WEC 46 "Varner vs. Henderson" 1/10/10 Re-Cap

WEC 46 “Varner vs. Henderson” 1/10/10
Arco Arena
Sacramento, Ca

Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Main Event is Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defending against Interim Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson. Urijah Faber also makes his return to the cage on this show and Mike Brown has his first fight since losing the Featherweight Championship to Jose Aldo.

Featherweight Fight- Mackens Semerzier (7-0) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (11-3)

In his last fight Semerzier upset top contender Wagnney Fabiano by Triangle Choke in the first round. Semerzier has a 4” reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Mackens grabbed a guillotine but Deividas took him down. Mackens got another guillotine and Deividas took him down again. Deividas 10-9 in the first round.

R2- Deividas got an early take down and Mackens went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Deividas is landing some strikes from the full guard. Deividas is not doing a ton of damage but he’s winning the fight 20-18.

R3- Mackens grabbed a choke attempt but couldn’t hold it. Mackens then tried a kimura and Deividas rolled through the move. They exchanged heel hook attempts. Mackens landed some good Ground and Pound. Mackens went for a guillotine right at the end of the fight but Deividas popped out. Mackens won this round but Deividas took the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards

Winner: Deividas Taurosevicius by Decision (Unanimous)

UFC on Versus Sunday March 21st: Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera

Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown (22-5) vs. Anthony Morrison (15-6)

This is Morrison’s WEC debut.

R1- Brown got a take down one minute into the fight and then landed some Ground and Pound. Morrison gave up his back and Brown clamped on a Rear Naked Choke and got the win. Strong showing by the former champ.

Winner: Mike Brown by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:54

Todd Harris interviews Brian Bowles and Dominic Cruz about their upcoming title fight.

Chuck Liddell, Josh Koscheck, Jose Aldo, Donald Cerrone and Sacramento Kings player Tyreke Evans are all at the show tonight.

Lightweight Fight- Dave Jansen (11-0) vs. Kamal Shalorus (5-0-1)

Kamal is coming off of a first round TKO victory over Will Kerr at WEC 44. Jansen is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Rich Crunkilton at WEC 43. Jansen has a 5” reach advantage.

R1- Both guys are throwing leather. Jansen has tried two take downs in the first half of the round but both got stuffed. Kamal got a take down but couldn’t hold it. Kamal is starting to land some good strikes. Jansen has a cut near his left eye. Kamal caught Jansen with a good right. Kamal 10-9 in the first round.

R2- Kamal got a take down half way through the round. Jansen caught Kamal with a right and hurt him and then swung wildly trying to follow up and couldn’t. Close round, Jansen hit the one punch but Kamal had a better round overall.

R3- Kamal is landing some good shots early in the round and stuffs an early take down. Kamal caught Jansen’s leg and hit him with a punch and knocked him down but Jansen popped right back up. Jansen also he has a cut on his forehead. Kamal got another take down with two minutes left in the round but couldn’t hold onto the position. Kamal takes this round and will win the fight by decision.

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

Winner: Kamal Shalorus by Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Fight- Mark Hominick vs. Bryan Caraway

This fight is from the pre-show.

R1- Caraway got an early take down. Caraway stayed on top for the majority of the round but Hominick was able to grab an arm bar and get the submission victory.

Winner: Mark Hominick by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:48

Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber (22-3) vs. Raphael Assuncao (14-1)

Assuncao is coming off of a WEC 43 unanimous decision win over Yves Jabouin. Faber is coming off of a loss to Mike Brown in which Faber broke both of his hands. Assuncao is a BJJ black belt. Faber is from Sacramento so he gets a huge reaction when he comes out.

R1- Lots of clinching in the first round. Assuncao is controlling the pace of the fight but Faber has landed some clean shots. Close round, I give it to Faber for landing better shots.

R2- Faber got a single leg take down early in the round. Urijah locked in a guillotine choke but wasn’t able to hold it. Faber landed some knees to his shoulder. Assuncao came with a kick and Faber landed a good quick right and then took Assuncao’s guard. Faber took this round and I’ve got him up 20-18.

R3- Faber got a take down in the first thirty seconds of the round but couldn’t hold the position. Faber landed a quick punch and got a take down at the mid-way point of the round. Faber takes his back and clamps in a Rear Naked Choke and got a submission victory.

Winner: Urijah Faber by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 3:49

They bring Jose Aldo into the cage after the fight and Aldo says no one will take his belt.

WEC Lightweight Title Fight- Jamie Varner © (16-2) vs. Ben Henderson (10-1)

Varner’s last fight was at WEC 38 last January when he defeated Donald Cerrone by Unanimous Decision after the fight was stopped due to an unintentional illegal blow by Cerrone in the fifth and the fight went straight to the score cards. Henderson’s last fight was at WEC 43 and he also defeated Donald Cerrone by decision (I had Cerrone winning the fight 48-47 but all three judges scored the fight for Henderson 48-47) in a fight for the Interim Lightweight Title. Henderson is on a 9 fight win streak.

R1- Varner got a quick take down/slam. Varner grabbed a guillotine and landed a good knee to Henderson. Henderson hit a kick and then Varner pointed to his eye and started to walk to his corner but Herb Dean didn’t do anything and Henderson rushed in and clinched him but he was able to defend himself. Varner 10-9 after one round.

R2- Really close round that could have gone either way.

R3- Varner shot in and Henderson grabbed a guillotine and Varner quickly tapped. Wow, that was a quick finish. Varner was probably winning the fight and Henderson grabbed that out of nowhere for the title victory.

Winner and new champion: Ben Henderson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R3 2:41