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 WEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WEC. Show all posts
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
WEC: Aldo vs. Faber Prelims Re-Cap
WEC: Aldo vs. Faber Prelims
Arco Arena
Sacramento, California
April 24, 2010
Spike TV
Tonight is the "biggest fight in Featherweight history" between current champion Jose Aldo and former champion Urijah Faber and to hype the first ever WEC PPV we get a free hour of fights on Spike TV! The UFC has taken over the WEC airwaves as Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are the announcers for this show. Bruce Buffer is also doing the ring announcing tonight. Leonard Garcia of UFC fame and Alex Karalexis from TUF 1 will be on the prelims.
Lightweight Fight- Alexis Karalexis (10-4) vs. Anthony Pettis (8-1)
Pettis has a huge 6" reach advantage and also has a 2" height advantage.
R1- Pettis hit an incredible kick early and Karalexis clinched to survive. It almost looked like a Superman Kick (Rogan later called it a Switch Kick). In March of 2009 Pettis hit a highlight reel head kick to beat Danny Castillo. Pettis is big time with his feet. Karalexis caught a kick and took Pettis down but Pettis got back to his feet mid-way through the round. Pettis caught a Karalexis leg kick and landed a good straight right. Pettis is the much better striker in this fight. Karalexis looking to brawl and get the fight to the ground. Pettis just landed a couple of really nice leg kicks and Karalexis looks like he's favoring them a bit. Pettis continues to land kicks and Karalexis has to change his stance. Pettis 10-9.
R2- Karalexis rushed in and got an early take down but Pettis quickly got back to his feet. Karalexis completed another take down one minute into the round. Pettis has a very active guard and he trapped Karalexis in a triangle and landed a couple of strikes and Karalexis tapped out. Good showing by Pettis, he showed tonight that he was a superior striker to his opponent and also showed the ability to finish the fight once it went to the ground and even better showed the ability to finish from the bottom.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R2 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Chad Mendes (6-0) vs. Anthony Morrison
This one pops on without any Bruce Buffer so it was taped earlier. Goldberg says Mendes is the hometown kid and has lots of hype behind him. Mendes has a background has a college wrestler.
R1- Mendes came in early with some strikes and landed a few. Mendes shot in and got a take down at the two minute mark of the round. Mendes grabbed a guillotine and Morrison tapped out. Impressive showing by Mendes.
Winner: Chad Mendes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:13
Joe Rogan interviews Kimbo Slice via Satelitte about his May 8th fight against Matt Mitrione. Kimbo = Ratings.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-5-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (10-1)
Chan Sung Jung fought in the Sengoku Featherweight tournament where he beat Shintaro Ishiwatari by Rear Naked Choke in the first round and then lost to Masanori Kanehara in the second round in a close decision loss. If you are a fan of MMA then you should know who Leonard Garcia is, if you don't then go run and google his fight with Roger Huerta and then come back and read the rest of this re-cap. Garcia last fought at WEC 44 where he lost a close decision to Manvel Gamburyan and before that he beat Jameel Massouh by split decision at WEC 42. Jung has a 2.5" reach but Garcia has a 3" height advantage. Jung's nickname is the "Korean Zombie". Garcia has Yoda in his corner for the fight.
R1- GREAT exchange around the one minute mark of this fight with both guys just throwing bombs and crazy haymakers.
Crowd going nuts. Jung throwing some good knees. Jung landed a good left hand that floored Garcia. Jung on top with some short elbows but Garcia clinches onto him looking for a submission but Jung fought him off and landed some more Ground and Pound. Garcia got back to his feet with one minute left in the round. Garcia still throwing haymakers but coming up empty and Jung is landing some jabs. Jung landed a head kick but didn't have anything behind it and Garcia smiled and wagged his tongue at Jung and then landed a right hand. Jung continues to land punches and knees. Great first round, one of the best first rounds of this year. Jung 10-9. This fight is a great way to sell a Pay-Per View.
"This place is going bananas"- Joe Rogan
"This just chaos"- Joe Rogan
"Every punch Garcia throws is like a 90 mile per hour fast ball"- Joe Rogan
R2- Jung lands another head kick to start off the round and then landed some strikes. Both guys throwing BOMBS again and Garcia finally finds a home for one of his and Jung went down to his knees. Garcia hit him with another right as he was getting back to his feet. Garcia missed a spinning back fist and then Jung tried one and missed as well. REALLY FUN fight right now. A ton of action so far in this round and we are only a minute into this round. Crowd is going nuts for this prelim bout just wait til Faber hits the cage. Garcia tried a back kick and left himself open and Jung landed some good strikes. Jung jumped on Garcia's back and took him down. Looks like he's looking for a Rear Naked Choke. Jung locked in a body triangle but Garcia was able to break that and get back onto his feet with two minutes still left in the round. Really good defense by Garcia. Jung lands some good knees and gets Garcia up against the cage and is just pelting him with strikes. Garcia lost his mouthpiece but they quickly picked it up and he put it back in with no rinse and they are back at it. Garcia hit a good right uppercut. They show Urijah in the back cheering as he watches the fight. To me this was a 10-10 round but you have to go one way or the other so I'll give it to Jung because he landed more strikes and had Garcia in more dangerous positions. So i've got it Jung 20-18.
"This is a Rocky movie"- Joe Rogan
"This place is deafening"- Joe Rogan
"This might be the craziest fight we've ever seen"- Joe Rogan
R3- Garcia lands some early leg kicks. Both guys have slowed down a bit. Garcia misses with a spinning back kick. Jung missed with a spinning back fist but got Garcia off balance and landed some strikes. Jung got Garcia with his back to the cage and landed several good strikes. Garcia just showing an iron chin tonight. Garcia missed a kick and Jung looked at Garcia and yelled a Korean War Cry at him and charged forward. Man this is a great fight. Both guys swing for the fences at the end but nobody connects. GREAT FIGHT. I've got Jung 30-27.
Judges score cards: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Jung, 29-28 Garcia
One of the best fights of the year so far but a poor decision by the judges. Let me go know and delete Jung's name from the winner list and replace it with Garcia before you get down that far to read it.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by Decision (Split)
Joe Rogan and Dana White sell the PPV as we go off the air and head to PPV.
Arco Arena
Sacramento, California
April 24, 2010
Spike TV
Tonight is the "biggest fight in Featherweight history" between current champion Jose Aldo and former champion Urijah Faber and to hype the first ever WEC PPV we get a free hour of fights on Spike TV! The UFC has taken over the WEC airwaves as Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are the announcers for this show. Bruce Buffer is also doing the ring announcing tonight. Leonard Garcia of UFC fame and Alex Karalexis from TUF 1 will be on the prelims.
Lightweight Fight- Alexis Karalexis (10-4) vs. Anthony Pettis (8-1)
Pettis has a huge 6" reach advantage and also has a 2" height advantage.
R1- Pettis hit an incredible kick early and Karalexis clinched to survive. It almost looked like a Superman Kick (Rogan later called it a Switch Kick). In March of 2009 Pettis hit a highlight reel head kick to beat Danny Castillo. Pettis is big time with his feet. Karalexis caught a kick and took Pettis down but Pettis got back to his feet mid-way through the round. Pettis caught a Karalexis leg kick and landed a good straight right. Pettis is the much better striker in this fight. Karalexis looking to brawl and get the fight to the ground. Pettis just landed a couple of really nice leg kicks and Karalexis looks like he's favoring them a bit. Pettis continues to land kicks and Karalexis has to change his stance. Pettis 10-9.
R2- Karalexis rushed in and got an early take down but Pettis quickly got back to his feet. Karalexis completed another take down one minute into the round. Pettis has a very active guard and he trapped Karalexis in a triangle and landed a couple of strikes and Karalexis tapped out. Good showing by Pettis, he showed tonight that he was a superior striker to his opponent and also showed the ability to finish the fight once it went to the ground and even better showed the ability to finish from the bottom.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R2 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Chad Mendes (6-0) vs. Anthony Morrison
This one pops on without any Bruce Buffer so it was taped earlier. Goldberg says Mendes is the hometown kid and has lots of hype behind him. Mendes has a background has a college wrestler.
R1- Mendes came in early with some strikes and landed a few. Mendes shot in and got a take down at the two minute mark of the round. Mendes grabbed a guillotine and Morrison tapped out. Impressive showing by Mendes.
