WEC 47 Re-Cap

WEC 47
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
March 6, 2009

Frank Mir is deep in training so Stephen Bonnar joins Todd Harris tonight to call the action. Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles defends his title for the first time tonight and former champion Miguel Torres is also back in action. Stephan is wearing a wicked button down purple shirt that doesn't agree with my HD. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer.

Lightweight Fight- Karen Darabedyan (9-1) vs. Bart Palaszewski (32-13)

Karen is coming off of a good decision win over Rob McCullough in his WEC debut. Bart has a 2" height and 2" reach advantage. Bart is only 26 years old and has 45 fights on his record.

R1- Karen lands some really good punches against the cage and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Bart went for a submission and Karen landed a couple of really good shots. Bart caught Karen in an arm bar in the last 30 seconds of the round and got the submission victory. Tough loss for Darabedyan as he dominated this fight until he got caught.

Winner: Bart Palaszewski by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 4:40

Sunday March 21st the UFC debuts on Versus with Jon Jones versus Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga versus Junior dos Santos.

Featherweight Fight- LC Davis (15-2) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (12-3)

R1-Lots of clinching in the first round with LC landing the better strikes. LC 10-9.

R2- Deividas got a take down one and a half minutes into the round but couldn't take advantage of the take down. Deividas looked like he landed a low blow or two that was not acknowledged by the ref. Really close round. I've got it 19-19 right now.

R3- Davis got a take down with two minutes left in the fight. The ref stood the fighters up with 45 seconds left and the fight is in the balance. LC stuffed a take down and the ended in a clinch. Very close fight. I've got LC Davis taking the fight 29-28 but it could go either way.

Judges score cards say: 29-29, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Davis

Winner: LC Davis by Decision (Majority)

Todd Harris interviews Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber. On the first WEC PPV on April 24th Donald Cerrone will challenge Ben Henderson for the Lightweight Title and Urijah Faber will challenge Jose Aldo for the Featherweight Title. Also on the card will be Mike Brown versus Manvel Gamburyan, Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller and Damacio Page vs. Antonio Banuelos.

Some stars at ringside for this show are Randy Couture, Boxer Miguel Cotto, the TapouT crew, Mike Brown and Forrest Griffin.

Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-12-1) vs. Javier Vasquez (13-4)

R1- Vasquez got a take down but Pulver grabbed a guillotine choke. Vasquez got another take down but Pulver again reversed, this time into Vasquez's guard until he let him up. Vasquez quickly got his third take down of the round with only two minutes gone from the round. Vasquez trapped Pulver in a crucifix position and landed some strikes. Vasquez grabbed an arm bar and Pulver tapped out. Really fun but short fight.

Winner: Javier Vasquez by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:41

Post fight Jens Pulver does another "retirement type speech" but doesn't say he's retiring.

Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen (8-3) vs. Chad George

This fight is from the pre-show. Should be fun as Jorgensen is a high-octane guy. Jorgensen is 4-2 in WEC.

R1- Chad George shoots in and Jorgensen grabs him in a guillotine and George taps out. Jorgensen with a very impressive win.

Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:31

Bantamweight Fight- Miguel Angel Torres (36-2) vs. Joseph Benavidez (11-1)

This is a huge fight for both guys. Both guys lost to the one of the fighters in the Main Event tonight (Torres to Bowles and Benavidez to Cruz) but a win tonight can go a long way to erasing those losses. The winner of this fight jumps right to the top of the Bantamweight Title Contenders list. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner tonight. Torres has a huge 5" height and 11" reach advantage so that could be key but it also means that Benavidez should have the strength advantage if he can close the distance in this fight.

R1- Benavidez caught a Torres kick and briefly floored the former champ. Banavidez got a take down against the cage with two minutes left in the round. Torres went for an arm bar and Benavidez passed his guard to side control. Benavidez really didn't do anything while on top of Torres but took the round 10-9.

R2- Torres started to find the rang with his jab but Benavidez got a take down half way through the round. Benavidez cut Torres with an elbow and then clamped on a guillotine and a bloody Torres tapped out. Big upset. Really good fight from Benavidez and a tough loss for Torres as he has gone from one of the Top P4P ranked fighters to losing two fights in a row.

Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57

Lightweight Fight- Anthony Pettis (7-1) vs. Danny Castillo

This fight is from the pre-show.

R1- Castillo got a take down in the first minute of the fight but couldn't do anything with the take down. Pettis destroyed Pettis with a huge head kick and then nailed him with a barrage of punches before the ref could stop the fight. Big time highlight reel win for Pettis.

Winner: Anthony Pettis by KO (Head Kick) R1

Bantamweight Title Fight- Brian Bowles (c) (8-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (14-1)

Cruz has not lost a fight since losing a title fight to Urijah Faber three years ago. Since dropping to the Bantamweight division in 2008 he is undefeated. Cruz has recently been training up in Big Bear with Brandon Vera. This is Bowles first defense of the Bantamweight Title that he won from Miguel Angel Torres. Bowles is 5-0 in WEC fights. Bowles has Rory Singer in his corner. Bowles has a 2" reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Cruz is using his quickness to dance around Bowles and move in quickly to try for strikes. Bowles landed a really good strike around the two minute mark of the round but Cruz absorbed it and stayed on his feet. Cruz retaliated with a good strike of his own that hurt Bowles. Bowles tried to pull guard with a guillotine but Cruz ended up on top in the dominant position. Cruz took the first round 10-9.

R2- Bowles hit a good right to the face at the one minute mark. Cruz landed a good combo at the two minute mark and swept Bowles leg with a low kick. Bowles nose has been busted open and he seems to be slowing down as the round continues. Cruz got a take down with fifteen seconds left in the round. I've got Cruz up 20-18. He's really frustrating Bowles with his quickness.

During the break in action the doctor came in a examined Bowles and Bowles was not able to continue due to injury. Bowles broke his right hand during the fight. Bowles said he broke his hand on the first punch that he threw and that threw off his game plan.

Winner and new Bantamweight Champion: Dominic Cruz by TKO (Injury) R2 5:00

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