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)

WEC 39 "Brown vs Garcia" 3/1/09 Re-Cap

Todd Harris is the lead announcer but instead of Frank Mir we’ve got Jens Pulver in a Sweater Vest! Mir must be training for the Lesnar fight. Lil Evil in a freakin’ Sweater Vest. Wow, Jim Tressel must be a proud father.

Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)

McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.

R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.

R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.

R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.

Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.

Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)

They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.

Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.

Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)

Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.

R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.

Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39

Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)

Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.

R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!

Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18

Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)

Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.

R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.

R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.

R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards

Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)

WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)

Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.

R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.

What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.

Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57

WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.

This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.

WEC 35 8/3/08 Re-Cap

WEC: 8/3/08

Three title fights tonight. Let’s see if this show can live up to the “Faber vs. Pulver” card from June.

Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-3) vs. Brian Bowles (5-0)

Page was one of the TapouT fighters from the TV show last year if my memory serves me correctly. Bowles is from Georgia, so he’s a hometown boy for me.

R1- Both guys come out ready to fight. Page misses a flying kick and Bowles jumps on top. Mistake by Page and Bowles is in his full guard. Bowles grabs a guillotine against the cage. Page slips out of it and flips Bowles over in one motion and is now in Bowles guard and hits a couple of elbows. Page lets him up after not being able to improve his position. Both guys swinging and Page sticks his tongue out at Bowles after Bowles hits him with a combination. Bowles shoots in but Page stuffs him and picks him up but Bowles clamps on a guillotine while being elevated by Page. Page can’t get him off and taps to the guillotine. Quick and unexpected finish by Bowles. Very solid opening fight as it was only one round but was a good, exciting fight.

Winner: Brian Bowles by Submission (Guillotine)

Rashad Evans, Miguel Torres, Cain Velasquez, and Urijah Faber are all shown in attendance for the event.

Lightweight Title Fight- Jamie Varner (14-2) © vs. Marcus Hicks (8-0)

R1- They clinch early and Varner went for a knee and Hicks took him down but Varner quickly got back to his feet. Hicks powered him back to the ground and then hooked in a guillotine but Varner got out of it. Hicks slams Varner but Varner again quickly got up. Hicks is controlling the fight early. Varner went for a high kick and Hicks blocked it and shook is head no. Varner then hit a mid kick and got in what looked to be some nice knees but Hicks held on. Varner gets in a couple of shots and Hicks looks a bit wobbled. Varner is getting nailed with shots now and leaving himself open. Varner is laying it on him but Hicks is somehow keeping his composure and defending himself and trying to get back to his feet. Varner with more knees. Varner looks like he’s punching himself out. He might have made a mistake by not actually jumping on top of Hicks and instead letting him get back to his feet. But just as I type that Varner nails Hicks with a straight punch and the ref calls it. Hicks was controlling but got caught with those two knees and after that it was all Varner. Hicks has a really good chin.

Winner and still champion: Jamie Varner by TKO (strikes)

So far so good as we’ve had two solid (if short) under card fights.

Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson (24-2) vs. Carlo Prater (23-6-1)

R1- Both guys start out tentative. Larson is jabbing about 5 feet away from Prater. Prater misses a kick. They stand off and Larson jumps at Prater and nails a big left hand and jumps on Prater and is throwing punches down on him and Mazzagatti stops the fight. Huge explosion from Larson and a big finish.

Winner: Brock Larson by TKO (strikes) R1

Next up they interview Urijah Faber at ringside. They talk about the Jens Pulver fight and the upcoming Mike Brown fight.

Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Brian Stann (6-0) © vs. Steve Cantwell (5-1)

Cantwell’s only loss came at the hands of Brian Stann.

R1- Decent start to the fight as both guys seem to want to keep the fight standing. First big strike is dealt by Cantwell at about a minute in a half as he dives in and gets some shots and a knee in on Stann and they throw down and Cantwell seems to be hitting on more shots. Cantwell goes in for a take down but Stann stuffs him and they clinch against the cage basically resting from their flurry. Cantwell comes in with a Superman punch which leads to both guys throwing down against the cage and then they clinch again. Cantwell has looked really good so far. Cantwell slips and lands on his back and Stann gets in between his legs and is landing some good punches on Cantwell. Cantwell gets back to his feet and they clinch. Good, exciting first round. Cantwell really controlled the round with the exception of slipping and Stann getting in some good punches at the end of the round. Cantwell 10-9 after one round.