Winner: Chad Mendes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:13
Joe Rogan interviews Kimbo Slice via Satelitte about his May 8th fight against Matt Mitrione. Kimbo = Ratings.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-5-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (10-1)
Chan Sung Jung fought in the Sengoku Featherweight tournament where he beat Shintaro Ishiwatari by Rear Naked Choke in the first round and then lost to Masanori Kanehara in the second round in a close decision loss. If you are a fan of MMA then you should know who Leonard Garcia is, if you don't then go run and google his fight with Roger Huerta and then come back and read the rest of this re-cap. Garcia last fought at WEC 44 where he lost a close decision to Manvel Gamburyan and before that he beat Jameel Massouh by split decision at WEC 42. Jung has a 2.5" reach but Garcia has a 3" height advantage. Jung's nickname is the "Korean Zombie". Garcia has Yoda in his corner for the fight.
R1- GREAT exchange around the one minute mark of this fight with both guys just throwing bombs and crazy haymakers.
Crowd going nuts. Jung throwing some good knees. Jung landed a good left hand that floored Garcia. Jung on top with some short elbows but Garcia clinches onto him looking for a submission but Jung fought him off and landed some more Ground and Pound. Garcia got back to his feet with one minute left in the round. Garcia still throwing haymakers but coming up empty and Jung is landing some jabs. Jung landed a head kick but didn't have anything behind it and Garcia smiled and wagged his tongue at Jung and then landed a right hand. Jung continues to land punches and knees. Great first round, one of the best first rounds of this year. Jung 10-9. This fight is a great way to sell a Pay-Per View.
"This place is going bananas"- Joe Rogan
"This just chaos"- Joe Rogan
"Every punch Garcia throws is like a 90 mile per hour fast ball"- Joe Rogan
R2- Jung lands another head kick to start off the round and then landed some strikes. Both guys throwing BOMBS again and Garcia finally finds a home for one of his and Jung went down to his knees. Garcia hit him with another right as he was getting back to his feet. Garcia missed a spinning back fist and then Jung tried one and missed as well. REALLY FUN fight right now. A ton of action so far in this round and we are only a minute into this round. Crowd is going nuts for this prelim bout just wait til Faber hits the cage. Garcia tried a back kick and left himself open and Jung landed some good strikes. Jung jumped on Garcia's back and took him down. Looks like he's looking for a Rear Naked Choke. Jung locked in a body triangle but Garcia was able to break that and get back onto his feet with two minutes still left in the round. Really good defense by Garcia. Jung lands some good knees and gets Garcia up against the cage and is just pelting him with strikes. Garcia lost his mouthpiece but they quickly picked it up and he put it back in with no rinse and they are back at it. Garcia hit a good right uppercut. They show Urijah in the back cheering as he watches the fight. To me this was a 10-10 round but you have to go one way or the other so I'll give it to Jung because he landed more strikes and had Garcia in more dangerous positions. So i've got it Jung 20-18.
"This is a Rocky movie"- Joe Rogan
"This place is deafening"- Joe Rogan
"This might be the craziest fight we've ever seen"- Joe Rogan
R3- Garcia lands some early leg kicks. Both guys have slowed down a bit. Garcia misses with a spinning back kick. Jung missed with a spinning back fist but got Garcia off balance and landed some strikes. Jung got Garcia with his back to the cage and landed several good strikes. Garcia just showing an iron chin tonight. Garcia missed a kick and Jung looked at Garcia and yelled a Korean War Cry at him and charged forward. Man this is a great fight. Both guys swing for the fences at the end but nobody connects. GREAT FIGHT. I've got Jung 30-27.
Judges score cards: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Jung, 29-28 Garcia
One of the best fights of the year so far but a poor decision by the judges. Let me go know and delete Jung's name from the winner list and replace it with Garcia before you get down that far to read it.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by Decision (Split)
Joe Rogan and Dana White sell the PPV as we go off the air and head to PPV.
Monday, March 08, 2010
WEC 47 Re-Cap
WEC 47
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
March 6, 2009
Frank Mir is deep in training so Stephen Bonnar joins Todd Harris tonight to call the action. Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles defends his title for the first time tonight and former champion Miguel Torres is also back in action. Stephan is wearing a wicked button down purple shirt that doesn't agree with my HD. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer.
Lightweight Fight- Karen Darabedyan (9-1) vs. Bart Palaszewski (32-13)
Karen is coming off of a good decision win over Rob McCullough in his WEC debut. Bart has a 2" height and 2" reach advantage. Bart is only 26 years old and has 45 fights on his record.
R1- Karen lands some really good punches against the cage and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Bart went for a submission and Karen landed a couple of really good shots. Bart caught Karen in an arm bar in the last 30 seconds of the round and got the submission victory. Tough loss for Darabedyan as he dominated this fight until he got caught.
Winner: Bart Palaszewski by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 4:40
Sunday March 21st the UFC debuts on Versus with Jon Jones versus Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga versus Junior dos Santos.
Featherweight Fight- LC Davis (15-2) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (12-3)
R1-Lots of clinching in the first round with LC landing the better strikes. LC 10-9.
R2- Deividas got a take down one and a half minutes into the round but couldn't take advantage of the take down. Deividas looked like he landed a low blow or two that was not acknowledged by the ref. Really close round. I've got it 19-19 right now.
R3- Davis got a take down with two minutes left in the fight. The ref stood the fighters up with 45 seconds left and the fight is in the balance. LC stuffed a take down and the ended in a clinch. Very close fight. I've got LC Davis taking the fight 29-28 but it could go either way.
Judges score cards say: 29-29, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Davis
Winner: LC Davis by Decision (Majority)
Todd Harris interviews Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber. On the first WEC PPV on April 24th Donald Cerrone will challenge Ben Henderson for the Lightweight Title and Urijah Faber will challenge Jose Aldo for the Featherweight Title. Also on the card will be Mike Brown versus Manvel Gamburyan, Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller and Damacio Page vs. Antonio Banuelos.
Some stars at ringside for this show are Randy Couture, Boxer Miguel Cotto, the TapouT crew, Mike Brown and Forrest Griffin.
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-12-1) vs. Javier Vasquez (13-4)
R1- Vasquez got a take down but Pulver grabbed a guillotine choke. Vasquez got another take down but Pulver again reversed, this time into Vasquez's guard until he let him up. Vasquez quickly got his third take down of the round with only two minutes gone from the round. Vasquez trapped Pulver in a crucifix position and landed some strikes. Vasquez grabbed an arm bar and Pulver tapped out. Really fun but short fight.
Winner: Javier Vasquez by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:41
Post fight Jens Pulver does another "retirement type speech" but doesn't say he's retiring.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen (8-3) vs. Chad George
This fight is from the pre-show. Should be fun as Jorgensen is a high-octane guy. Jorgensen is 4-2 in WEC.
R1- Chad George shoots in and Jorgensen grabs him in a guillotine and George taps out. Jorgensen with a very impressive win.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:31
Bantamweight Fight- Miguel Angel Torres (36-2) vs. Joseph Benavidez (11-1)
This is a huge fight for both guys. Both guys lost to the one of the fighters in the Main Event tonight (Torres to Bowles and Benavidez to Cruz) but a win tonight can go a long way to erasing those losses. The winner of this fight jumps right to the top of the Bantamweight Title Contenders list. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner tonight. Torres has a huge 5" height and 11" reach advantage so that could be key but it also means that Benavidez should have the strength advantage if he can close the distance in this fight.
R1- Benavidez caught a Torres kick and briefly floored the former champ. Banavidez got a take down against the cage with two minutes left in the round. Torres went for an arm bar and Benavidez passed his guard to side control. Benavidez really didn't do anything while on top of Torres but took the round 10-9.
R2- Torres started to find the rang with his jab but Benavidez got a take down half way through the round. Benavidez cut Torres with an elbow and then clamped on a guillotine and a bloody Torres tapped out. Big upset. Really good fight from Benavidez and a tough loss for Torres as he has gone from one of the Top P4P ranked fighters to losing two fights in a row.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Pettis (7-1) vs. Danny Castillo
This fight is from the pre-show.
