WEC 38: "Varner vs. Cerrone" 1/25/09 Re-Cap

WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone (1/25/09) – San Diego, CA (San Diego Sports Arena)

Craig Hummer joins Frank Mir in the broadcast booth, so that’s a change from their normal duo.

Featherweight Fight- José Aldo (12-1) vs. Rolando Perez (4-1-1)

Aldo is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and a very aggressive striker. Perez leans more towards the stand up game but can also submit his opponents and was a high school wrestler. This is the debut for Perez in WEC. Perez is the hometown guy in this fight as he is from San Diego. Perez has advantages in both height and reach.

R1- Really good first round with Aldo with a slight advantage in the stand up at the beginning of the round. Perez started to land some combinations in the middle but the Aldo came on strong in the last two minutes landing several good strikes and drawing blood. Perez came in with a punch and Aldo hit a great counter knee strike that just floored Perez and then Aldo just had to give him a shoot or two before the ref stepped in.

Good one round fight.

Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:15

Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia are at ringside and interviewed about their March 1st fight for the WEC Featherweight Title. The TapouT guys are at ringside as are Brock Larson and Rashad Evans.

Welterweight Fight- Danillo Villefort (8-2) vs. Mike Campbell (6-0)

Villefort has a 4” height advantage and a big 6” reach advantage. Campbell has been training recently with Mark Delegrati. This is the WEC debut for Campbell.

R1- Campbell grabbed a leg kick and got a take down. Villefort went for a triangle but Campbell fought it off and picked him up and slammed him. Villefort went for a leg lock and Campbell tried to roll out and eventually did. Villefort looks very comfortable on the ground. Villefort got a take down with about two minutes left and started working some elbows. Campbell gave up his back and Villefort continued to pound on his ears and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Villefort looked good in this fight. He looks like he has some really good jiu jitsu skills.

Winner: Danillo Villefort by TKO (strikes) R1 3:53

Villefort drops the F bomb in the post-fight interview (live on Versus!) and says he is here to fight for the belt.

Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen (5-2) vs. Frank Gomez (6-0)

Due to the first two fights getting finished in the 1st round we get a fight from the pre-show. Gomez has a large 6” height advantage and 3” reach advantage. Gomez is only 22 years old and is a jiu jitsu and Muy Thai fighter and is making his WEC debut.

R1- Jorgensen got a take down about 30 seconds into the round and went for a guillotine but couldn’t lock it in. Jorgensen caught him with what Mir called a “Power Guillotine” or “Power Choke” and described it as an upside Rear Naked Choke. Very impressive fight and finish by Jorgensen.

Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:09

Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber (21-2) vs. Jens Pulver (22-10-1)

This is a re-match from a 5 round draw they had last year that was a FOTY candidate even tough Faber won every round. Pulver hung tough in the fight and had Faber on the ropes a couple of times. It was the #2 voted FOTY last year for WEC. Both guys are wounded coming off of losses. Faber lost the belt in his last fight to Mike Brown in which he made a mistake and got caught and lost despite cracking one of Brown’s ribs. Pulver got handled easily by Leonard Garcia in his last fight. This is a must win fight for both guys. Pulver has been dealing with a lot of personal issues recently (both good and bad) and asked for the fight to be moved to the March show but it was not.

R1- Faber hurt Pulver with a punch about a minute in and then tracked down Pulver took him down and submitted him. Very impressive victory for Faber and you have to think that this is the end of the road for Pulver in WEC as he’s lost 3 in a row.

Winner: Urijah Faber by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:34

Jens Pulver drops the F bomb in a post-fight interview. They actually asked him if he was “still relevant in the Featherweight Division.”

WEC Lightweight Championship: Jamie Varner © (15-2) vs. Donald Cerrone (9-0)

Cerrone is undefeated in MMA (has 1 no contest) and was also 25-0 as an amateur kick boxer. Mir says that Cerrone also has some very good submission from the guard position. Cerrone has won 8 of 9 fights by submission. He is training with Greg Jackson and also has been training with GSP.

Varner has been training with the Arizona Combat Club (Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero also train there). He is a well rounded fighter, was an all-American wrestler and has boxing experience.

R1- Varner hit a good combo about one and a half minutes into the fight as he landed a big left and then got a take down. Cerrone grabs a rubber guard type move that nullifies Varner’s offense and Mir says that he might have a slight choke in. Varner sits up and lands some big Ground and Pound. Cerrone has a big bump on his forehead. Varner slipped and Cerrone was able to get back to his feet and actually get some offense in. Varner up 10-9 after one round. Varner looked very impressive in Ground and Pound and Cerrone showed the ability to take a large amount of punishment. Really good first round.

R1- Cerrone lands some kicks but then gets taken down and Cerrone escapes nicely after a few strikes. Cerrone was winning the stand up but then Varner got the take down. Varner lands some good Ground and Pound and Cerrone escapes again. Cerrone really stalking Varner in this round. Varner got another take down to end the round but Cerrone grabbed Varner’s arm for a near arm bar. This was a very even round. Varner got 3 take downs but did little with 2 of them and when the fight was on their feet he was constantly back pedaling and moving away from Cerrone. Very debatable round but I’ve got it for Cerrone. So that makes it 19-19 right now. If conditioning becomes a factor I believe Cerrone is going to have the advantage.

R3- Varner got some good shots in on Cerrone and then took him down around the two minute mark of the round. Cerrone has a cut on his eye. Varner goes for a guillotine and Cerrone reverses and they go back to their feet. Cerrone is definitely having some issues with his eye. Varner lands some good shots. Varner gets a take down with 30 seconds left in the round. Varner took this round by a good margin. I’ve got Varner up 29-28.

R4- Varner landed a good roundhouse left kick but Cerrone absorbed the shot. Varner backing up a lot in this round. Varner got a take down a little after the two minute mark. Cerrone gets out after very little punishment. Varner got another take down at the one minute mark of the round.
Cerrone is landing more from his guard than Varner is giving him. This was another really close round. I could see giving this to Cerrone but I don’t think he did enough damage so I think Varner takes it with the take downs. Varner 39-37.

R5- Varner gets an early take down. Cerrone escapes with a nice kick off move. Cerrone got the next take down. As Varner was getting up Cerrone grazed him with a knee to the head and Varner stayed down. Varner had risen up and then went back down to his knees and got grazed by the knee. Varner says he can’t see and the ref is going to stop the fight. It is called an unintentional foul and they are going to score all 5 rounds. I’ve got Cerrone taking this round and the fight going to Varner 48-47.

This was a really good fight that unfortunately ended poorly.

Judges score cards say 49-46 Varner, 48-47 Cerrone and 49-46 Varner.

Winner: Jamie Varner by Decision (Unanimous)

Varner says he broke his hand in the 2nd or 3rd round. The fans are booing him and he tells them to “Fing boo him”. Varner says that as soon as he gets cleared to fight that he’ll grant the re-match to Cerrone.

Overall, another strong show from the WEC on Versus.