WEC: Aldo vs. Faber PPV
Arco Arena
Sacramento, California
April 24, 2010
Tonight is the "biggest fight in Featherweight history" between current champion Jose Aldo and former champion Urijah Faber. Also on the card is a Lightweight title re-match between current champion Ben Henderson and top contender Donald Cerrone. The UFC has taken over the WEC duties as Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are the announcers for this show. Bruce Buffer is also doing the ring announcing tonight. Rogan describes Faber/Aldo as the MMA version of Sugar Ray Leonard versus Roberto Duran.
Bantamweight Fight- Antonio Banuelos (18-5) vs. Scott Jorgensen (9-3)
This is a re-match from WEC 41 in June of 2009 in what I thought was a Fight of the Year contender. Banuelos won the fight by split decision. I had Jorgensen taking the fight 29-28 on my score card. Banuelos trains with Chuck Liddell and John Hackleman. Jorgensen has a 3" reach advantage.
R1- Pretty even fight early with Jorgensen taking the center of the octagon but Banuelos doing a decent job counter punching. Banuelos landed a left hook and Jorgensen went down. Banuelos jumped on top but Jorgensen was able to pull him into his guard and avoid the finish. Jorgensen went for an arm bar and then kicked him way back to his feet. Banuelos takes the first round with the knock down 10-9.
R2- Jorgensen lands some strikes in the first minute to open this round. Jorgensen is finding a home for his jab. Jorgensen has busted open Banuelos nose and Rogan says it might be broken. Jorgensen is really picking apart Banuelos in this round. Jorgensen landed a right hand that floored Banuelos with one minute left in the round. Jorgensen easily took this round and evens the fight up at 19-19 going into the final stanza.
"Banuelos is bleeding like a stuck pig"- Joe Rogan
R3- Jorgensen opened up the round with a good combination and once again opened up the nose of Banuelos. Jorgensen hit a right hand about half way through the round and Banuelos hit the deck. Jorgensen followed in and Banuelos tried to cover up. Jorgensen took his back and tried for a Rear Naked Choke but Banuelos spun out of it. Jorgensen remaining on the back of Banuelos and continues to land strikes from the back and then clamped on another Rear Naked Choke but couldn't lock it in. Good fight. Jorgensen will get his revenge as he takes this 29-28 (same score I had the last fight scored). This puts Jorgensen at the top of the WEC featherweight contenders right behind Joseph Benavidez.
"Joe Silva's got blood on his notebook"- Joe Rogan
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all three score cards.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Njokuani (13-2) vs. Shane Roller (7-2)
Roller is a former D1 wrestler. Njokuani is on a 3-fight win streak and is coming off of a quick victory over Chris Horodecki at WEC 45. Roller fought at WEC 44 and defeated Danny Castillo via Rear Naked Choke in the third round. Both fighters have losses on their record to current Lightweight kingpin Ben Henderson. Njokuani has a 3.5" reach advantage.
R1- Roller immediately went for a take down and after about thirty seconds was able to get Anthony down but Anthony popped right back up. Roller got him down again at the one minute mark of the round. Roller briefly mounted but was pushed off and then Roller took Anthony's back and looked for a Rear Naked. Roller finally was able to clamp in the Rear Naked after working for it for a while and finished the fight. Not a highlight reel win but a very effective one as Roller really executed his game plan to perfection and beat a very dangerous opponent.
Winner: Shane Roller by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07
Jake Shields is ringside and Dana White is right next to him with a huge smile on his face. Wow. What a sight.
The Joe Rogan/Kimbo Slice interview from the Spike TV prelim show is shown again.
Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown (23-5) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (12-5)
Mike Brown is the former Featherweight champion who holds two victories over Urijah Faber. Brown lost to Aldo at WEC 44 and then jumped right back into the cage at WEC 46 to defeat Anthony Morrison. Gamburyan also fought at WEC 44 winning a unanimous decision over Leonard Garcia (Brown also fought Garcia recently finishing him in less than 2 minutes). Gamburyan is 2-0 in WEC since dropping down in weight. This is a top contender fight. Brown has a 3" reach advantage.
R1- Brown came in about half way through the round and got caught by Manny. Manny then jumped on top with a bunch of hammer fists and the ref quickly stepped in. Very impressive finish by Manny. He hit him with a right hand and Brown just fell to the mat as his leg buckled. Good stoppage. Looks like Manny is next in line for Jose Aldo...errr the winner of Aldo and Urijah Faber.
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by TKO (Strikes) 2:22
Bantamweight Fight- Brad Pickett vs. Demetrious Johnson
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Pickett hit a good left hand early. Pickett got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Johnson got back to his feet but immediately got taken back down. Johnson came at Pickett with a flying knee but instead ate a slam. Pickett trapped him in a crucifix but lost the position. Johnson hit a flurry at the end of the round but overall the round went to Pickett. Pickett seems a lot stronger than Johnson.
R2- Pickett is doing a good job timing Johnson's kicks and is doing a good job grabbing his leg whenever he throws a kick. Pickett got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Pickett picked up Johnson and slammed him hard with fifteen seconds left in the round. Pickett 20-18.
"I think Johnson might be the fastest fighter I've ever commentated"- Joe Rogan
R3- Johnson got a take down right off the bat. Pickett got back to his feet but Johnson landed several knees. Pickett got a take down with four minutes left in the round. Johnson got a take down half way through the round. Johnson got another take down but Pickett flipped him over. This round is all about the take downs. This was a really close round and Pickett might have stolen it from the judges due to controlling for the last minute or two. I've got Johnson taking the round but Pickett winning the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of Pickett
Winner: Brad Pickett by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Title Fight- Ben Henderson (c) (11-1) vs. Donald Cerrone (11-2)
Ben Henderson is coming off of a third round Guillotine Choke victory over former champion Jamie Varner in January. Cerrone is coming off of a Rear Naked Choke submission victory over Ed Ratcliff in December. These two fighters fought for the interim Lightweight Title in October and all three judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Ben Henderson. I had the fight even at 38-38 going into the final round and I gave the final round to Cerrone and thought he won the fight 48-47. It was a really close fight. Cerrone has a 3" height and 3" reach advantage.
R1- Cerrone stuffed an early take down but Henderson took him to the cage and delivered some good knees and then completed the take down two minutes into the round. Henderson landed some Ground and Pound and then switched positions and shockingly pulled guard and tapped out Donald Cerrone with a guillotine choke. Ben SMOOTH Henderson with a fantastic fight. Cerrone has a huge bump on his right temple from a knee that Henderson landed. Very impressive performance by Henderson. He really served notice to the MMA world with this victory.
Winner: Ben Henderson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:57
Featherweight Fight- Brandon Visher (13-0) vs. Tyler Toner (10-1)
This pre-show fight is brought to you by Ben SMOOTH Henderson and his early finish of Cowboy Cerrone. I've only seen Visher fight once, at WEC 45, where he KO'd Courtney Buck at the end of the first round. Tyler Toner I've also only seen once and it was on a Strikeforce on NBC 30-minute show where he beat Ricky Johnson by TKO in the 2nd round. Visher is undefeated.
R1- Toner landed a good combination that included a big left hand half way through the round that floored Visher. Toner landed some elbows to the side of the face and the ref stopped the fight. Not a great stoppage as Visher was still in the fight but on the other hand Toner was doing a lot of damage to Visher.
Winner: Tyler Toner by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R1 2:36
The Chad Mendes/Anthony Morrison fight from the Spike TV pre-show is re-shown.
Featherweight Title Fight- Jose Aldo (c) (16-1) vs. Urijah Faber (23-3)
Aldo's last fight was in November when he defeated Mike Brown in the second round by TKO. Aldo has not lost in 5 years and his last six fights have been finished by KO/TKO. Faber's last fight was a Rear Naked Choke victory over Raphael Assuncao. Urijah comes out to a big reaction from his hometown crowd. It was almost difficult to hear Bruce Buffer over the fans applause for Faber during the introductions. This is going to be a tough fight for Faber and I just don't see him winning this fight.
"I think this is the biggest ovation I've ever seen"- Joe Rogan
R1- Aldo threw a leg kick that tripped up Faber at the one and a half minute mark of the round. Aldo landed a good body punch. Not a ton of action as Faber is bouncing around and trying to close on Aldo but not having much luck. Faber jumped in twice and landed a couple of combinations. Faber went to the well one too many times and Aldo met him with a knee that briefly floored Faber as it caught him off-balance. Aldo landed a couple of kicks to close the round. Aldo 10-9 but fairly close as both guys are feeling each other out and Aldo really just letting the fight come to him.
R2- Aldo is landing some good leg kicks. Faber noticeably limps after an Aldo leg kick late in the round. Not a lot of action in this round but Aldo has hurt Faber's leg and put him at a disadvantage going into the next round. Aldo 20-18.