R1- Castillo got a take down in the first minute of the fight but couldn't do anything with the take down. Pettis destroyed Pettis with a huge head kick and then nailed him with a barrage of punches before the ref could stop the fight. Big time highlight reel win for Pettis.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by KO (Head Kick) R1
Bantamweight Title Fight- Brian Bowles (c) (8-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (14-1)
Cruz has not lost a fight since losing a title fight to Urijah Faber three years ago. Since dropping to the Bantamweight division in 2008 he is undefeated. Cruz has recently been training up in Big Bear with Brandon Vera. This is Bowles first defense of the Bantamweight Title that he won from Miguel Angel Torres. Bowles is 5-0 in WEC fights. Bowles has Rory Singer in his corner. Bowles has a 2" reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cruz is using his quickness to dance around Bowles and move in quickly to try for strikes. Bowles landed a really good strike around the two minute mark of the round but Cruz absorbed it and stayed on his feet. Cruz retaliated with a good strike of his own that hurt Bowles. Bowles tried to pull guard with a guillotine but Cruz ended up on top in the dominant position. Cruz took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bowles hit a good right to the face at the one minute mark. Cruz landed a good combo at the two minute mark and swept Bowles leg with a low kick. Bowles nose has been busted open and he seems to be slowing down as the round continues. Cruz got a take down with fifteen seconds left in the round. I've got Cruz up 20-18. He's really frustrating Bowles with his quickness.
During the break in action the doctor came in a examined Bowles and Bowles was not able to continue due to injury. Bowles broke his right hand during the fight. Bowles said he broke his hand on the first punch that he threw and that threw off his game plan.
Winner and new Bantamweight Champion: Dominic Cruz by TKO (Injury) R2 5:00
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
March 6, 2009
Frank Mir is deep in training so Stephen Bonnar joins Todd Harris tonight to call the action. Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles defends his title for the first time tonight and former champion Miguel Torres is also back in action. Stephan is wearing a wicked button down purple shirt that doesn't agree with my HD. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer.
Lightweight Fight- Karen Darabedyan (9-1) vs. Bart Palaszewski (32-13)
Karen is coming off of a good decision win over Rob McCullough in his WEC debut. Bart has a 2" height and 2" reach advantage. Bart is only 26 years old and has 45 fights on his record.
R1- Karen lands some really good punches against the cage and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Bart went for a submission and Karen landed a couple of really good shots. Bart caught Karen in an arm bar in the last 30 seconds of the round and got the submission victory. Tough loss for Darabedyan as he dominated this fight until he got caught.
Winner: Bart Palaszewski by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 4:40
Sunday March 21st the UFC debuts on Versus with Jon Jones versus Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga versus Junior dos Santos.
Featherweight Fight- LC Davis (15-2) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (12-3)
R1-Lots of clinching in the first round with LC landing the better strikes. LC 10-9.
R2- Deividas got a take down one and a half minutes into the round but couldn't take advantage of the take down. Deividas looked like he landed a low blow or two that was not acknowledged by the ref. Really close round. I've got it 19-19 right now.
R3- Davis got a take down with two minutes left in the fight. The ref stood the fighters up with 45 seconds left and the fight is in the balance. LC stuffed a take down and the ended in a clinch. Very close fight. I've got LC Davis taking the fight 29-28 but it could go either way.
Judges score cards say: 29-29, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Davis
Winner: LC Davis by Decision (Majority)
Todd Harris interviews Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber. On the first WEC PPV on April 24th Donald Cerrone will challenge Ben Henderson for the Lightweight Title and Urijah Faber will challenge Jose Aldo for the Featherweight Title. Also on the card will be Mike Brown versus Manvel Gamburyan, Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller and Damacio Page vs. Antonio Banuelos.
Some stars at ringside for this show are Randy Couture, Boxer Miguel Cotto, the TapouT crew, Mike Brown and Forrest Griffin.
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-12-1) vs. Javier Vasquez (13-4)
R1- Vasquez got a take down but Pulver grabbed a guillotine choke. Vasquez got another take down but Pulver again reversed, this time into Vasquez's guard until he let him up. Vasquez quickly got his third take down of the round with only two minutes gone from the round. Vasquez trapped Pulver in a crucifix position and landed some strikes. Vasquez grabbed an arm bar and Pulver tapped out. Really fun but short fight.
Winner: Javier Vasquez by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:41
Post fight Jens Pulver does another "retirement type speech" but doesn't say he's retiring.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen (8-3) vs. Chad George
This fight is from the pre-show. Should be fun as Jorgensen is a high-octane guy. Jorgensen is 4-2 in WEC.
R1- Chad George shoots in and Jorgensen grabs him in a guillotine and George taps out. Jorgensen with a very impressive win.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:31
Bantamweight Fight- Miguel Angel Torres (36-2) vs. Joseph Benavidez (11-1)
This is a huge fight for both guys. Both guys lost to the one of the fighters in the Main Event tonight (Torres to Bowles and Benavidez to Cruz) but a win tonight can go a long way to erasing those losses. The winner of this fight jumps right to the top of the Bantamweight Title Contenders list. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner tonight. Torres has a huge 5" height and 11" reach advantage so that could be key but it also means that Benavidez should have the strength advantage if he can close the distance in this fight.
R1- Benavidez caught a Torres kick and briefly floored the former champ. Banavidez got a take down against the cage with two minutes left in the round. Torres went for an arm bar and Benavidez passed his guard to side control. Benavidez really didn't do anything while on top of Torres but took the round 10-9.
R2- Torres started to find the rang with his jab but Benavidez got a take down half way through the round. Benavidez cut Torres with an elbow and then clamped on a guillotine and a bloody Torres tapped out. Big upset. Really good fight from Benavidez and a tough loss for Torres as he has gone from one of the Top P4P ranked fighters to losing two fights in a row.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Pettis (7-1) vs. Danny Castillo
This fight is from the pre-show.
R1- Castillo got a take down in the first minute of the fight but couldn't do anything with the take down. Pettis destroyed Pettis with a huge head kick and then nailed him with a barrage of punches before the ref could stop the fight. Big time highlight reel win for Pettis.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by KO (Head Kick) R1
Bantamweight Title Fight- Brian Bowles (c) (8-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (14-1)
Cruz has not lost a fight since losing a title fight to Urijah Faber three years ago. Since dropping to the Bantamweight division in 2008 he is undefeated. Cruz has recently been training up in Big Bear with Brandon Vera. This is Bowles first defense of the Bantamweight Title that he won from Miguel Angel Torres. Bowles is 5-0 in WEC fights. Bowles has Rory Singer in his corner. Bowles has a 2" reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cruz is using his quickness to dance around Bowles and move in quickly to try for strikes. Bowles landed a really good strike around the two minute mark of the round but Cruz absorbed it and stayed on his feet. Cruz retaliated with a good strike of his own that hurt Bowles. Bowles tried to pull guard with a guillotine but Cruz ended up on top in the dominant position. Cruz took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bowles hit a good right to the face at the one minute mark. Cruz landed a good combo at the two minute mark and swept Bowles leg with a low kick. Bowles nose has been busted open and he seems to be slowing down as the round continues. Cruz got a take down with fifteen seconds left in the round. I've got Cruz up 20-18. He's really frustrating Bowles with his quickness.
During the break in action the doctor came in a examined Bowles and Bowles was not able to continue due to injury. Bowles broke his right hand during the fight. Bowles said he broke his hand on the first punch that he threw and that threw off his game plan.
Winner and new Bantamweight Champion: Dominic Cruz by TKO (Injury) R2 5:00
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
Monday, December 21, 2009
WEC 45: "Cerrone vs. Ratcliff" 12/19/09 Re-Cap
WEC 45 “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff”
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Main Event is Donald Cerrone against Ed Ratcliff in a match-up of Lightweight Contenders.
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2) vs. Scott Jorgensen (7-3)
At WEC 43 Jorgensen stopped Noah Thomas by TKO three minutes into the first round. Mizugaki last fought at WEC 42 and beat Jeff Curran by a Split Decision. Mizugaki has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Jorgensen caught Mizugaki with a punch right out of the gate and then grabbed a guillotine but could not hold the submission. Jorgensen landed some big punches about three minutes into the round and Mizugaki went down but Mizugaki again survived. Jorgensen 10-9.
R2- Jorgensen got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Jorgensen landed some good strikes with about two minutes left in the round. Mizugaki is showing a lot of heart and putting up a fight but so far it’s been mostly Jorgensen in control. Jorgensen 20-18.
R3- Pretty even round. Jorgensen got a take down about half way through the round but then Mizugaki returned the favor. Mizugaki got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Mizugaki takes this round but Jorgensen will win the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-1) vs. Rani Yahya (15-4)
Benavidez dropped a decision to Dominick Cruz in his last fight at WEC 42. Miguel Angel Torres joins the announce crew during this fight.
