WEC 43 "Cerrone vs. Henderson" 10/10/09 Re-Cap

WEC 43 “Cerrone vs. Henderson”
AT&T Center
San Antonio, Tx
October 10, 2009

Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers tonight. Tonight we will see the Interim Lightweight Title on the line as Donald Cerrone takes on Ben Henderson. Jamie Varner is still the champ but is hurt so he will be fighting the winner of this fight.

Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (11-4) vs. Will Campuzano (6-0)

At WEC 39 Page won by KO in 18 seconds. Campuzano has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage. Campuzano is making his WEC debut and is from Dallas, Tx.

R1- Page went right after him and both guys swung wildly and Page got a take down. Page almost got caught in a triangle but quickly slipped out and took Campuzano’s back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Another really strong showing by Page.

Winner: Damacio Page by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:02

Todd Harris is joined ringside by WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. They talk about his upcoming title defense against Jose Aldo.

WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is ringside to check out the Henderson/Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is ringside with a cutie. The TapouT crew is in the house and Chuck Liddell is at the show with his Dancing with the Stars partner Anna Trebunskaya. Miguel Angel Torres is also at this event. Urijah Faber joins Harris and Mir in the announce booth and says he’s ready for a possible January return.

Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (13-1) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4)

Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Jabouin will be making his WEC debut and is on a 4 fight win streak. Yves trains with GSP and David Louiseau.

R1- Yves is a really quick fighter but Assuncao is sitting in the pocket and letting Yves come to him early. Assuncao got a body kick caught and Yves took him down and took his guard. Assuncao quickly got back to his feet. Assuncao is landing some good punches and he shot in but Yves stuffed him and took his guard again. Yves stood up again and let Assuncao up. Yves went for a kick but got briefly caught and almost taken down. Both guys are throwing really good shots at each other. Really good and close first round. Yves probably took the first round due to the take downs.

R2- Both guys are landing some strikes in the early part of the round. Assuncao chopped Yves down with a leg kick and Yves was going for a strike. Yves threw a back kick and Assuncao slipped but he clinched Yves. Assuncao went for a take down and pulled guard on a guillotine but Yves was able to pop his head out. Looks like we’ve probably got a 19-19 fight going into the third round.

R3- Assuncao tripped up Yves early but could not capitalize. Assuncao clinched and fought hard for a take down. Assuncao got him down and took his back. Yves got back to his feet but took a knee as he was getting up. Yves hit a spinning back fist but Assuncao did not flinch. The fight ended with Assuncao on Yves back. I’ve got Assuncao taking the decision in a very close and competitive fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 Assuncao, 30-27 Jabouin and 29-28 Assuncao. Wow, you rarely see a fight scored 30-27 in two different directions.

Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Fight- Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier

Fabiano is probably the next contender to Mike Brown if he can continue to get wins. This is Semerzier’s WEC debut and Fabiano is a Top 5 World Featherweight. Miguel Torres is in Mackens corner.

R1- Fabiano hit a left hand and then got a double leg take down. Fabiano got caught in a triangle and he tapped out. Huge upset by Mackens Semerzier!

Winner: Mackens Semerzier by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:14

Lightweight Fight- Rich Crunkilton (18-2) vs. Dave Jansen (10-0)

This is the WEC debut for Dave Jansen. Crunkilton last fought in WEC in 2006. Jansen is from Team Quest

R1- Some pretty good wrestling exchanges by both guys early on in the fight. Jansen spent a lot of the first round on the top and they exchanged Anacoda and North/South choke exchanges. Crunkilton landed some good punches and hurt Jansen towards the end of the first round but he was able to weather the storm.

R2- Jansen was able to get a take down in the first minute of the round. When they are on their feet Crunkilton is definitely winning the stand up game. Jansen has probably done enough so far to be up 20-18 going into the third round.