R3- Aldo continues the onslaught on Faber's legs early in this round. Aldo hit a good body kick. Aldo threw a kick and Faber tripped him up but Aldo quickly got to his feet. Aldo hit a good high kick and then started opening up on Faber with strikes and then backed off after Faber covered up and came out swinging. Aldo hit a good body punch at the end of the round and then chopped Faber down with a leg kick but didn't have enough time to go for the finish. As the round ended Faber had trouble getting to his feet and you could see one of his corner men pick him up to carry him back to the corner as the camera cut away. Faber is showing a lot of heart but Aldo is just picking him apart. Aldo 30-27.
R4- Aldo just continues to pepper Faber's legs and Faber goes down and almost invites Aldo to the ground so he doesn't have to take any more leg kicks. Aldo gets full mount and then takes Faber's back. Faber was able to spin out of the position and get back to his feet with three minutes left in the round. Aldo landed another leg kick and Faber went down and Aldo landed a couple of strikes before Faber clinched onto him on the ground. Aldo passed guard into a mounted crucifix position and landed some good punches and elbows to the face. Aldo just continually landing elbows to Faber's face. That's a 10-8 round for Aldo and I've got him up 40-35. Faber showing a ton of heart but Aldo is just on another level than Faber.
"If you look at Urijah's left knee it is unnaturally swollen"- Joe Rogan
R5- Aldo not even looking to strike in the first minute and a half of the final round as Urijah is the aggressor. Urijah went for a take down but was stuffed. Aldo landed a good body shot with about a minute left in the fight. Really tough round to score as neither guy really did anything but the score for this round is a moot point as Aldo dominated Faber tonight and wins this one in a runaway. Very impressive performance from Aldo. The only possible weakness is that he didn't do much in the 5th round so was he tired or just cautious due to him having a huge lead and his opponent being broken down from the leg kicks.
Judges score cards: 49-45, 49-45, 50-45 in favor of Aldo.
Winner: Jose Aldo by Decision (Unanimous)
The Leonard Garcia/Chan Sung Jung fight from the SpikeTV pre-show is shown next due to time left on the PPV.
Showing posts with label Urijah Faber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urijah Faber. Show all posts
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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
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
Saturday, June 13, 2009
WEC 41 "Brown vs Faber II" 6/7/09 Re-Cap
WEC 41 “Brown vs. Faber II” 6/7/09
Sacramento, CA (Arco Arena)
Versus
This is a great weekend if you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Last night Strikeforce put on an explosive show on Showtime with Brett Rogers, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields making loud statements with their actions. That being said, tonight is the show that I am looking forward to most of all, including next weeks UFC PPV. Tonight we get a re-match of the Top 2 Featherweight Fighters in the World as Mike Thomas Brown defends his championship against Urijah Faber. How often do you truly get to see the top 2 fighters in a weight class face off against each other? Also, in action tonight we will see Jens Pulver against Josh Grispi, Top Lightweight contender Donald Cerrone against James Krause and a fight between two more top Featherweight fighters in Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson. This should be an exciting night of fights. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and he is joined by K-Flo, Kenny Florian (who is filling in for Frank Mir). Is it just me or does Kenny Florian look a little like Ben Stiller?
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-11-1) vs. Josh Grispi (12-1)
Jens is a former UFC Lightweight Champ who wins most of his fights by KO. Grispi is on an 8-fight win streak, he’s a versatile fighter with equal KOs to submissions. Jens has been destroyed in his last two fights. That being said, they were both against top featherweight fighters in Urijah Faber and Leonard Garcia. Pulver has to win this fight if he wants to stick around in WEC in a fighting capacity. Grispi has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage in this fight. The only fight I’ve seen of Grispi’s was his 50 second win over Micah Miller back in August of 2008.
R1- Grispi got a take down but got caught in a guillotine by Grispi and Pulver tapped out. This is the third straight fight in which Pulver has been finished in under two minutes. Great showing by Grispi. Pulver needs to hang up the gloves. This is the second fight I’ve seen Grispi in and neither one has lasted more than a minute.
Winner: Josh Grispi by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:33
Post-fight Jens Pulver says that he is retiring as he says “I think I’m ending this where it started”. Then he says he’s not sure if he’s done yet.
The next WEC show will be August 9th when Miguel Angel Torres defends his championship against Brian Bowles. Craig Hummer is in the audience with both of the fighters. Bowles is 7-0 and is coming off an injury but says that it won’t be a problem. He says he thinks he matches up well with Torres. Torres says he is ready for the fight with Bowles and is leaning towards Faber in the fight tonight (but he seemed just to be saying that to suck up to Faber’s hometown crowd).
The camera pans the crowd to see who is in attendance. We see NHL star Jeremy Roenick, Keith Jardine, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner.
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (9-1) vs. James Krause (10-0)
Cerrone has experience as a professional kick boxer but has most of his wins by submission so he is a very versatile fighter. Krause has never been to a decision and tonight he will be making his WEC debut. Krause says his favorite technique is punching people in the face. Cerrone is coming off of a really good fight against Lightweight champion Jamie Varner that was stopped early due to an accidental foul by Cerrone. The fight went to the score cards due to the foul and Varner won. I had the fight 48-47 Varner but it was really even and Cerrone did a lot of damage to Varner. I really want to see a re-match so Varner needs to win this fight to make that happen. Krause has a 2” height and reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cerrone hit a good body kick on Krause as he came in for a take down. Krause got a take down but Cerrone showed a very active guard and went for a submission and rolled into Krause’s guard. Krause ate a couple of punches but got out and back to his feet. Krause went for a take down but Cerrone grabbed a guillotine and then hit Krause with a knee before releasing. Cerrone caught Krause with a left hand and then a right that floored Krause. Cerrone followed him to the ground but Krause did a good job covering up and Cerrone ended up taking his back and he hit some punches and clamped on the Rear Naked Choke for the victory. Good fight and a really solid showing by Cerrone.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:38
Cerrone tells Varner he will fight him “anytime, any where”. Cerrone says that he knows taking this fight wasn’t the smartest move. Says he hopes that Jamie can get out of the “intensive care unit” in order to fight him. Jamie is of course in attendance tonight.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos
Jorgensen has a 3” reach advantage. Jorgensen’s last fight was in January and he tapped Frank Gomez in 1:09 of the first round by guillotine choke. This fight is from the pre-show so it should be a pretty quick one.
R1- Banuelos hit a good right hand to start the fight. Jorgensen ties him up to try and gather himself. Banuelos got a take down up against the cage. Jorgensen gave up his back and was able to get back to his feet. Banuelos is really pushing the action. Jorgensen is clearly having trouble seeing as you can see him blinking hard when there is a slight break in the action. Both guys are freely throwing leather. Really good first round, I’ve got Banuelos taking it 10-9 but Jorgensen started to get his bearings back towards the end of the round.
R2- Banuelos is throwing a lot of punches at the start of this round. Jorgensen works a front headlock looking for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in place. Both guys trade punches at the two minute mark of the round. Jorgensen hit two good right hands but Banuelos took them and then clinched. Jorgensen looks like he’s started to get really comfortable and is starting to hit better strikes on Banuelos. Banuelos came back towards the end of the round but I think Jorgensen takes this round and I’ve got them 19-19 going into the final stanza. Really good fight so far.
R3- A ton of action to stat this round as Banuelos went for a take down but Jorgensen grabbed a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and the fighters got back to their feet. Jorgensen is starting to get his distance down and is walking Banuelos down in the ring. Banuelos has a cut that has been opened up on his right cheek and he seems to be slowing down a little here in the third. Jorgensen landed a really nice knee in the clinch. Both guys continue to really throw at one another. Jorgensen went for a choke but gave it up to take Banuelos back and then Jorgensen ends up in half guard and slugs it out with Banuelos and they sprawl and Banuelos survives another choke. Jorgensen took this round and I’ve got him winning the fight 29-28.
Great Fight. This is a Fight of the Year contender.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Banuelos, 29-28 Jorgensen, and the deciding score card 29-28 for Banuelos. I’m guessing they gave him the second round.
Winner: Antonio Banuelos by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (14-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-2)
The winner of this fight could be in line for shot at the winner of tonight’s Featherweight Title Fight. Aldo was very impressive in his last fight in March as he overwhelmed Chris Mickle. Aldo also finished Rolando Perez in the first round back in January so he’s 2-0 this year with two first round finishes. Aldo is on a 7 fight win streak. Swanson has only lost 1 fight in the last 5 years and that was to Jens Pulver.
R1- Aldo hits a flying knee right out of the gate and this one is over immediately. Wow! Jose Aldo! How bout that finish Brett Rogers?
I think it’s pretty clear that Jose Aldo gets the next shot at the Featherweight title. Post-fight Aldo says he wants a title shot.