R1- They throw some leather early and Benavidez dropped to his knees briefly but I couldn’t tell if it was due to a slip or a punch. Benavidez hit a big time right hand and then jumped on top with some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Brandon Visher vs. Courtney Buck
This fight is brought to us thanks to Joseph Benavidez quick finish in the last fight. This is a fight from the pre-show. Buck has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys swinging wildly to open up the fight and both guys landed good shots. Visher got a take down about 30 seconds into the round. Back to their feet and both guys throwing some more leather. Mir comments that this is the type of fight that the guys in the back don’t like to see because these guys might take their “Fight of the Night” bonus if they keep up this performance. Visher hit a good looping right hand that hit Buck near the back of his ear. They scrambled and Visher ended up on top. Mir is basically saying that Buck is horrible on the ground and is doing a lot of things wrong. Visher has taken the mount on Buck. Buck gave up his back and Visher landed some more strikes and then Buck rolled over and Visher landed some vicious hammer fists and won the fight.
Winner: Brandon Visher by KO R1 4:45
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Njokuani (12-2) vs. Chris Horodecki (13-1)
At WEC 40 Anthony beat Bart Palaszweski by TKO in the second round. Anthony has a 6” reach and 6” height advantage. This is Horodecki’s WEC debut.
R1- Anthony really came on about three minutes into the round. He nailed a judo throw and then Horodecki got up and started to retreat and Anthony meet him with a kick to the face. Anthony jumps on top and lands some Ground and Pound and Mazzagatti jumped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:33
Bantamweight Fight- Brad Pickett vs. Kyle Dietz
We get another pre-show fight. Dietz has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. This is Pickett’s WEC debut.
R1- Pretty good first round but honestly I’m having a tough time telling these guys apart. Mir sides toward Pickett taking the first round.
R2- Both guys come out swinging and Pickett is able to get Dietz on the ground. Pickett was able to finish the fight off toward the end of the round with a choke.
Winner: Brad Pickett by Submission (Peruvian Neck Tie) R2
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-2) vs. Ed Ratcliff (7-1)
Cerrone lost his last fight in a close decision to Ben Henderson in an Interim title fight (I actually had Cerrone winning the fight 48-47). Ratcliff’s lone loss was to Marcus Hicks via guillotine choke. Cerrone has a 3” height and 1.5” reach advantage.
R1- Right off the bat they clinched and Cerrone tried to pull guard but Ratcliff stood up. Ratcliff hit a good punch that buckled Cerrone’s knees. Ratcliff landed a leg kick that tripped up Cerrone. Both guys landed some strikes against the cage and then Cerrone got a clinch and landed some strikes. Cerrone started to pick up some steam towards the end of the round but he hit two low blows on Ratcliff. Herb Dean took a point away from Cerrone. Cerrone got a take down at the end of the round and clamped in a guillotine but couldn’t finish before the bell rang. Ratcliff started off quickly but Cerrone really controlled the second half of the round and I think he did enough to steal the round. With the one point deduction that makes the score 9-9 after one round.
R2- Cerrone landed a good jab/knee combo and is in control of his round but he landed another low blow. Cerrone lost another point and he came out gang busters after the fight started back up. Ratcliff caught a kick and was able to briefly get Cerrone to the mat. Ratcliff grabbed Cerrone’s back but Cerrone got out by grabbing a kimura and then grabbed a guillotine but could not finish with it before the bell sounded. I’ve got Cerrone winning this round but due to the point deduction I’ve got the fight 18-18.
R3- Cerrone went for the glove tap and Ratcliff went for the flying knee right at the bell. Cerrone lands some good strikes in the first minute and he eggs on the crowd. Cerrone lands a mount but Herb Dean stands them up because he says Cerrone grabbed the fence and he makes him give up the advantageous position. Cerrone got Ratcliff’s back and took him down. Cerrone grabs a reverse triangle and then grabs Ratcliff’s leg and put it behind his arm but Ratcliff escaped the move. Cerrone again to the back and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Ratcliff fought hard but eventually had to tap out. Good fight.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 3:47
The next WEC show looks really good with Varner/Henderson and Urijah Faber and Mike Brown also on the card:
January 10- Sacramento, Ca
Lightweight World Title Fight- Jamie Varner © vs. Ben Henderson
Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao
Lightweight Fight- Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
Featherweight Fight- Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Main Event is Donald Cerrone against Ed Ratcliff in a match-up of Lightweight Contenders.
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2) vs. Scott Jorgensen (7-3)
At WEC 43 Jorgensen stopped Noah Thomas by TKO three minutes into the first round. Mizugaki last fought at WEC 42 and beat Jeff Curran by a Split Decision. Mizugaki has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Jorgensen caught Mizugaki with a punch right out of the gate and then grabbed a guillotine but could not hold the submission. Jorgensen landed some big punches about three minutes into the round and Mizugaki went down but Mizugaki again survived. Jorgensen 10-9.
R2- Jorgensen got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Jorgensen landed some good strikes with about two minutes left in the round. Mizugaki is showing a lot of heart and putting up a fight but so far it’s been mostly Jorgensen in control. Jorgensen 20-18.
R3- Pretty even round. Jorgensen got a take down about half way through the round but then Mizugaki returned the favor. Mizugaki got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Mizugaki takes this round but Jorgensen will win the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-1) vs. Rani Yahya (15-4)
Benavidez dropped a decision to Dominick Cruz in his last fight at WEC 42. Miguel Angel Torres joins the announce crew during this fight.
R1- They throw some leather early and Benavidez dropped to his knees briefly but I couldn’t tell if it was due to a slip or a punch. Benavidez hit a big time right hand and then jumped on top with some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Brandon Visher vs. Courtney Buck
This fight is brought to us thanks to Joseph Benavidez quick finish in the last fight. This is a fight from the pre-show. Buck has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys swinging wildly to open up the fight and both guys landed good shots. Visher got a take down about 30 seconds into the round. Back to their feet and both guys throwing some more leather. Mir comments that this is the type of fight that the guys in the back don’t like to see because these guys might take their “Fight of the Night” bonus if they keep up this performance. Visher hit a good looping right hand that hit Buck near the back of his ear. They scrambled and Visher ended up on top. Mir is basically saying that Buck is horrible on the ground and is doing a lot of things wrong. Visher has taken the mount on Buck. Buck gave up his back and Visher landed some more strikes and then Buck rolled over and Visher landed some vicious hammer fists and won the fight.
Winner: Brandon Visher by KO R1 4:45
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Njokuani (12-2) vs. Chris Horodecki (13-1)
At WEC 40 Anthony beat Bart Palaszweski by TKO in the second round. Anthony has a 6” reach and 6” height advantage. This is Horodecki’s WEC debut.
R1- Anthony really came on about three minutes into the round. He nailed a judo throw and then Horodecki got up and started to retreat and Anthony meet him with a kick to the face. Anthony jumps on top and lands some Ground and Pound and Mazzagatti jumped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:33
Bantamweight Fight- Brad Pickett vs. Kyle Dietz
We get another pre-show fight. Dietz has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. This is Pickett’s WEC debut.
R1- Pretty good first round but honestly I’m having a tough time telling these guys apart. Mir sides toward Pickett taking the first round.
R2- Both guys come out swinging and Pickett is able to get Dietz on the ground. Pickett was able to finish the fight off toward the end of the round with a choke.
Winner: Brad Pickett by Submission (Peruvian Neck Tie) R2
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-2) vs. Ed Ratcliff (7-1)
Cerrone lost his last fight in a close decision to Ben Henderson in an Interim title fight (I actually had Cerrone winning the fight 48-47). Ratcliff’s lone loss was to Marcus Hicks via guillotine choke. Cerrone has a 3” height and 1.5” reach advantage.
R1- Right off the bat they clinched and Cerrone tried to pull guard but Ratcliff stood up. Ratcliff hit a good punch that buckled Cerrone’s knees. Ratcliff landed a leg kick that tripped up Cerrone. Both guys landed some strikes against the cage and then Cerrone got a clinch and landed some strikes. Cerrone started to pick up some steam towards the end of the round but he hit two low blows on Ratcliff. Herb Dean took a point away from Cerrone. Cerrone got a take down at the end of the round and clamped in a guillotine but couldn’t finish before the bell rang. Ratcliff started off quickly but Cerrone really controlled the second half of the round and I think he did enough to steal the round. With the one point deduction that makes the score 9-9 after one round.