R3- Crunkilton landed some early strikes but Jansen once again got a take down. Crunkilton grabbed a choke but couldn’t finish the fight. Crunkilton is continuing to hurt Jansen with strikes but Jansen again got a take down. Jansen went for a kimura but could not finish with the submission. Looks like Jansen by decision from where I’m sitting.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28

Winner: Dave Jansen by Decision (Unanimous)

1:03

Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas

This was a pre-show fight. Jorgensen usually has really fun fights. Thomas has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. Jorgensen has colored the top of his hair red and is wearing some sweet colorful tights.

R1- Jorgensen landed an early right that buckled Thomas’s legs just a bit. Jorgensen got a take down but wasn’t able to do much with it. Jorgensen lands some good punches and Thomas falls down. Jorgensen follows him down and lands some punches but Thomas wraps him up. Jorgensen landed some good elbows and the ref moved in and stopped the fight. Really good showing by Jorgensen.

Winner: Scott Jorgensen by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:13

Interim Lightweight Title Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-1) vs. Ben Henderson (9-1)

Cerrone lost a close decision to current champ Jamie Varner when the fight was stopped early due to an incidental but illegal strike by Cerrone. I had Varner winning the fight 48-47 when it was stopped and the judges awarded Varner a Unanimous Decision win. That was in January of this year and Jamie Varner has not fought since due to injuries sustained in the fight. Cerrone won his last fight against previously undefeated James Krause by a Rear Naked Choke Submission near the end of the first round. Henderson won his last fight against Shane Roller by TKO in the first round. Henderson got caught at the beginning of the fight and almost got submitted but quickly recovered to win the fight in under two minutes. Cerrone has Greg “Yoda” Jackson in his corner for the fight. Cerrone has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage.

R1- Cerrone immediately missed a kick and slipped and Henderson charged in and got caught in a guillotine. Cerrone got him down but Henderson slipped out but then got caught in a triangle choke. Henderson got a take down with 2 minutes left in the round. Henderson got in some shots from the top but I’ve got to give the round to Cerrone as he almost finished the fight with the early submissions. Cerrone 10 Henderson 9.

R2- Henderson got a take down but Cerrone quickly reversed him and took his back and Henderson reversed him and took his guard. Cerrone landed an up kick and went for a kimura and then briefly got an arm bar but Henderson quickly got out and took Cerrone’s guard again. Really great round so far. Henderson lands some good punches. Henderson really took over this round at the end and did more damage then he did in the first round. I’ve got the fight even at 19-19 after two rounds.

R3- Henderson went for an early take down and got it. Cerrone got back to his feet at the mid point of the round without taking any significant damage. Henderson got a brief take down but couldn’t hold it and then completed a take down with a slam but again couldn’t hold Cerrone down. Henderson takes this round and he’s up 29-28 after three rounds.

R4- Cerrone went for a take down and got Henderson in another guillotine. Henderson slipped out after being in the choke for about a minute. Cerrone stuffed two take downs and landed a good uppercut at the end of the second one. Henderson shot again and Cerrone again stuffed him and landed another good punch. Cerrone chopped Henderson down to the mat with a late leg kick. Cerrone easily took this round and I’ve got it scored 38-38 with one round left. Jamie Varner is showed in the crowd and he’s booed.

R5- I’ve got the fight scored 38-38 so this is the Championship Round. Henderson went for an early take down and fought for it but Cerrone denied him. Cerrone landed two good punches. Cerrone went for a punch for looked like he more pushed Henderson down at the three minute mark and then Cerrone followed him to the ground. Cerrone went for an omaplata but couldn’t not clamp it on. Cerrone went for a triangle but Henderson slipped out his head out although Cerrone still had his arm in a kimura type move. Henderson landed a couple of shots from up top but Cerrone got back to his feet with less than a minute left. Henderson got Cerrone down but Cerrone landed an up kick and then trapped Henderson’s arm in a wicked submission but Henderson rolled out of it. Really good fight. I’ve got Cerrone taking the final round and winning the fight 48-47.

Judges score cards say: 48-47 all in favor of Ben Henderson.

Winner and new WEC Interim Lightweight Champion: Ben Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)