The final time of this fight was 8 seconds. Wow!
Winner: Jose Aldo by 0:08
Bantamweight Fight- Rolando Perez vs. Seth Dikun
Looks like Perez is moving down from Featherweight after his loss to Jose Aldo. In three fights Perez lasted the longest with Aldo so far this year as he lasted 4 minutes. Perez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- Perez grabbed a Dikun kick and dumped him on the mat but he let him back up. Dikun pulled guard and grabbed a quick triangle. Perez slams him but Dikun holds onto the move. Perez finally has to tap but he held on for a really long time in the submission.
Winner: Seth Dikun by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:30
Lightweight Fight- Mike Campbell vs. Anthony Pettis
Looks like we are going to get our third pre-show fight. Campbell was undefeated before losing his first fight in January of this year to Danillo Villefort.
R1- Campbell caught a head kick but Pettis aggressively grabbed a guillotine but lost it when they fell to the mat. Pettis went for a n arm bar and Campbell beautifully rolled through it. Campbell got caught in a triangle and he had to tap. Campbell looked like he just made a big mistake and left himself open. Pettis looked really aggressive with his submissions, fought a good fight and took advantage of Campbell’s mistake.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:49
WEC Featherweight Championship: Mike Brown (21-4) vs. Urijah Faber (22-2)
This is a re-match from their original title fight back in November where Urijah lost his first fight in 3 years to Mike Brown. Brown finished that fight in under three minutes when Urijah went for an elbow and Brown caught him with a big clean punch and then followed it up with some big Ground and Pound for the TKO stoppage. Faber made a mistake and got caught in a weird position and Brown really capitalized. It will be interesting to see if Brown can make it two in a row over Faber. Since that fight Brown showed that his win over Urijah was not a fluke when he beat Leonard Garcia in just under 2 minutes. Since his fight with Brown, Urijah also looked very impressive by tapping out Jens Pulver in under 2 minutes in January. Brown is coming into this fight on a 9 fight win streak. Urijah comes to the ring and gets a really big ovation in his hometown. When the lights dim for Brown’s music the crowd gives him a chorus of boos. The graphics on my TV tell us that Brown is a jiu jitsu brown belt with a wrestling base and he wins the majority of his fights by submission (see: Garcia, Leonard). Brown trains with American Top Team.
This should be fun as we have the top 2 Featherweight fights in the world in one ring ready to do battle. Have I mentioned that there is a huge crowd here at Arco Arena tonight to watch this fight? They shake hands and embrace before the fight as the fans are really hyped for this fight.
R1- The fans are just nuts for this fight early. Huge “Faber” chant in the first minute of the round as they clinched and then pulled apart. Urijah hit a nice kick to the head but it didn’t seem to faze Brown. Brown went for a take down and Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown easily broke it. Brown his cut around his eye but he has Urijah’s back but Urijah gets back to his feet and gets back to a straight clinch and hits Brown with some knees. Faber hit a big right hand that broke Brown to a knee but Brown kicked and got a trip and he got Urijah down. Brown went for a submission but Urijah sprawled out of it but Brown is still in a dominant position. Really good first round with the crowd going nuts. This was a very close round that was very even. I think Urijah took it 10-9 but it was really a coin flip.
R2- Brown hit a couple of good shots in the first minute but Urijah moved away. Brown got a take down and looked for submissions but Urijah got back to his feet. Brown kept Urijah’s back and hit him with some good punches from behind and then wrestled Urijah back to the ground. Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown quickly escape the submission. Urijah got a good reversal but Brown quickly got Urijah back to his feet. Brown took this round and I’ve got it even on my score card at 19-19.
R3- Urijah went for an elbow and Brown tried to grab him in a guillotine but Brown eventually gave it up. Brown took Urijah’s back and pelted him with punches from behind until Urijah got back to his feet. Urijah hit a knee but Brown shrugged it off. Urijah landed a good elbow/knee combo. Brown went for a take down and Urijah sprawled out and briefly took Brown down but Brown tried for a leg submission and Urijah spun out. Kenny Florian seems to think that Urijah might have broken his right hand and that’s why he’s not punching with that hand but going for elbows. This round could have gone either way. It felt like Brown controlled where the fight went but that Faber landed better strikes. I think Brown takes this round and is up 29-28. This round and the first round were really toss ups. KFlo says he also has the fight 29-28 Brown at this point.
They showed footage of the corner with Urijah telling his corner that he broke his hand.
R4- Urijah is pretty much just throwing elbows now and Brown seems to be starting to connect with some strikes. Urijah landed a good knee. This round was basically even but I felt that Brown did slightly more damage to take the fight into the final round up 39-37. Really good fight so far but Urijah’s offense really seems to have been limited by his right hand injury.
R5- Brown got a take down but couldn’t do anything with it and Urijah got back to his feet. KFlo points out that with his broken hand Urijah cannot secure a guillotine choke. Urijah briefly grabbed a guillotine but Brown picked him up and dumped him on the mat. Urijah quickly gets back to his feet with two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight. Brown got another take down with two minutes left in the fight. Urijah grabbed a choke with a minute and a half but he couldn’t keep it locked in. Brown got a take down with half a minute left in the round. Urijah hit a spinning elbow but couldn’t capitalize. Great Fight. I’ve got Urijah taking that round as he came closer to finishing what was a fairly even round.
I’ve got the fight scored Brown 48 Faber 47. Great fight, it’s unfortunate that Faber broke his hand but that was clearly a weapon that he needed to win this fight.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in favor of Mike Brown.
Winner and still champion: Mike Thomas Brown by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Brown gives it up for Urijah and actually breaks down when discussing his team. Urijah says he hurt both his hands and broke his right hand in the first round. Says he would love to get back in there and get another title shot.
This was a great show. Two great fights in Brown/Faber and Jorgensen/Banuelos. We had Jose Aldo finishing a fight in 8 seconds! Josh Grispi finished Jens Pulver in 33 seconds. Top Contender Donald Cerrone looked good in his fight. This was a show that you did not want to miss.
Sacramento, CA (Arco Arena)
Versus
This is a great weekend if you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Last night Strikeforce put on an explosive show on Showtime with Brett Rogers, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields making loud statements with their actions. That being said, tonight is the show that I am looking forward to most of all, including next weeks UFC PPV. Tonight we get a re-match of the Top 2 Featherweight Fighters in the World as Mike Thomas Brown defends his championship against Urijah Faber. How often do you truly get to see the top 2 fighters in a weight class face off against each other? Also, in action tonight we will see Jens Pulver against Josh Grispi, Top Lightweight contender Donald Cerrone against James Krause and a fight between two more top Featherweight fighters in Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson. This should be an exciting night of fights. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and he is joined by K-Flo, Kenny Florian (who is filling in for Frank Mir). Is it just me or does Kenny Florian look a little like Ben Stiller?
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-11-1) vs. Josh Grispi (12-1)
Jens is a former UFC Lightweight Champ who wins most of his fights by KO. Grispi is on an 8-fight win streak, he’s a versatile fighter with equal KOs to submissions. Jens has been destroyed in his last two fights. That being said, they were both against top featherweight fighters in Urijah Faber and Leonard Garcia. Pulver has to win this fight if he wants to stick around in WEC in a fighting capacity. Grispi has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage in this fight. The only fight I’ve seen of Grispi’s was his 50 second win over Micah Miller back in August of 2008.
R1- Grispi got a take down but got caught in a guillotine by Grispi and Pulver tapped out. This is the third straight fight in which Pulver has been finished in under two minutes. Great showing by Grispi. Pulver needs to hang up the gloves. This is the second fight I’ve seen Grispi in and neither one has lasted more than a minute.
Winner: Josh Grispi by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:33
Post-fight Jens Pulver says that he is retiring as he says “I think I’m ending this where it started”. Then he says he’s not sure if he’s done yet.
The next WEC show will be August 9th when Miguel Angel Torres defends his championship against Brian Bowles. Craig Hummer is in the audience with both of the fighters. Bowles is 7-0 and is coming off an injury but says that it won’t be a problem. He says he thinks he matches up well with Torres. Torres says he is ready for the fight with Bowles and is leaning towards Faber in the fight tonight (but he seemed just to be saying that to suck up to Faber’s hometown crowd).
The camera pans the crowd to see who is in attendance. We see NHL star Jeremy Roenick, Keith Jardine, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner.