R2- Cerrone landed a good jab/knee combo and is in control of his round but he landed another low blow. Cerrone lost another point and he came out gang busters after the fight started back up. Ratcliff caught a kick and was able to briefly get Cerrone to the mat. Ratcliff grabbed Cerrone’s back but Cerrone got out by grabbing a kimura and then grabbed a guillotine but could not finish with it before the bell sounded. I’ve got Cerrone winning this round but due to the point deduction I’ve got the fight 18-18.
R3- Cerrone went for the glove tap and Ratcliff went for the flying knee right at the bell. Cerrone lands some good strikes in the first minute and he eggs on the crowd. Cerrone lands a mount but Herb Dean stands them up because he says Cerrone grabbed the fence and he makes him give up the advantageous position. Cerrone got Ratcliff’s back and took him down. Cerrone grabs a reverse triangle and then grabs Ratcliff’s leg and put it behind his arm but Ratcliff escaped the move. Cerrone again to the back and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Ratcliff fought hard but eventually had to tap out. Good fight.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 3:47
The next WEC show looks really good with Varner/Henderson and Urijah Faber and Mike Brown also on the card:
January 10- Sacramento, Ca
Lightweight World Title Fight- Jamie Varner © vs. Ben Henderson
Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao
Lightweight Fight- Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
Featherweight Fight- Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
Sunday, November 22, 2009
WEC 44 "Brown vs. Aldo" Re-Cap
WEC 44 “Brown vs. Aldo”
The Pearl
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Featherweight Championship is on the line as Mike Thomas Brown will face explosive challenger Jose Aldo. Former WEC Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough will face Karen Darabedyan. In a fight of former UFC fighters Leonard Garcia will face Manvel Gamburyan in a Featherweight Fight.
Lightweight Fight- Will Kerr (8-1) vs. Kamal Shalorus (4-0-1)
This is the WEC debut for both fighters.
R1- Kamal hit a big punch that floored Kerr early. Kamal lands some good strikes and Kerr falls to his knees and the ref stops the fight. Good showing by Kamal as he looked good in the striking face of MMA but didn’t really look like he was tested tonight.
Winner: Kamal Shalorus by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- Shane Roller (6-2) vs. Danny Castillo (8-1)
Roller lost back in April to current Lightweight Interim Champ Ben Henderson.
R1- Castillo got the first take down about half way through the round but he couldn’t hold Roller down. Castillo got another take down but Roller reversed it and nearly got a guillotine. Castillo got another take down with a minute and a half left in the round. Castillo 10-9.
R2- Castillo landed some good shots against the cage and then got a take down. Roller landed a couple knees and then got a take down. Roller grabbed a guillotine. Castillo gave up his back and Roller landed some good shots to the side of the head and ear. One round a piece after two rounds.
R3- Roller shot in but Castillo sprawled and got top position. Roller got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Roller locks in a choke and Castillo taps out. Pretty even back and forth fight, nice job by Roller in finishing the fight.
Winner: Shane Roller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R3 3:32
Donald Cerrone will fight Ed Ratcliffe on December 19th and they are interviewed ringside.
Tito Ortiz, Ben Henderson, and Urijah Faber are all ringside for the show.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Karen Darabedyan (8-1)
Karen is Judo and Taekwondo Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Karen is making his WEC debut.
R1- They are picking their spots early but are exchanging. McCullough looks a little tight and Karen more relaxed. Karen hit a good combo. McCullough landed a good body kick but Karen came back with a good punch that opened up a cut on McCullough. Karen landed some good shots at the end of the round and looks really good so far. Karen 10-9.
R2- Karen got a take down within the first minute of the round but couldn’t get anything before McCullough worked back to his feet. Both guys have small cuts near their eyes. Pretty even round other than the take down that could have been scored either way. Karen is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Pretty even and uneventful round to finish the fight. I’ve got Karen taking this fight by virtue of winning the first two rounds on my score card. Could be a split decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Darabedyan, 30-27 McCullough, 29-28 Darabedyan
Wow. No way McCullough won that first round. It’s very rare that you see one judge score a fight 30-27 and another judge score a fight 30-27 in favor of the other fighter. Rounds 2 and 3 were very even.
Winner: Karen Darabedyan by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (11-5)
Garcia has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Long feeling out process. Manvel came in for a take down and Garcia fed him a good right hand. Garcia is landing some strikes but nothing too bad. Manvel went for a take down but Garcia sprawled and then Manvel hit Garcia with two low blows. Manvel goes for a take down and Garcia did a good job of keeping the fight on the feet. Garcia hit a good kick but Manvel took it. Manvel shot again but Garcia landed a kick. Garcia 10-9.
R2- Garcia hit a couple strikes and then Manvel shot in for a take down but Garcia did a nice job of sprawling. Manvel missed an over hand right and slipped but because of it he was able to get a slam/take down on Garcia with a minute and a half left in the round. Manvel got in some shots on Garcia and stole this round so it’s even 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Both guys are throwing punches with bad intentions to start the round. Garcia starts talking and wants a slugfest but it ends up with Manvel getting a take down. Manvel is going to take this round because he was in a dominant position for a lot of the round. I’ve got Manvel taking the fight 20-19 in a close fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Gamburyan
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Thomas Brown © (22-4) vs. Jose Aldo (15-1)
At WEC 41 Jose Aldo destroyed Cub Swanson in 8 seconds with a flying knee. On that same card Mike Brown successfully defended his championship in a 5 round unanimous decision against former champion Urijah Faber.
R1- The first couple minutes they spend going back and forth with both guys landing some offense but nothing damaging. Aldo hits a good punch/kick/knee combo that hurts Brown but Brown clinched Aldo to give himself time to recover. Brown tried to get the fight to the ground but Aldo did a great job of sprawling. Aldo 10-9.
R2- Aldo hit some good strikes on Brown to open the round and Brown again clinched to stop the barrage. Brown went for a take down but Aldo shoved him down and jumped on top. Aldo hit some strikes and then took Brown’s back and just started leveling him with punches and the ref stopped the fight. New Champion and Jose Aldo is the truth.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:20
The Pearl
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Featherweight Championship is on the line as Mike Thomas Brown will face explosive challenger Jose Aldo. Former WEC Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough will face Karen Darabedyan. In a fight of former UFC fighters Leonard Garcia will face Manvel Gamburyan in a Featherweight Fight.
Lightweight Fight- Will Kerr (8-1) vs. Kamal Shalorus (4-0-1)
This is the WEC debut for both fighters.
R1- Kamal hit a big punch that floored Kerr early. Kamal lands some good strikes and Kerr falls to his knees and the ref stops the fight. Good showing by Kamal as he looked good in the striking face of MMA but didn’t really look like he was tested tonight.
Winner: Kamal Shalorus by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- Shane Roller (6-2) vs. Danny Castillo (8-1)
Roller lost back in April to current Lightweight Interim Champ Ben Henderson.
R1- Castillo got the first take down about half way through the round but he couldn’t hold Roller down. Castillo got another take down but Roller reversed it and nearly got a guillotine. Castillo got another take down with a minute and a half left in the round. Castillo 10-9.
R2- Castillo landed some good shots against the cage and then got a take down. Roller landed a couple knees and then got a take down. Roller grabbed a guillotine. Castillo gave up his back and Roller landed some good shots to the side of the head and ear. One round a piece after two rounds.
R3- Roller shot in but Castillo sprawled and got top position. Roller got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Roller locks in a choke and Castillo taps out. Pretty even back and forth fight, nice job by Roller in finishing the fight.
Winner: Shane Roller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R3 3:32
Donald Cerrone will fight Ed Ratcliffe on December 19th and they are interviewed ringside.
Tito Ortiz, Ben Henderson, and Urijah Faber are all ringside for the show.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Karen Darabedyan (8-1)
Karen is Judo and Taekwondo Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Karen is making his WEC debut.
R1- They are picking their spots early but are exchanging. McCullough looks a little tight and Karen more relaxed. Karen hit a good combo. McCullough landed a good body kick but Karen came back with a good punch that opened up a cut on McCullough. Karen landed some good shots at the end of the round and looks really good so far. Karen 10-9.
