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

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.

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