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (9-1) vs. James Krause (10-0)
Cerrone has experience as a professional kick boxer but has most of his wins by submission so he is a very versatile fighter. Krause has never been to a decision and tonight he will be making his WEC debut. Krause says his favorite technique is punching people in the face. Cerrone is coming off of a really good fight against Lightweight champion Jamie Varner that was stopped early due to an accidental foul by Cerrone. The fight went to the score cards due to the foul and Varner won. I had the fight 48-47 Varner but it was really even and Cerrone did a lot of damage to Varner. I really want to see a re-match so Varner needs to win this fight to make that happen. Krause has a 2” height and reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cerrone hit a good body kick on Krause as he came in for a take down. Krause got a take down but Cerrone showed a very active guard and went for a submission and rolled into Krause’s guard. Krause ate a couple of punches but got out and back to his feet. Krause went for a take down but Cerrone grabbed a guillotine and then hit Krause with a knee before releasing. Cerrone caught Krause with a left hand and then a right that floored Krause. Cerrone followed him to the ground but Krause did a good job covering up and Cerrone ended up taking his back and he hit some punches and clamped on the Rear Naked Choke for the victory. Good fight and a really solid showing by Cerrone.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:38
Cerrone tells Varner he will fight him “anytime, any where”. Cerrone says that he knows taking this fight wasn’t the smartest move. Says he hopes that Jamie can get out of the “intensive care unit” in order to fight him. Jamie is of course in attendance tonight.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos
Jorgensen has a 3” reach advantage. Jorgensen’s last fight was in January and he tapped Frank Gomez in 1:09 of the first round by guillotine choke. This fight is from the pre-show so it should be a pretty quick one.
R1- Banuelos hit a good right hand to start the fight. Jorgensen ties him up to try and gather himself. Banuelos got a take down up against the cage. Jorgensen gave up his back and was able to get back to his feet. Banuelos is really pushing the action. Jorgensen is clearly having trouble seeing as you can see him blinking hard when there is a slight break in the action. Both guys are freely throwing leather. Really good first round, I’ve got Banuelos taking it 10-9 but Jorgensen started to get his bearings back towards the end of the round.
R2- Banuelos is throwing a lot of punches at the start of this round. Jorgensen works a front headlock looking for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in place. Both guys trade punches at the two minute mark of the round. Jorgensen hit two good right hands but Banuelos took them and then clinched. Jorgensen looks like he’s started to get really comfortable and is starting to hit better strikes on Banuelos. Banuelos came back towards the end of the round but I think Jorgensen takes this round and I’ve got them 19-19 going into the final stanza. Really good fight so far.
R3- A ton of action to stat this round as Banuelos went for a take down but Jorgensen grabbed a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and the fighters got back to their feet. Jorgensen is starting to get his distance down and is walking Banuelos down in the ring. Banuelos has a cut that has been opened up on his right cheek and he seems to be slowing down a little here in the third. Jorgensen landed a really nice knee in the clinch. Both guys continue to really throw at one another. Jorgensen went for a choke but gave it up to take Banuelos back and then Jorgensen ends up in half guard and slugs it out with Banuelos and they sprawl and Banuelos survives another choke. Jorgensen took this round and I’ve got him winning the fight 29-28.
Great Fight. This is a Fight of the Year contender.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Banuelos, 29-28 Jorgensen, and the deciding score card 29-28 for Banuelos. I’m guessing they gave him the second round.
Winner: Antonio Banuelos by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (14-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-2)
The winner of this fight could be in line for shot at the winner of tonight’s Featherweight Title Fight. Aldo was very impressive in his last fight in March as he overwhelmed Chris Mickle. Aldo also finished Rolando Perez in the first round back in January so he’s 2-0 this year with two first round finishes. Aldo is on a 7 fight win streak. Swanson has only lost 1 fight in the last 5 years and that was to Jens Pulver.
R1- Aldo hits a flying knee right out of the gate and this one is over immediately. Wow! Jose Aldo! How bout that finish Brett Rogers?
I think it’s pretty clear that Jose Aldo gets the next shot at the Featherweight title. Post-fight Aldo says he wants a title shot.
The final time of this fight was 8 seconds. Wow!
Winner: Jose Aldo by 0:08
Bantamweight Fight- Rolando Perez vs. Seth Dikun
Looks like Perez is moving down from Featherweight after his loss to Jose Aldo. In three fights Perez lasted the longest with Aldo so far this year as he lasted 4 minutes. Perez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- Perez grabbed a Dikun kick and dumped him on the mat but he let him back up. Dikun pulled guard and grabbed a quick triangle. Perez slams him but Dikun holds onto the move. Perez finally has to tap but he held on for a really long time in the submission.
Winner: Seth Dikun by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:30
Lightweight Fight- Mike Campbell vs. Anthony Pettis
Looks like we are going to get our third pre-show fight. Campbell was undefeated before losing his first fight in January of this year to Danillo Villefort.
R1- Campbell caught a head kick but Pettis aggressively grabbed a guillotine but lost it when they fell to the mat. Pettis went for a n arm bar and Campbell beautifully rolled through it. Campbell got caught in a triangle and he had to tap. Campbell looked like he just made a big mistake and left himself open. Pettis looked really aggressive with his submissions, fought a good fight and took advantage of Campbell’s mistake.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:49
WEC Featherweight Championship: Mike Brown (21-4) vs. Urijah Faber (22-2)
This is a re-match from their original title fight back in November where Urijah lost his first fight in 3 years to Mike Brown. Brown finished that fight in under three minutes when Urijah went for an elbow and Brown caught him with a big clean punch and then followed it up with some big Ground and Pound for the TKO stoppage. Faber made a mistake and got caught in a weird position and Brown really capitalized. It will be interesting to see if Brown can make it two in a row over Faber. Since that fight Brown showed that his win over Urijah was not a fluke when he beat Leonard Garcia in just under 2 minutes. Since his fight with Brown, Urijah also looked very impressive by tapping out Jens Pulver in under 2 minutes in January. Brown is coming into this fight on a 9 fight win streak. Urijah comes to the ring and gets a really big ovation in his hometown. When the lights dim for Brown’s music the crowd gives him a chorus of boos. The graphics on my TV tell us that Brown is a jiu jitsu brown belt with a wrestling base and he wins the majority of his fights by submission (see: Garcia, Leonard). Brown trains with American Top Team.
This should be fun as we have the top 2 Featherweight fights in the world in one ring ready to do battle. Have I mentioned that there is a huge crowd here at Arco Arena tonight to watch this fight? They shake hands and embrace before the fight as the fans are really hyped for this fight.
R1- The fans are just nuts for this fight early. Huge “Faber” chant in the first minute of the round as they clinched and then pulled apart. Urijah hit a nice kick to the head but it didn’t seem to faze Brown. Brown went for a take down and Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown easily broke it. Brown his cut around his eye but he has Urijah’s back but Urijah gets back to his feet and gets back to a straight clinch and hits Brown with some knees. Faber hit a big right hand that broke Brown to a knee but Brown kicked and got a trip and he got Urijah down. Brown went for a submission but Urijah sprawled out of it but Brown is still in a dominant position. Really good first round with the crowd going nuts. This was a very close round that was very even. I think Urijah took it 10-9 but it was really a coin flip.
R2- Brown hit a couple of good shots in the first minute but Urijah moved away. Brown got a take down and looked for submissions but Urijah got back to his feet. Brown kept Urijah’s back and hit him with some good punches from behind and then wrestled Urijah back to the ground. Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown quickly escape the submission. Urijah got a good reversal but Brown quickly got Urijah back to his feet. Brown took this round and I’ve got it even on my score card at 19-19.
R3- Urijah went for an elbow and Brown tried to grab him in a guillotine but Brown eventually gave it up. Brown took Urijah’s back and pelted him with punches from behind until Urijah got back to his feet. Urijah hit a knee but Brown shrugged it off. Urijah landed a good elbow/knee combo. Brown went for a take down and Urijah sprawled out and briefly took Brown down but Brown tried for a leg submission and Urijah spun out. Kenny Florian seems to think that Urijah might have broken his right hand and that’s why he’s not punching with that hand but going for elbows. This round could have gone either way. It felt like Brown controlled where the fight went but that Faber landed better strikes. I think Brown takes this round and is up 29-28. This round and the first round were really toss ups. KFlo says he also has the fight 29-28 Brown at this point.
They showed footage of the corner with Urijah telling his corner that he broke his hand.
R4- Urijah is pretty much just throwing elbows now and Brown seems to be starting to connect with some strikes. Urijah landed a good knee. This round was basically even but I felt that Brown did slightly more damage to take the fight into the final round up 39-37. Really good fight so far but Urijah’s offense really seems to have been limited by his right hand injury.
R5- Brown got a take down but couldn’t do anything with it and Urijah got back to his feet. KFlo points out that with his broken hand Urijah cannot secure a guillotine choke. Urijah briefly grabbed a guillotine but Brown picked him up and dumped him on the mat. Urijah quickly gets back to his feet with two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight. Brown got another take down with two minutes left in the fight. Urijah grabbed a choke with a minute and a half but he couldn’t keep it locked in. Brown got a take down with half a minute left in the round. Urijah hit a spinning elbow but couldn’t capitalize. Great Fight. I’ve got Urijah taking that round as he came closer to finishing what was a fairly even round.