R2- Karen got a take down within the first minute of the round but couldn’t get anything before McCullough worked back to his feet. Both guys have small cuts near their eyes. Pretty even round other than the take down that could have been scored either way. Karen is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Pretty even and uneventful round to finish the fight. I’ve got Karen taking this fight by virtue of winning the first two rounds on my score card. Could be a split decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Darabedyan, 30-27 McCullough, 29-28 Darabedyan
Wow. No way McCullough won that first round. It’s very rare that you see one judge score a fight 30-27 and another judge score a fight 30-27 in favor of the other fighter. Rounds 2 and 3 were very even.
Winner: Karen Darabedyan by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (11-5)
Garcia has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Long feeling out process. Manvel came in for a take down and Garcia fed him a good right hand. Garcia is landing some strikes but nothing too bad. Manvel went for a take down but Garcia sprawled and then Manvel hit Garcia with two low blows. Manvel goes for a take down and Garcia did a good job of keeping the fight on the feet. Garcia hit a good kick but Manvel took it. Manvel shot again but Garcia landed a kick. Garcia 10-9.
R2- Garcia hit a couple strikes and then Manvel shot in for a take down but Garcia did a nice job of sprawling. Manvel missed an over hand right and slipped but because of it he was able to get a slam/take down on Garcia with a minute and a half left in the round. Manvel got in some shots on Garcia and stole this round so it’s even 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Both guys are throwing punches with bad intentions to start the round. Garcia starts talking and wants a slugfest but it ends up with Manvel getting a take down. Manvel is going to take this round because he was in a dominant position for a lot of the round. I’ve got Manvel taking the fight 20-19 in a close fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Gamburyan
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Thomas Brown © (22-4) vs. Jose Aldo (15-1)
At WEC 41 Jose Aldo destroyed Cub Swanson in 8 seconds with a flying knee. On that same card Mike Brown successfully defended his championship in a 5 round unanimous decision against former champion Urijah Faber.
R1- The first couple minutes they spend going back and forth with both guys landing some offense but nothing damaging. Aldo hits a good punch/kick/knee combo that hurts Brown but Brown clinched Aldo to give himself time to recover. Brown tried to get the fight to the ground but Aldo did a great job of sprawling. Aldo 10-9.
R2- Aldo hit some good strikes on Brown to open the round and Brown again clinched to stop the barrage. Brown went for a take down but Aldo shoved him down and jumped on top. Aldo hit some strikes and then took Brown’s back and just started leveling him with punches and the ref stopped the fight. New Champion and Jose Aldo is the truth.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:20
Monday, October 19, 2009
WEC 43 "Cerrone vs. Henderson" 10/10/09 Re-Cap
WEC 43 “Cerrone vs. Henderson”
AT&T Center
San Antonio, Tx
October 10, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers tonight. Tonight we will see the Interim Lightweight Title on the line as Donald Cerrone takes on Ben Henderson. Jamie Varner is still the champ but is hurt so he will be fighting the winner of this fight.
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (11-4) vs. Will Campuzano (6-0)
At WEC 39 Page won by KO in 18 seconds. Campuzano has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage. Campuzano is making his WEC debut and is from Dallas, Tx.
R1- Page went right after him and both guys swung wildly and Page got a take down. Page almost got caught in a triangle but quickly slipped out and took Campuzano’s back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Another really strong showing by Page.
Winner: Damacio Page by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:02
Todd Harris is joined ringside by WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. They talk about his upcoming title defense against Jose Aldo.
WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is ringside to check out the Henderson/Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is ringside with a cutie. The TapouT crew is in the house and Chuck Liddell is at the show with his Dancing with the Stars partner Anna Trebunskaya. Miguel Angel Torres is also at this event. Urijah Faber joins Harris and Mir in the announce booth and says he’s ready for a possible January return.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (13-1) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4)
Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Jabouin will be making his WEC debut and is on a 4 fight win streak. Yves trains with GSP and David Louiseau.
R1- Yves is a really quick fighter but Assuncao is sitting in the pocket and letting Yves come to him early. Assuncao got a body kick caught and Yves took him down and took his guard. Assuncao quickly got back to his feet. Assuncao is landing some good punches and he shot in but Yves stuffed him and took his guard again. Yves stood up again and let Assuncao up. Yves went for a kick but got briefly caught and almost taken down. Both guys are throwing really good shots at each other. Really good and close first round. Yves probably took the first round due to the take downs.
R2- Both guys are landing some strikes in the early part of the round. Assuncao chopped Yves down with a leg kick and Yves was going for a strike. Yves threw a back kick and Assuncao slipped but he clinched Yves. Assuncao went for a take down and pulled guard on a guillotine but Yves was able to pop his head out. Looks like we’ve probably got a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Assuncao tripped up Yves early but could not capitalize. Assuncao clinched and fought hard for a take down. Assuncao got him down and took his back. Yves got back to his feet but took a knee as he was getting up. Yves hit a spinning back fist but Assuncao did not flinch. The fight ended with Assuncao on Yves back. I’ve got Assuncao taking the decision in a very close and competitive fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Assuncao, 30-27 Jabouin and 29-28 Assuncao. Wow, you rarely see a fight scored 30-27 in two different directions.
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Fight- Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier
Fabiano is probably the next contender to Mike Brown if he can continue to get wins. This is Semerzier’s WEC debut and Fabiano is a Top 5 World Featherweight. Miguel Torres is in Mackens corner.
R1- Fabiano hit a left hand and then got a double leg take down. Fabiano got caught in a triangle and he tapped out. Huge upset by Mackens Semerzier!
Winner: Mackens Semerzier by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:14
Lightweight Fight- Rich Crunkilton (18-2) vs. Dave Jansen (10-0)
This is the WEC debut for Dave Jansen. Crunkilton last fought in WEC in 2006. Jansen is from Team Quest
R1- Some pretty good wrestling exchanges by both guys early on in the fight. Jansen spent a lot of the first round on the top and they exchanged Anacoda and North/South choke exchanges. Crunkilton landed some good punches and hurt Jansen towards the end of the first round but he was able to weather the storm.
R2- Jansen was able to get a take down in the first minute of the round. When they are on their feet Crunkilton is definitely winning the stand up game. Jansen has probably done enough so far to be up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Crunkilton landed some early strikes but Jansen once again got a take down. Crunkilton grabbed a choke but couldn’t finish the fight. Crunkilton is continuing to hurt Jansen with strikes but Jansen again got a take down. Jansen went for a kimura but could not finish with the submission. Looks like Jansen by decision from where I’m sitting.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Dave Jansen by Decision (Unanimous)
1:03
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas
This was a pre-show fight. Jorgensen usually has really fun fights. Thomas has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. Jorgensen has colored the top of his hair red and is wearing some sweet colorful tights.
R1- Jorgensen landed an early right that buckled Thomas’s legs just a bit. Jorgensen got a take down but wasn’t able to do much with it. Jorgensen lands some good punches and Thomas falls down. Jorgensen follows him down and lands some punches but Thomas wraps him up. Jorgensen landed some good elbows and the ref moved in and stopped the fight. Really good showing by Jorgensen.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:13
Interim Lightweight Title Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-1) vs. Ben Henderson (9-1)
Cerrone lost a close decision to current champ Jamie Varner when the fight was stopped early due to an incidental but illegal strike by Cerrone. I had Varner winning the fight 48-47 when it was stopped and the judges awarded Varner a Unanimous Decision win. That was in January of this year and Jamie Varner has not fought since due to injuries sustained in the fight. Cerrone won his last fight against previously undefeated James Krause by a Rear Naked Choke Submission near the end of the first round. Henderson won his last fight against Shane Roller by TKO in the first round. Henderson got caught at the beginning of the fight and almost got submitted but quickly recovered to win the fight in under two minutes. Cerrone has Greg “Yoda” Jackson in his corner for the fight. Cerrone has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Cerrone immediately missed a kick and slipped and Henderson charged in and got caught in a guillotine. Cerrone got him down but Henderson slipped out but then got caught in a triangle choke. Henderson got a take down with 2 minutes left in the round. Henderson got in some shots from the top but I’ve got to give the round to Cerrone as he almost finished the fight with the early submissions. Cerrone 10 Henderson 9.
R2- Henderson got a take down but Cerrone quickly reversed him and took his back and Henderson reversed him and took his guard. Cerrone landed an up kick and went for a kimura and then briefly got an arm bar but Henderson quickly got out and took Cerrone’s guard again. Really great round so far. Henderson lands some good punches. Henderson really took over this round at the end and did more damage then he did in the first round. I’ve got the fight even at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Henderson went for an early take down and got it. Cerrone got back to his feet at the mid point of the round without taking any significant damage. Henderson got a brief take down but couldn’t hold it and then completed a take down with a slam but again couldn’t hold Cerrone down. Henderson takes this round and he’s up 29-28 after three rounds.
