UFC 134 Fight Card Primer: Yuri Alcantara vs. Felipe Arantes

We're moving up one weight class to featherweight for the next fight. The second fight of the Facebook portion of the UFC 134 card sees a highly-respected Brazilian veteran face a prospect in the UFC debuts of both men. Yuri Alcantara (25-3, 0-0 UFC) will make the drop to 145 for the first time when he faces 23-year-old Brazilian prospect Felipe Arantes (13-3, 2 NC, 0-0 UFC).

Neither fighter is currently ranked in the USA Today/BE Consensus Rankings. That would make sense, considering this is Alcantara's first fight at featherweight and Arantes' first fight in front of a large audience. This featherweight UFC 134 fight will take place on the preliminary card, which will be streamed live on Facebook. The Facebook stream begins at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

How do these two stack up?

Alcantara: 31 years old | 5'6" | 71" reach
Arantes: 23 years old | 5'8" | Unknown reach

What have these two done recently?

Alcantara: W - Ricardo Lamas (KO) | W - Manuelo Morales (TKO) | W - Francisco Drinaldo (SUB)
Arantes: NC - Andy Main | W- Marcelo Dutra (SUB) | W - Cemir Jose da Silva (KO)

How did these two get here?

Yuri "Marajo" Alcantara is a seven-year veteran who is currently on an 11-fight winning streak. He has fought mostly in Brazil up until a few months ago. He won the Jungle Fight lightweight grand prix in 2010 after defeating his opponent in the finals in just 16 seconds. He never defended the lightweight title he acquired from that GP win however, because he was signed by the WEC. He knocked out Ricardo Lamas in the first round at WEC 53, and was brought over to the UFC in the merger. Alcantara decided to cut to featherweight to compete in the UFC, and this will be his first fight at 145.

Felipe "Sertanejo" Arantes is actually the third opponent Alcantara has been given for this fight, after both Mackens Semerzier and Antonio Carvalho pulled out due to injury. The Chute Boxe fighter is a black belt in Muay Thai and a purple belt in BJJ. Arantes is undefeated in his last nine fights, though two of them were no contests including his last fight against Andy Main, where he landed an unintentional illegal knee that caused the fight to be waived off. He's never faced anyone remotely at the level of Alcantara, so this will be a huge test for him.

Why should you care?

Alcantara is an exciting fighter with a lot to prove, and Arantes is young and hungry. Yes, that entire sentence was one big cliche, but you should watch anyway because I told you to.