I’ve got the fight scored Brown 48 Faber 47. Great fight, it’s unfortunate that Faber broke his hand but that was clearly a weapon that he needed to win this fight.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in favor of Mike Brown.
Winner and still champion: Mike Thomas Brown by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Brown gives it up for Urijah and actually breaks down when discussing his team. Urijah says he hurt both his hands and broke his right hand in the first round. Says he would love to get back in there and get another title shot.
This was a great show. Two great fights in Brown/Faber and Jorgensen/Banuelos. We had Jose Aldo finishing a fight in 8 seconds! Josh Grispi finished Jens Pulver in 33 seconds. Top Contender Donald Cerrone looked good in his fight. This was a show that you did not want to miss.
Monday, February 02, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
WEC 36: "Faber vs Brown" 11/5/08
WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown- 11/5/08
This looks like a real good show with Faber/Brown, Filho/Sonnen, Garcia/Pulver and Rosholt and Cerrone on the show. Paulo Filho failed to make weight so this will not be a title fight. Kind of a weird situation where the champ didn’t make weight.
Middleweight Fight- Jake Rosholt (4-0) vs. Nissen Osterneck (5-0)
Rosholt was one of the fighters showcased on the last season of Tapout and he looked very impressive in his fight on that show if my memory serves correct. This is the WEC debut of both fighters and they are both undefeated so far in their professional careers.
R1- Nissen charges early and hit some punches but Jake recovers and slams Nissen to the mat and takes side control. Rosholt threw some punches but then almost got caught in an arm bar and Nissen got back to his feet and delivered some more punches to Rosholt. Nissen is landing some good punches and shots. Rosholt got another take down and again landed some good punches. Rosholt hit a bunch of punches towards the end of the round but Nissen held on as Rosholt attempted a choke at the end of the round. Very good first round. Rosholt owned the fight when it was on the ground and Nissen controlled when it was on the feet. Rosholt 10-9 in my book as he controlled more of the round.
R2- Rosholt went for a take down early but Nissen grabbed a kimura and took the advantage. Jake escaped and took half guard. They got back to their feet and Nissen hit a bunch of good solid shots. Then he went for a spinning back fist and missed and Rosholt took him down and mounted him. Great chin by Rosholt. Rosholt finished him as Nissen just burnt himself out and then Rosholt took advantage.
Really good fight and good showing by Rosholt as he controlled when on the ground and took a bunch of shots. Rosholt showed a really good shin and good conditioning. Rosholt needs a lot of work on his stand up- specifically his defense.
Winner: Jake Rosholt by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:48
Hermes Franca, Miguel Torres, Jamie Varner and Carlos Conduit are all at the show tonight in attendance.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (15-3) vs. Jens Pulver (22-9-1)
On paper this looks like the most exciting fight of the night. Jens gets a good response from the fans.
R1- Jens hits a couple of shots early. Garcia answers about a minute into the round and rocks Pulver against the cage. Jens is down and Garcia is nailing him and Garcia gets a quick victory. Very impressive showing for Garcia and it looks like he steps right up in line to face the winner of Faber/Brown.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:12
Middleweight Fight- David Avellan (2-0) vs. Aaron Simpson (3-0)
Both of these guys are undefeated.
R1- Aaron Simpson just levels Avellan with a fantastic right hand and knocked Avellan out right at the beginning of the fight. That was a highlight reel knockout.
Winner: Aaron Simpson by KO R1 0:18
NON-TITLE- Middleweight Fight- Paulo Filho (16-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (22-9-1)
Filho is one of the top ranked Middleweight fighters in the world being ranked as high as #2 behind Anderson Silva in some of the rankings. Filho did not make weight. Sonnen gets a good response from the fans. Filho gets a round of boos upon his introduction.
R1- Filho grabs a single leg and fights hard for a take down but Sonnen does a good job of denying. Filho slips going for a punch but stays on his back seeing if Sonnen wants to come down and fight him on the ground. Filho pretty much spends the whole round on his back trying to catch Sonnen with a submission. Round One is slow paced and Sonnen is up 10-9.
R2- Filho missed on a single leg and Sonnen got a take down about one minute into the round but then quickly gave up his position. Sonnen gave Filho a good leg kick when he tried to shoot. Sonnen got a slam in when Filho tried to pull guard. Filho started to get in some offense towards the end of the round but right now it’s Sonnen 20-18.
R3- This is Sonnen’s fight to lose. Sonnen using the jab to keep Filho away. Filho looking like he doesn’t even want to be in the cage tonight. What a boring fight. Filho is just doing and trying to do nothing.
Sonnen is going to win this dud of a fight 30-27. Filho definitely didn’t live up to his hype. Not really looking forward to the re-match for the title either.
All three judges score the fight 30-27
Winner: Chael Sonnen by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Urijah Faber (21-1) © vs. Mike Brown (19-4)
Brown is from Florida so he gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Faber lands some punches early. Brown muscled Faber against the cage and tried for a take down but Faber caught him in a clinch and delivered a big knee. Faber hit a jab and then Brown took Faber down and Faber popped right back up. Faber went for an elbow but got caught with a good clean punch from Brown and knocked down. Brown is just nailing Faber on the ground and this one is in danger of being stopped and the ref stops the fight. Wow. Really good, short fight. Would like to see a re-match as Faber got caught in a weird position and would be very interested to see if Brown can do it again.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Mike Brown by TKO (strikes) R1 2:23
Overall, this was a pretty decent show that had only 1 stinker. Leonard Garcia and Mike Brown came up as the biggest winners tonight. They might face each other down the road very shortly.
This looks like a real good show with Faber/Brown, Filho/Sonnen, Garcia/Pulver and Rosholt and Cerrone on the show. Paulo Filho failed to make weight so this will not be a title fight. Kind of a weird situation where the champ didn’t make weight.
Middleweight Fight- Jake Rosholt (4-0) vs. Nissen Osterneck (5-0)
Rosholt was one of the fighters showcased on the last season of Tapout and he looked very impressive in his fight on that show if my memory serves correct. This is the WEC debut of both fighters and they are both undefeated so far in their professional careers.
R1- Nissen charges early and hit some punches but Jake recovers and slams Nissen to the mat and takes side control. Rosholt threw some punches but then almost got caught in an arm bar and Nissen got back to his feet and delivered some more punches to Rosholt. Nissen is landing some good punches and shots. Rosholt got another take down and again landed some good punches. Rosholt hit a bunch of punches towards the end of the round but Nissen held on as Rosholt attempted a choke at the end of the round. Very good first round. Rosholt owned the fight when it was on the ground and Nissen controlled when it was on the feet. Rosholt 10-9 in my book as he controlled more of the round.
R2- Rosholt went for a take down early but Nissen grabbed a kimura and took the advantage. Jake escaped and took half guard. They got back to their feet and Nissen hit a bunch of good solid shots. Then he went for a spinning back fist and missed and Rosholt took him down and mounted him. Great chin by Rosholt. Rosholt finished him as Nissen just burnt himself out and then Rosholt took advantage.
Really good fight and good showing by Rosholt as he controlled when on the ground and took a bunch of shots. Rosholt showed a really good shin and good conditioning. Rosholt needs a lot of work on his stand up- specifically his defense.
Winner: Jake Rosholt by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:48
Hermes Franca, Miguel Torres, Jamie Varner and Carlos Conduit are all at the show tonight in attendance.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (15-3) vs. Jens Pulver (22-9-1)
On paper this looks like the most exciting fight of the night. Jens gets a good response from the fans.
R1- Jens hits a couple of shots early. Garcia answers about a minute into the round and rocks Pulver against the cage. Jens is down and Garcia is nailing him and Garcia gets a quick victory. Very impressive showing for Garcia and it looks like he steps right up in line to face the winner of Faber/Brown.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:12
Middleweight Fight- David Avellan (2-0) vs. Aaron Simpson (3-0)
Both of these guys are undefeated.
R1- Aaron Simpson just levels Avellan with a fantastic right hand and knocked Avellan out right at the beginning of the fight. That was a highlight reel knockout.
Winner: Aaron Simpson by KO R1 0:18
NON-TITLE- Middleweight Fight- Paulo Filho (16-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (22-9-1)
Filho is one of the top ranked Middleweight fighters in the world being ranked as high as #2 behind Anderson Silva in some of the rankings. Filho did not make weight. Sonnen gets a good response from the fans. Filho gets a round of boos upon his introduction.
R1- Filho grabs a single leg and fights hard for a take down but Sonnen does a good job of denying. Filho slips going for a punch but stays on his back seeing if Sonnen wants to come down and fight him on the ground. Filho pretty much spends the whole round on his back trying to catch Sonnen with a submission. Round One is slow paced and Sonnen is up 10-9.