R4- Cerrone went for a take down and got Henderson in another guillotine. Henderson slipped out after being in the choke for about a minute. Cerrone stuffed two take downs and landed a good uppercut at the end of the second one. Henderson shot again and Cerrone again stuffed him and landed another good punch. Cerrone chopped Henderson down to the mat with a late leg kick. Cerrone easily took this round and I’ve got it scored 38-38 with one round left. Jamie Varner is showed in the crowd and he’s booed.
R5- I’ve got the fight scored 38-38 so this is the Championship Round. Henderson went for an early take down and fought for it but Cerrone denied him. Cerrone landed two good punches. Cerrone went for a punch for looked like he more pushed Henderson down at the three minute mark and then Cerrone followed him to the ground. Cerrone went for an omaplata but couldn’t not clamp it on. Cerrone went for a triangle but Henderson slipped out his head out although Cerrone still had his arm in a kimura type move. Henderson landed a couple of shots from up top but Cerrone got back to his feet with less than a minute left. Henderson got Cerrone down but Cerrone landed an up kick and then trapped Henderson’s arm in a wicked submission but Henderson rolled out of it. Really good fight. I’ve got Cerrone taking the final round and winning the fight 48-47.
Judges score cards say: 48-47 all in favor of Ben Henderson.
Winner and new WEC Interim Lightweight Champion: Ben Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)
AT&T Center
San Antonio, Tx
October 10, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers tonight. Tonight we will see the Interim Lightweight Title on the line as Donald Cerrone takes on Ben Henderson. Jamie Varner is still the champ but is hurt so he will be fighting the winner of this fight.
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (11-4) vs. Will Campuzano (6-0)
At WEC 39 Page won by KO in 18 seconds. Campuzano has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage. Campuzano is making his WEC debut and is from Dallas, Tx.
R1- Page went right after him and both guys swung wildly and Page got a take down. Page almost got caught in a triangle but quickly slipped out and took Campuzano’s back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Another really strong showing by Page.
Winner: Damacio Page by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:02
Todd Harris is joined ringside by WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. They talk about his upcoming title defense against Jose Aldo.
WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is ringside to check out the Henderson/Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is ringside with a cutie. The TapouT crew is in the house and Chuck Liddell is at the show with his Dancing with the Stars partner Anna Trebunskaya. Miguel Angel Torres is also at this event. Urijah Faber joins Harris and Mir in the announce booth and says he’s ready for a possible January return.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (13-1) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4)
Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Jabouin will be making his WEC debut and is on a 4 fight win streak. Yves trains with GSP and David Louiseau.
R1- Yves is a really quick fighter but Assuncao is sitting in the pocket and letting Yves come to him early. Assuncao got a body kick caught and Yves took him down and took his guard. Assuncao quickly got back to his feet. Assuncao is landing some good punches and he shot in but Yves stuffed him and took his guard again. Yves stood up again and let Assuncao up. Yves went for a kick but got briefly caught and almost taken down. Both guys are throwing really good shots at each other. Really good and close first round. Yves probably took the first round due to the take downs.
R2- Both guys are landing some strikes in the early part of the round. Assuncao chopped Yves down with a leg kick and Yves was going for a strike. Yves threw a back kick and Assuncao slipped but he clinched Yves. Assuncao went for a take down and pulled guard on a guillotine but Yves was able to pop his head out. Looks like we’ve probably got a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Assuncao tripped up Yves early but could not capitalize. Assuncao clinched and fought hard for a take down. Assuncao got him down and took his back. Yves got back to his feet but took a knee as he was getting up. Yves hit a spinning back fist but Assuncao did not flinch. The fight ended with Assuncao on Yves back. I’ve got Assuncao taking the decision in a very close and competitive fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Assuncao, 30-27 Jabouin and 29-28 Assuncao. Wow, you rarely see a fight scored 30-27 in two different directions.
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Fight- Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier
Fabiano is probably the next contender to Mike Brown if he can continue to get wins. This is Semerzier’s WEC debut and Fabiano is a Top 5 World Featherweight. Miguel Torres is in Mackens corner.
R1- Fabiano hit a left hand and then got a double leg take down. Fabiano got caught in a triangle and he tapped out. Huge upset by Mackens Semerzier!
Winner: Mackens Semerzier by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:14
Lightweight Fight- Rich Crunkilton (18-2) vs. Dave Jansen (10-0)
This is the WEC debut for Dave Jansen. Crunkilton last fought in WEC in 2006. Jansen is from Team Quest
R1- Some pretty good wrestling exchanges by both guys early on in the fight. Jansen spent a lot of the first round on the top and they exchanged Anacoda and North/South choke exchanges. Crunkilton landed some good punches and hurt Jansen towards the end of the first round but he was able to weather the storm.
R2- Jansen was able to get a take down in the first minute of the round. When they are on their feet Crunkilton is definitely winning the stand up game. Jansen has probably done enough so far to be up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Crunkilton landed some early strikes but Jansen once again got a take down. Crunkilton grabbed a choke but couldn’t finish the fight. Crunkilton is continuing to hurt Jansen with strikes but Jansen again got a take down. Jansen went for a kimura but could not finish with the submission. Looks like Jansen by decision from where I’m sitting.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Dave Jansen by Decision (Unanimous)
1:03
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas
This was a pre-show fight. Jorgensen usually has really fun fights. Thomas has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. Jorgensen has colored the top of his hair red and is wearing some sweet colorful tights.
R1- Jorgensen landed an early right that buckled Thomas’s legs just a bit. Jorgensen got a take down but wasn’t able to do much with it. Jorgensen lands some good punches and Thomas falls down. Jorgensen follows him down and lands some punches but Thomas wraps him up. Jorgensen landed some good elbows and the ref moved in and stopped the fight. Really good showing by Jorgensen.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:13
Interim Lightweight Title Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-1) vs. Ben Henderson (9-1)
Cerrone lost a close decision to current champ Jamie Varner when the fight was stopped early due to an incidental but illegal strike by Cerrone. I had Varner winning the fight 48-47 when it was stopped and the judges awarded Varner a Unanimous Decision win. That was in January of this year and Jamie Varner has not fought since due to injuries sustained in the fight. Cerrone won his last fight against previously undefeated James Krause by a Rear Naked Choke Submission near the end of the first round. Henderson won his last fight against Shane Roller by TKO in the first round. Henderson got caught at the beginning of the fight and almost got submitted but quickly recovered to win the fight in under two minutes. Cerrone has Greg “Yoda” Jackson in his corner for the fight. Cerrone has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Cerrone immediately missed a kick and slipped and Henderson charged in and got caught in a guillotine. Cerrone got him down but Henderson slipped out but then got caught in a triangle choke. Henderson got a take down with 2 minutes left in the round. Henderson got in some shots from the top but I’ve got to give the round to Cerrone as he almost finished the fight with the early submissions. Cerrone 10 Henderson 9.
R2- Henderson got a take down but Cerrone quickly reversed him and took his back and Henderson reversed him and took his guard. Cerrone landed an up kick and went for a kimura and then briefly got an arm bar but Henderson quickly got out and took Cerrone’s guard again. Really great round so far. Henderson lands some good punches. Henderson really took over this round at the end and did more damage then he did in the first round. I’ve got the fight even at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Henderson went for an early take down and got it. Cerrone got back to his feet at the mid point of the round without taking any significant damage. Henderson got a brief take down but couldn’t hold it and then completed a take down with a slam but again couldn’t hold Cerrone down. Henderson takes this round and he’s up 29-28 after three rounds.
R4- Cerrone went for a take down and got Henderson in another guillotine. Henderson slipped out after being in the choke for about a minute. Cerrone stuffed two take downs and landed a good uppercut at the end of the second one. Henderson shot again and Cerrone again stuffed him and landed another good punch. Cerrone chopped Henderson down to the mat with a late leg kick. Cerrone easily took this round and I’ve got it scored 38-38 with one round left. Jamie Varner is showed in the crowd and he’s booed.
