. Belfort was able to submit Johnson with a rear-naked choke in 4:49 of the first round. Johnson was cut by the UFC following the fight.

UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos (also known as UFC on Fox 1) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 12, 2011 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The event was the most-watched live MMA event in the United States with an average of 5.7 million viewers and a ratings peak of 8.8 million viewers during the main event.

This card marked the UFC's debut on the Fox Network. Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed that the debut show would be a one hour special with only the main event airing live on television, but a full preliminary card taking place beforehand.

Fox Deportes aired the Guida/Henderson and Poirer/Garza fights.

The winner of the Clay Guida/Ben Henderson fight determined who was next to get a title shot against Frankie Edgar (the reigning champion at the time), at UFC 144 in Japan.

The UFC on Fox main event broadcast marked the most-watched live hour ever for MMA in the United States and averaged 5.7 million viewers. The ratings peaked in the United States at 8.8 million viewers for the main event.

Joseph E. Lauzon Jr. (born May 22, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist from Brockton, Massachusetts. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is training at Lauzon MMA in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Lauzon grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts until the third grade, when he moved to East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Lauzon lived on a small farm.

Lauzon graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in computer science. He worked as a network administrator in Cambridge, MA before he began training in mixed martial arts full-time.

Joe's younger brother, Dan Lauzon, is also a mixed martial artist.

Lauzon did not start his training martial arts until his junior year of high school. Beginning with learning grappling techniques, his first amateur fight was in 2002.

In 2004, Lauzon had his first professional fight. Winning with a first round armbar in a local Massachusetts promotion, Mass Destruction. Lauzon then went on an eight fight winning streak with all of the fights ended via submission. Lauzon won an eight-man tournament, defeating three fighters in one night in the World Fighting League and was crowned the WFL Grand Prix Champion. Lauzon was also named 2004 Massachusetts fighter of the year by local Massachusetts MMA outlets.

James Christopher Varner (born October 12, 1984) is a mixed martial artist who fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former WEC Lightweight champion and holds notable victories over Donald Cerrone, Edson Barboza, and Drew Fickett.

Varner competed twice in the UFC. His first appearance was against lightweight veteran Hermes Franca, which Varner lost via submission (armbar) in round 3. His final appearance was against formerly undefeated Jason Gilliam, which he won via first round submission (rear naked choke). After this win, Varner transferred to the WEC.

Varner successfully defended his WEC Lightweight Championship belt against the previously undefeated Marcus Hicks on August 3, 2008.

He retained his title on January 25, 2009 against Donald Cerrone at WEC 38. The fight was highly competitive and won the Fight of the Night award. However, the fight was stopped prematurely in the fifth round when Cerrone hit Varner's temple with an illegal knee while Varner was still on the ground. Varner was given time to recover, but he was unable to continue, noting that he had double vision and had sustained a broken hand.

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.