R2- Filho missed on a single leg and Sonnen got a take down about one minute into the round but then quickly gave up his position. Sonnen gave Filho a good leg kick when he tried to shoot. Sonnen got a slam in when Filho tried to pull guard. Filho started to get in some offense towards the end of the round but right now it’s Sonnen 20-18.
R3- This is Sonnen’s fight to lose. Sonnen using the jab to keep Filho away. Filho looking like he doesn’t even want to be in the cage tonight. What a boring fight. Filho is just doing and trying to do nothing.
Sonnen is going to win this dud of a fight 30-27. Filho definitely didn’t live up to his hype. Not really looking forward to the re-match for the title either.
All three judges score the fight 30-27
Winner: Chael Sonnen by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Urijah Faber (21-1) © vs. Mike Brown (19-4)
Brown is from Florida so he gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Faber lands some punches early. Brown muscled Faber against the cage and tried for a take down but Faber caught him in a clinch and delivered a big knee. Faber hit a jab and then Brown took Faber down and Faber popped right back up. Faber went for an elbow but got caught with a good clean punch from Brown and knocked down. Brown is just nailing Faber on the ground and this one is in danger of being stopped and the ref stops the fight. Wow. Really good, short fight. Would like to see a re-match as Faber got caught in a weird position and would be very interested to see if Brown can do it again.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Mike Brown by TKO (strikes) R1 2:23
Overall, this was a pretty decent show that had only 1 stinker. Leonard Garcia and Mike Brown came up as the biggest winners tonight. They might face each other down the road very shortly.
Monday, June 02, 2008
WEC 34: "Faber vs. Pulver" 6/1/08
WEC: “Faber vs. Pulver” 6/1/08
This is the first “live” WEC show that I’ve seen so this should be interesting. I’m really looking forward to Faber/Pulver and also seeing Miguel Torres.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (15-4) vs. Kenneth Alexander (5-2-1)
McCullough seems to be the favorite in this one as he’s a former Lightweight champ. Alexander has been training with Urijah Faber. Frank Mir adds that Alexander has a victory over McCullough earlier in his career. Alexander’s nickname is “The Black Ninja” and he’s 29 years old. Rob McCullough’s nickname is “The Razor”. Alexander has a reach advantage in this fight. Alexander is from Sacramento so he gets a good pop when he is introduced. McCullough doesn’t get anywhere near the response despite being a former champ.
R1- Long feeling out process. Alexander went for a take down about a minute in but McCullough ends up with the take down. Alexander gets out without sustaining damage. McCullough finally throws a combo about 2 minutes in but then Alexander tags him with a punch. Alexander goes for a take down but is denied again. McCullough blocks a kick. Three minutes in and very little damage done by either fighter. They clinch and are against the cage. McCullough gets out of it. Alexander goes for another take down but McCullough ends up taking Alexander down. McCullough has a cut under his right eye. A really conservative first round. Neither guy really got in any sustained damage but Alexander did open up a cut on McCullough despite having several of his take downs thwarted by McCullough.
R2- They start off a little quicker this round as they are actually throwing punches and kicks to start the round. Alexander takes down McCullough but McCullough does a good job getting back to his feet quickly. Both guys fighting very conservatively, almost like they don’t want to make the first mistake. Alexander gets a take down at 40 seconds as McCullough missed a knee but Alexander can’t hold him down. Alexander with another take down at 20 seconds. This has been a really close fight that’s probably 19-19 on the judges score cards. Neither guy can claim they are winning this fight so whoever takes this next round I think will take the fight.
R3- Neither guy really pushing the action at the beginning of this round. The fans aren’t really digging this fight so far although it’s not a bad fight just not much action. McCullough lands a good kick and has kind of taken the role of aggressor in this round in that he’s controlling the cage. McCullough hits a knee. McCullough hits Alexander with a knee to the groin and he crumples. We are going to get a five minute break here. They are back after a minute or two and we are at under 2 minutes with no clear cut winner. They are clinched and then they release. McCullough goes after Alexander with a knee. Alexander gets a take down with 45 seconds left. McCullough gets back up with no damage done. I think McCullough won this round although not really convincingly. I’ll give the fight to McCullough just due to him being the aggressor for the last two rounds and thwarting almost all of Alexander’s take downs. The fans didn’t really dig this match and it really to me looked like two guys fighting not to lose instead of fighting to win. The loser of this match has nothing to complain about because they simply didn’t finish the fight with the intention of winning.
Judges score: McCullough 30-27, Alexander 29-28- wow that’s a weird difference but like I said besides round three (which I thought McCullough won) nobody clearly won a round. Third and final judge scores the fight 30-27 for McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Split)
Kind of a blah start to the show as neither guy really looked like they wanted to win the first fight.
Chuck Liddell, Stephan Bonnar and Anderson Silva are in attendance at the fight.
They interview Light Heavyweight Champ Jamie Varner at ringside. Varner says that his heart is with Jens but he’s picking Faber to win.
Light Heavyweight Fight: Mark Munoz (3-0) vs. Chuck Grigsby (15-3)
Both of these guys are newcomers to the WEC. Munoz is a National Champion wrestler from Oklahoma State. Grigsby has a 6 inch height advantage. Grigsby’s nickname is “The Reverend”. Munoz gets a good pop at introductions as he’s hailed as fighting out of Sacramento.
R1- Grigsby is really lanky. Munoz shots in for a take down but Grigsby denies him. Grigbsy lands a couple of shots. Munoz gets a tough take down on Grigsby and had side control but Grigsby easily moved him to full guard. Munoz just doing nothing on the top. Grigsby just misses an arm bar. Munoz comes down with a couple of punches and then does it again and gets half guard. Munoz in side control and hits some punches. Munoz coming down on Grigsby with more punches. Munoz hits some more punches and the ref calls this one. Munoz took a while to get going but eventually found his strength in this fight and took out Grigsby. I think this fight was more of Grigsby not being very good rather than Munoz being good but I guess we will see if that is true in the future.
Winner: Mark Munoz by TKO (punches) R1 4:15
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (7-0-1) vs. Danny Castillo (5-0)
Both of these guys are undefeated. This is Danny Castillo’s WEC debut. Castillo gets a much better reception than does Cerrone due to being the hometown guy. Tons of hometown guys so far as there has been one in all of the first three fights. So far the hometown guys are 1-1 tonight.
R1- Cerrone hits a good knee to the body and then misses on a kick and Castillo takes him down. Cerrone with an active guard and is aggressively going for a submission but Castillo gets a couple of punches in. Cerrone grabs an arm bar and Castillo taps quickly. Cerrone looked really good from the guard position.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Verbal Submission (Arm bar) R1 0:30
Welterweight Carlos Conduit is at ringside and they interview him about his title defense on August 3rd.
Bantamweight Title Match: Miguel Torres © (33-1) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2)
This is one of the two fights I’m really looking forward to tonight as I am eager to see Torres. Maeda comes out to “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. Torres trained under the late Carlson Gracie. Torres has a big reach advantage of 8 inches. This is labeled as the “Co-Main Event”.
R1- Maeda grabs a Torres kick and takes him down as Torres slips a little bit. Torres is all over Maeda after this with kicks, knees and punches and he’s got Maeda back peddling quickly. Great flurry by Torres. Torres rushes and hits a knee. Maeda catches Torres again when Torres tries a kick and takes him down but Torres grabs him arm and Maeda escapes. Torres with some good kicks. Torres is cut. Maeda lands a knee and Torres lands a punch and they are mixing it up good. Lots of action. Torres tries to pull guard and is kicking Maeda with his heel from the guard position. Lots of action in a really fun first round. Torres got cut but he also got in more offense and I think he took round one but it wasn’t a blowout as Maeda held his own and showed some good skills.
R2- Torres gets pushed down a couple of times and hits Maeda with a big up kick. Lots of gamesmanship in this fight as they are egging each other on. Torres with some knees on the fence and a nice punch. Maeda comes back with some shots. Both guys really throwing. They go to the mat and Maeda going for a leg lock and has a toe hold. Both guys have toe holds on the other guy. Torres also kicking Maeda. They are out of that position and Maeda hits an elbow. Torres goes for a triangle but Maeda gets out. Torres with some punches on the cage and grabs a guillotine and takes Maeda down. Now he has full mount and is hitting some elbows. Torres has his back with 10 seconds left and is hitting punches. Strong finish for Torres gives him this round also. So I’ve got it Torres 20-18 so far. Great fight so far. The first three fights were kind of blah but this one is really delivering.