R2- Stann hits a low kick early in the round and we will take a short break. Cantwell hits a good combo up against the cage and Stann clinches him. Cantwell has Stann up against the cage again and hits a flurry of good strikes. Stann looks real tired. Cantwell hits some more strikes and Stann staggers back against the cage. Stann somehow staying on his feet and finally gets taken out by a right hand.

Another good fight. So far we are 4 for 4 on entertaining fights on the show.

Winner and new champion: Steve Cantwell by TKO (strikes) R2 4:01

Featherweight Fight- Micah Miller (11-1) vs. Josh Grispi (11-1)

R1- Grispi hits a leg kick early as Miller was going for a punch and it takes Miller down off his feet. Grispi going after a lot of kicks early and hitting a good number of them. Grispi hits Miller with a big right hand and then jumps on him and hits some shots and Herb Dean stops the fight. Micah Miller jumps up pretty quickly kind of like the Werdum/Vera fight finish. Dean stopped the fight early but Miller was in a lot of trouble.

Winner: Josh Grispi by TKO (strikes) R1 0:50

Welterweight Title Fight- Carlos Condit (22-4) © vs. Hiromitsu Miura (9-4)

Condit comes out to Rage Against The Machine.

R1- Pretty even fight in the first couple of minutes. Condit gets Miura in the clinch but Miura gets a nice judo throw and is immediately in side control but Condit quickly gets up. Miura gets a nice trip but again Condit gets back up. So Miura with some real nifty take downs but other than surprising Condit it hasn’t really done much in terms of damage. Condit pops Miura with a big right hand. Condit hits a body kick and then faked a kick and hit a punch that looked like it missed but I guess it connected because Miura went straight to the ground and Condit jumped on top. Condit is hitting some elbows and punches on Miura. Condit is smothering Miura and grabs an arm bar but Miura gets out and then hits Condit with a judo throw. This was a good first round and could have gone either way depending on how the judges score the fight. Do they score it for Miura based on his take downs or for Condit based on the fact that he did more damage in round one. I go for damage so I’ve got Condit up 10-9 in a close round one.

R2- Condit hits a few strikes early and then basically throws Miura down. Condit jumps on top in full guard. Miura hits an up kick but Condit gets back to the ground and is in half guard now. Condit gets full mount and is hitting some elbows and punches. Miura gives up his back and Condit goes for an arm bar. Miura gets out and gets into Condit full guard with about a minute and a half left in the round. Miura basically rests and the ref stands them back up. Miura goes for a throw but misses and Condit takes his back. Miura is able to get him back to full guard as the round ends with Condit at advantage. Condit really controlled this round. I’ve got Condit 20-18 through two rounds.

R3- Miura comes after Condit in this round with a little more vigor but Condit takes his back and then gets a guillotine choke in. Condit releases the choke and now has full mount. Condit hitting with some punches and elbows. Miura flips Condit over and gets in some shots. Miura is landing some really good punches while in full mount. Miura is unloading on Condit but Condit takes the punishment and rises to his feet. Condit hits a big knee and both guys are really throwing right now. Condit hits a right hand and takes Miura down. Condit in full mount and laying in some punches and elbows. Miura gives up his back and Condit is trying for a Rear Naked Choke but he runs out of time. Really great round. Condit controlled early, Miura then had Condit in danger and then Condit saved the round by coming back and owning the last minute and a half or so of the fight. Condit is up 30-27 in my book. Rounds 1 and 3 have been close but I’ve got Condit taking them.

R4- Miura hits a big right hand and then lands another on Condit early in the round. Miura gets a take down but Condit reverses it and has taken some good shots from Miura and is now on top. Miura flips him over again. Miura hits some punches and Condit rolls through and goes after a knee bar but Miura slips out and is back in Condit’s guard. Both guys are winded at this point and the ref stands them up. Both guys are a little slow to their feet. Both guys are really throwing at each other almost like they are trying to end it in one punch. Condit sweeps Miura down and mounts him but isn’t doing much damage as he’s mostly resting. Miura flips him over again. Miura hits some punches in on Condit and is really laying it in on him. Condit barely holds on and locks him up. Miura lets Condit get up and as he’s getting up barely misses a punch and Condit lands a nice knee in retaliation. Condit is landing some punches and the ref stops the fight. Kind of a weird finish as Condit didn’t really have a dominate position to finish the fight but Miura was on his stomach and not really defending after getting rocked by that knee. Miura was winning this round before eating that big knee. He made a huge mistake in missing that one big punch as Condit was getting up and Condit made him pay.

Really great fight. Definitely a low end FOTY candidate.

Winner and still champion: Carlos Condit by TKO (strikes) R4 4:43

Really good show with a great Main Event to cap off the night. Another really good performance for