R3- Torres opens up the round with some jabs and knee. Torres hits Maeda with a nice punch and gets a good flurry. Maeda though seems to comeback every time he gets in trouble. Maeda’s face is getting swollen under his right eye. Torres with a nice knee. Torres is looking really good in this round. Torres with a roundhouse kick. Maeda comes back and lands some punches and Torres misses with a big kick. Maeda starting to look a little tired but still fighting back. Maeda with a take down and get some good punches in. Torres now working the guard and getting in some offense from the guard position. Maeda’s right eye is almost closed and Torres pops him with a nice left. Another round to Torres in my book as he’s up 30-27 now but the fight is a little closer than the score indicates although Torres is starting to distance himself as he’s inflicting more damage and Maeda’s eye is closed.
During the commercial break Herb Dean steps in and stops the fight due to the condition of Maeda’s eye. Great fight that ends somewhat flat due to the ref stoppage.
Winner: Miguel Torres by Ref Stoppage and still champion
Featherweight Title Match: Urijah Faber © (20-1) vs. Jens Pulver (22-8-1)
Pulver’s undefeated at this weight and a former UFC champ. Faber is hyped as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Faber is sporting corn rows tonight. Faber is definitely the crowd favorite as he’s another hometown guy. The stats are real even for both of these guys.
R1- Faber runs in and gets a couple of shots. They are clinched and Faber hits a couple of knees. Faber hits a good punch. Faber misses with a kick and slips and Pulver jumps on top of Faber. Faber gets up with no damage. Faber accidently pokes Pulver in the eye. So far this fight has mostly been Faber as his speed seems to be tough for Pulver to catch up to so far. Both guys are getting in some shots now but Faber still seems to be landing more. Faber with a nice right hand and then a combo and a high kick that was blocked. Faber hits a body kick but Pulver grabs his back but can’t get anything. Pulver with a combo. Faber with a combo and then another punch. Good first round. Faber takes this one as he controlled the fight from a stand-up position and landed a lot better quality shots. At this point Faber looks a lot quicker and more conditioned. Pulver’s gonna have to make some adjustments between rounds. Faber 10-9.
R2- Faber rushes in early and hits Pulver with a low kick, so they pause the fight. Faber goes in and takes Pulver down. Faber hitting some elbows. Pulver does a real good job avoiding damage and the fight is back on their feet. Pulver is just having difficulty catching up to Faber. Faber rocks Pulver with a punch and Pulver is stunned and goes down to his knees. Faber just all over Pulver with hammer punches and trying to finish. Pulver somehow gets back to his feet but Faber nails Pulver with several shots and Pulver is hurt but is holding on somehow. Pulver with a couple of punches. Faber takes Pulver down but Pulver gets the advantage but Faber takes his back and then they clinch on the cage. Faber with a good punch and then a combo. Pulver with a couple of shots. Really good round. Faber got in a bunch of good shots and towards the end of the round kind of had that “what do I need to do to finish this guy” look on his face. Pulver is taking a ton of punishment so far but is hanging in there and fighting back. Faber 20-18.
R3- Pulver opens up with a nice kick. Faber comes back with a side kick. Faber shoots in but Pulver sprawls out and Faber sneaks around to his back and slams him down but Pulver jumps back up. Great fighting sequence. Faber with a good combo and Pulver comes back with a good uppercut. Faber with two good clean shots. Pulver with a kick and a good punch and Faber looks a little hurt. Faber bounces back with a series of body kicks. Faber shoots in but Pulver sprawls again. Pulver with a couple of elbows. Faber moves into Pulver’s guard and hits a couple of elbows. Pulver is taking some damage on his face. Faber hits an elbow as the ref stands them up. Faber with another side kick. Three rounds are in the books. I’ve got Faber taking all three round so that puts him up 30-27 but Pulver is still in this fight. Pulver has taken a ton of punishment but has also gotten in some shots on Faber that have hurt and stunned him he just hasn’t been able to capitalize.
R4- Faber rushes Pulver but overruns him and slips and gets caught with some hard shots. Faber comes back with two really nice punches. Pulver with a side kick to the head. Faber with a good over hand right. Faber landing some good shots. Faber hits two nice lefts. Pulver just taking the punishment. Faber takes him down and lands a big elbow and another. Faber continuing to land some good shots. Faber takes this round also and I’ve got him up 40-36 on the score card.
R5- They off this round with almost a hug as they meet in the center of the ring for the fifth and final round. Pulver stops a take down early. Faber’s conditioning is just fantastic. He’s looking almost as limber as in the first couple of rounds. Faber landing some combos. Pulver coming back with not hitting with anything substantial. Faber with a knee. Faber with a couple of shots and Pulver comes back with a good punch. Faber keeping him at bay with some jabs. Pulver gets in a couple of shots on the cage. Faber with a knee. One minute left and Faber continuing to jab at Pulver’s right eye. Faber ends the fight with a take down and in control.
Great fight. Faber won every round in my book but Pulver just showed a ton of heart as he took a bunch of punishment and kept coming. Faber showed tremendous speed and conditioning and took some good shots from Pulver and was able to recover and control this fight and win by a good margin. Judges score cards show 50-45, 50-44, 50-44 in favor of Faber.
Winner: Urijah Faber by Decision (Unanimous) and still champion.
Overall, this was a really good show due to the final two matches which were both top notch in my book. The show started kind of slow with three fights that really didn’t show anything but the last two fights really put this show over the top. I highly recommend everyone checking out Faber/Pulver and Torres/Maeda.
This is the first “live” WEC show that I’ve seen so this should be interesting. I’m really looking forward to Faber/Pulver and also seeing Miguel Torres.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (15-4) vs. Kenneth Alexander (5-2-1)
McCullough seems to be the favorite in this one as he’s a former Lightweight champ. Alexander has been training with Urijah Faber. Frank Mir adds that Alexander has a victory over McCullough earlier in his career. Alexander’s nickname is “The Black Ninja” and he’s 29 years old. Rob McCullough’s nickname is “The Razor”. Alexander has a reach advantage in this fight. Alexander is from Sacramento so he gets a good pop when he is introduced. McCullough doesn’t get anywhere near the response despite being a former champ.
R1- Long feeling out process. Alexander went for a take down about a minute in but McCullough ends up with the take down. Alexander gets out without sustaining damage. McCullough finally throws a combo about 2 minutes in but then Alexander tags him with a punch. Alexander goes for a take down but is denied again. McCullough blocks a kick. Three minutes in and very little damage done by either fighter. They clinch and are against the cage. McCullough gets out of it. Alexander goes for another take down but McCullough ends up taking Alexander down. McCullough has a cut under his right eye. A really conservative first round. Neither guy really got in any sustained damage but Alexander did open up a cut on McCullough despite having several of his take downs thwarted by McCullough.
R2- They start off a little quicker this round as they are actually throwing punches and kicks to start the round. Alexander takes down McCullough but McCullough does a good job getting back to his feet quickly. Both guys fighting very conservatively, almost like they don’t want to make the first mistake. Alexander gets a take down at 40 seconds as McCullough missed a knee but Alexander can’t hold him down. Alexander with another take down at 20 seconds. This has been a really close fight that’s probably 19-19 on the judges score cards. Neither guy can claim they are winning this fight so whoever takes this next round I think will take the fight.
R3- Neither guy really pushing the action at the beginning of this round. The fans aren’t really digging this fight so far although it’s not a bad fight just not much action. McCullough lands a good kick and has kind of taken the role of aggressor in this round in that he’s controlling the cage. McCullough hits a knee. McCullough hits Alexander with a knee to the groin and he crumples. We are going to get a five minute break here. They are back after a minute or two and we are at under 2 minutes with no clear cut winner. They are clinched and then they release. McCullough goes after Alexander with a knee. Alexander gets a take down with 45 seconds left. McCullough gets back up with no damage done. I think McCullough won this round although not really convincingly. I’ll give the fight to McCullough just due to him being the aggressor for the last two rounds and thwarting almost all of Alexander’s take downs. The fans didn’t really dig this match and it really to me looked like two guys fighting not to lose instead of fighting to win. The loser of this match has nothing to complain about because they simply didn’t finish the fight with the intention of winning.
Judges score: McCullough 30-27, Alexander 29-28- wow that’s a weird difference but like I said besides round three (which I thought McCullough won) nobody clearly won a round. Third and final judge scores the fight 30-27 for McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Split)
Kind of a blah start to the show as neither guy really looked like they wanted to win the first fight.
Chuck Liddell, Stephan Bonnar and Anderson Silva are in attendance at the fight.
They interview Light Heavyweight Champ Jamie Varner at ringside. Varner says that his heart is with Jens but he’s picking Faber to win.
Light Heavyweight Fight: Mark Munoz (3-0) vs. Chuck Grigsby (15-3)
Both of these guys are newcomers to the WEC. Munoz is a National Champion wrestler from Oklahoma State. Grigsby has a 6 inch height advantage. Grigsby’s nickname is “The Reverend”. Munoz gets a good pop at introductions as he’s hailed as fighting out of Sacramento.
R1- Grigsby is really lanky. Munoz shots in for a take down but Grigsby denies him. Grigbsy lands a couple of shots. Munoz gets a tough take down on Grigsby and had side control but Grigsby easily moved him to full guard. Munoz just doing nothing on the top. Grigsby just misses an arm bar. Munoz comes down with a couple of punches and then does it again and gets half guard. Munoz in side control and hits some punches. Munoz coming down on Grigsby with more punches. Munoz hits some more punches and the ref calls this one. Munoz took a while to get going but eventually found his strength in this fight and took out Grigsby. I think this fight was more of Grigsby not being very good rather than Munoz being good but I guess we will see if that is true in the future.
Winner: Mark Munoz by TKO (punches) R1 4:15
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (7-0-1) vs. Danny Castillo (5-0)
Both of these guys are undefeated. This is Danny Castillo’s WEC debut. Castillo gets a much better reception than does Cerrone due to being the hometown guy. Tons of hometown guys so far as there has been one in all of the first three fights. So far the hometown guys are 1-1 tonight.
R1- Cerrone hits a good knee to the body and then misses on a kick and Castillo takes him down. Cerrone with an active guard and is aggressively going for a submission but Castillo gets a couple of punches in. Cerrone grabs an arm bar and Castillo taps quickly. Cerrone looked really good from the guard position.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Verbal Submission (Arm bar) R1 0:30
Welterweight Carlos Conduit is at ringside and they interview him about his title defense on August 3rd.
Bantamweight Title Match: Miguel Torres © (33-1) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2)
This is one of the two fights I’m really looking forward to tonight as I am eager to see Torres. Maeda comes out to “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. Torres trained under the late Carlson Gracie. Torres has a big reach advantage of 8 inches. This is labeled as the “Co-Main Event”.
R1- Maeda grabs a Torres kick and takes him down as Torres slips a little bit. Torres is all over Maeda after this with kicks, knees and punches and he’s got Maeda back peddling quickly. Great flurry by Torres. Torres rushes and hits a knee. Maeda catches Torres again when Torres tries a kick and takes him down but Torres grabs him arm and Maeda escapes. Torres with some good kicks. Torres is cut. Maeda lands a knee and Torres lands a punch and they are mixing it up good. Lots of action. Torres tries to pull guard and is kicking Maeda with his heel from the guard position. Lots of action in a really fun first round. Torres got cut but he also got in more offense and I think he took round one but it wasn’t a blowout as Maeda held his own and showed some good skills.
R2- Torres gets pushed down a couple of times and hits Maeda with a big up kick. Lots of gamesmanship in this fight as they are egging each other on. Torres with some knees on the fence and a nice punch. Maeda comes back with some shots. Both guys really throwing. They go to the mat and Maeda going for a leg lock and has a toe hold. Both guys have toe holds on the other guy. Torres also kicking Maeda. They are out of that position and Maeda hits an elbow. Torres goes for a triangle but Maeda gets out. Torres with some punches on the cage and grabs a guillotine and takes Maeda down. Now he has full mount and is hitting some elbows. Torres has his back with 10 seconds left and is hitting punches. Strong finish for Torres gives him this round also. So I’ve got it Torres 20-18 so far. Great fight so far. The first three fights were kind of blah but this one is really delivering.
R3- Torres opens up the round with some jabs and knee. Torres hits Maeda with a nice punch and gets a good flurry. Maeda though seems to comeback every time he gets in trouble. Maeda’s face is getting swollen under his right eye. Torres with a nice knee. Torres is looking really good in this round. Torres with a roundhouse kick. Maeda comes back and lands some punches and Torres misses with a big kick. Maeda starting to look a little tired but still fighting back. Maeda with a take down and get some good punches in. Torres now working the guard and getting in some offense from the guard position. Maeda’s right eye is almost closed and Torres pops him with a nice left. Another round to Torres in my book as he’s up 30-27 now but the fight is a little closer than the score indicates although Torres is starting to distance himself as he’s inflicting more damage and Maeda’s eye is closed.
During the commercial break Herb Dean steps in and stops the fight due to the condition of Maeda’s eye. Great fight that ends somewhat flat due to the ref stoppage.
Winner: Miguel Torres by Ref Stoppage and still champion
Featherweight Title Match: Urijah Faber © (20-1) vs. Jens Pulver (22-8-1)
Pulver’s undefeated at this weight and a former UFC champ. Faber is hyped as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Faber is sporting corn rows tonight. Faber is definitely the crowd favorite as he’s another hometown guy. The stats are real even for both of these guys.
R1- Faber runs in and gets a couple of shots. They are clinched and Faber hits a couple of knees. Faber hits a good punch. Faber misses with a kick and slips and Pulver jumps on top of Faber. Faber gets up with no damage. Faber accidently pokes Pulver in the eye. So far this fight has mostly been Faber as his speed seems to be tough for Pulver to catch up to so far. Both guys are getting in some shots now but Faber still seems to be landing more. Faber with a nice right hand and then a combo and a high kick that was blocked. Faber hits a body kick but Pulver grabs his back but can’t get anything. Pulver with a combo. Faber with a combo and then another punch. Good first round. Faber takes this one as he controlled the fight from a stand-up position and landed a lot better quality shots. At this point Faber looks a lot quicker and more conditioned. Pulver’s gonna have to make some adjustments between rounds. Faber 10-9.
R2- Faber rushes in early and hits Pulver with a low kick, so they pause the fight. Faber goes in and takes Pulver down. Faber hitting some elbows. Pulver does a real good job avoiding damage and the fight is back on their feet. Pulver is just having difficulty catching up to Faber. Faber rocks Pulver with a punch and Pulver is stunned and goes down to his knees. Faber just all over Pulver with hammer punches and trying to finish. Pulver somehow gets back to his feet but Faber nails Pulver with several shots and Pulver is hurt but is holding on somehow. Pulver with a couple of punches. Faber takes Pulver down but Pulver gets the advantage but Faber takes his back and then they clinch on the cage. Faber with a good punch and then a combo. Pulver with a couple of shots. Really good round. Faber got in a bunch of good shots and towards the end of the round kind of had that “what do I need to do to finish this guy” look on his face. Pulver is taking a ton of punishment so far but is hanging in there and fighting back. Faber 20-18.
R3- Pulver opens up with a nice kick. Faber comes back with a side kick. Faber shoots in but Pulver sprawls out and Faber sneaks around to his back and slams him down but Pulver jumps back up. Great fighting sequence. Faber with a good combo and Pulver comes back with a good uppercut. Faber with two good clean shots. Pulver with a kick and a good punch and Faber looks a little hurt. Faber bounces back with a series of body kicks. Faber shoots in but Pulver sprawls again. Pulver with a couple of elbows. Faber moves into Pulver’s guard and hits a couple of elbows. Pulver is taking some damage on his face. Faber hits an elbow as the ref stands them up. Faber with another side kick. Three rounds are in the books. I’ve got Faber taking all three round so that puts him up 30-27 but Pulver is still in this fight. Pulver has taken a ton of punishment but has also gotten in some shots on Faber that have hurt and stunned him he just hasn’t been able to capitalize.
R4- Faber rushes Pulver but overruns him and slips and gets caught with some hard shots. Faber comes back with two really nice punches. Pulver with a side kick to the head. Faber with a good over hand right. Faber landing some good shots. Faber hits two nice lefts. Pulver just taking the punishment. Faber takes him down and lands a big elbow and another. Faber continuing to land some good shots. Faber takes this round also and I’ve got him up 40-36 on the score card.
R5- They off this round with almost a hug as they meet in the center of the ring for the fifth and final round. Pulver stops a take down early. Faber’s conditioning is just fantastic. He’s looking almost as limber as in the first couple of rounds. Faber landing some combos. Pulver coming back with not hitting with anything substantial. Faber with a knee. Faber with a couple of shots and Pulver comes back with a good punch. Faber keeping him at bay with some jabs. Pulver gets in a couple of shots on the cage. Faber with a knee. One minute left and Faber continuing to jab at Pulver’s right eye. Faber ends the fight with a take down and in control.
Great fight. Faber won every round in my book but Pulver just showed a ton of heart as he took a bunch of punishment and kept coming. Faber showed tremendous speed and conditioning and took some good shots from Pulver and was able to recover and control this fight and win by a good margin. Judges score cards show 50-45, 50-44, 50-44 in favor of Faber.
Winner: Urijah Faber by Decision (Unanimous) and still champion.
Overall, this was a really good show due to the final two matches which were both top notch in my book. The show started kind of slow with three fights that really didn’t show anything but the last two fights really put this show over the top. I highly recommend everyone checking out Faber/Pulver and Torres/Maeda.
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