R5- I’ve got the fight scored 38-38 so this is the Championship Round. Henderson went for an early take down and fought for it but Cerrone denied him. Cerrone landed two good punches. Cerrone went for a punch for looked like he more pushed Henderson down at the three minute mark and then Cerrone followed him to the ground. Cerrone went for an omaplata but couldn’t not clamp it on. Cerrone went for a triangle but Henderson slipped out his head out although Cerrone still had his arm in a kimura type move. Henderson landed a couple of shots from up top but Cerrone got back to his feet with less than a minute left. Henderson got Cerrone down but Cerrone landed an up kick and then trapped Henderson’s arm in a wicked submission but Henderson rolled out of it. Really good fight. I’ve got Cerrone taking the final round and winning the fight 48-47.
Judges score cards say: 48-47 all in favor of Ben Henderson.
Winner and new WEC Interim Lightweight Champion: Ben Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)
Monday, August 10, 2009
WEC 42 "Torres vs. Bowles" 8/9/09 Re-Cap
WEC 42 “Torres vs. Bowles”
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Todd Harris is joined by Frank Mir for commentary. Craig Hummer is the in-ring interviewer. The Main Event tonight is for the WEC Bantamweight Championship as one of the top P4P fighters in the world, Miguel Torres, defends his belt against Brian Bowles.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (16-4) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-5)
Massouh is coming off a decision loss to Raphael Assuncao at WEC 40. Garcia is coming off of a first round submission loss to the Featherweight Champion, Mike Brown. Both guys are looking to get back to their winning ways tonight.
R1- Garcia is the more aggressive fighter early and lands a huge right hand at the two minute mark that floors Massouh. Garcia pauses and gives Jameel time to recover and then umps on top for some Ground and Pound. Back to their feet and Garcia lands some knees. Jameel comes back and gets a take down. Massouh did a good job of regaining his exposure and getting in some offense at the end of the round but Garcia hit the big shot of the round and popped right up at the end of the round after Massouh had been on top for about a minute. Garcia 10-9 after one round.
R2- Massouh went for a take down and Garcia grabbed a guillotine on the way down but couldn’t hold it. Massouh controls the first half of the round without doing any substantial damage. Massouh gets Garcia in a choke and Garcia gets to his feet and looked like he was going out but Massouh let go of the move and tried to take Garcia’s back and Garcia got loose. Garcia looks real wobbly right now. Garcia looked finished in the final minute of this round but Massouh just didn’t show the killer instinct and let Garcia live to fight another round. This is tied up 19-19 after two rounds. The winner of round three wins the fight.
R3- Garcia is once again being more aggressive in the first half of this round but neither guy has done enough to claim this round. Garcia hit a glancing spinning back kick. Garcia is throwing bombs as he’s looking for the knockout punch but isn’t connecting. Garcia is going to take this final round just based on effort. Massouh really had Garcia reeling after that choke but after that point he really lost his aggressiveness and never threatening Garcia. I’ve got Garcia winning this fight 29-28. Not a real impressive showing by Garcia but he showed a lot of heart in hanging on after barely surviving the choke and coming back to win the third and final round.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Massouh and 29-28 Garcia.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by Decision (Split)
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2) vs. Jeff Curran (31-11-1)
Mizugaki is coming off of a great fight against Champion Miguel Torres in which Torres won by Decision. Mizugaki is the first fighter in WEC to take Torres to a decision. Jeff Curran is coming off a decision loss to Joseph Benavidez.
R1- Curran caught a Mizugaki kick and clinched him against the cage. Curran spent the better half of the round trying to take Mizugaki down with Mizugaki stuffing him the entire time. With two minutes left in the round Mizugaki got a take down and took Curran’s guard. Curran is active in his guard but he ate some decent shots from Mizugaki. Curran was able to go for an arm bar and get out of the guard. Curran took Mizugaki down but again ended up in Mizugaki’s guard. Good first round that I gave to Mizugaki due to the two take downs, take down defense and landing more strikes.
R2- Both guys are landing shots early in the round. Mizugaki got a take down half way through the round. Mizugaki landed some strikes from this position. Curran grabbed a guillotine but it was pretty much just for position and he was not in danger of finishing the fight. Mizugaki is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Mizugaki got a take down to start the round. Curran fought an active round from the bottom. Curran landed a nice sweep into a triangle choke with 40 seconds left in the fight. Curran rolled him over and tried to put more pressure on Mizugaki but Mizugaki held on. Curran took this round but I’ve got Mizugaki holding on for the 29-28 win. Good fight and a great attempt at the end of the fight by Curran to try and steal the fight.
Judges score cards: 29-28 Mizugaki, 29-28 Curran and 29-28 Mizugaki
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki by Decision (Split)
Kind of interesting that we’ve had 2 fights and 2 split decisions so far.
WEC 43 will see Donald Cerrone fight Ben Henderson for the Interim Lightweight Championship. Both guys are cage side with Craig Hummer and they hype up their fight.
The TapouT guys are in the house for the fights tonight. So is Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown.
Lightweight Fight- Ricardo Lamas (6-0) vs. Danny Castillo (7-1)
At WEC 39 Lamas beat Bart Palaszewski by unanimous decision. The only time I’ve seen Castillo fight was at WEC 34 where he lost by Submission to Donald Cerrone in thirty seconds of the first round. Castillo has a 2 inch reach advantage. Castillo is coming off a win on the under card of WEC 39.
R1- This has started out as a stand up fight between two wrestlers. This was a close and even first round. Lamas did a better job landing leg kicks and that might just give him round one.
R2- This round continues with both fighters on their feet. Castillo caught Lamas with a big right hand and Lamas went down and Castillo jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight. This was a really close fight up until this point but that shot by Castillo was a big straight right hand to the chink and Lamas went down.
Winner: Danny Castillo by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (13-1)
Cruz has dropped down in weight for this fight. Cruz’s only loss has come to Urijah Faber and is on a 3 fight win streak. Cruz has a 4” height and 3” reach advantage. At WEC 40 Benavidez defeated Jeff Curran by Decision.
R1- Benavidez landed a couple of strikes and then got tripped up when Cruz grabbed his leg on a kick. Benavidez is lightning quick and he hit a couple of shots on Cruz but Cruz was able to get a take down. Benavidez grabbed a guillotine and couldn’t clamp it in but used it to get back to his feet and separate himself from Cruz. Cruz got Benavidez to the ground again but couldn’t hold him down. Cruz got yet another take down but Benavidez scrambled and Cruz could not get in any offense. Good, close first round. Cruz got 3 take downs but didn’t do any damage when he had them. Benavidez was the aggressor and hit better strikes so I’ve got him taking the round 10-9.
R2- Both guys start out quick. Benavidez chases Cruz down with a flurry but Cruz caught Benavidez coming in a second time and then Cruz landed a flurry on Benavidez and Benavidez grabbed a guillotine and used it to stop the onslaught. Benavidez missed with a kick and went to the ground and Cruz came after him with some strikes and then landed a take down. Once again Cruz could not take advantage of his take down and they returned to their feet. Cruz ended the round with another take down. Cruz took this round so I’ve got the fight 19-19. Really fun fight so far.
R3- Cruz got a take down with three minutes left in the fight but once again gets nothing from it. Both guys are throwing shots but neither has distanced themselves in this round as we are coming down to the last 60 seconds. Cruz got a take down and Benavidez popped immediately back up. Cruz landed some shots and got a take down and hit some Ground and Pound. Cruz ended the fight on top of Benavidez. Really good fight and Cruz finished strong. Cruz will take this fight 29-28. Really good effort by both guys.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Cruz
Winner: Dominick Cruz by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Bantamweight Championship: Miguel Torres (c) (36-1) vs. Brian Bowles (7-0)
Torres is on a 17 fight win streak and has defended his belt 3 times. Torres is coming off of a successful title defense at WEC 40 over Takeya Mizugaki. Bowles is coming off of a win at WEC 37 against Will Ribeiro by submission in third round. Torres has a 2” height and 5.5” reach advantage.
R1- Bowles rocked Torres at about the one minute mark with a right hand but Torres punched his way out of trouble. Bowles got a take down at the two minute mark. Torres was able to hit some up kicks and was able to get back to his feet at the two minute mark. Torres hit a big right hand and followed it up with a flurry of punches but Bowles was able to counter and get Torres down and land a big punch on Torres and he landed several punches and ended the fight. Big time upset! Great fight by Brian Bowles as he took a good shot from Torres and was able to find a right hand threw Torres’ flurry and then finished it on the ground. Big time win for Bowles.
Winner and new champion: Brian Bowles by KO 3:57
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Todd Harris is joined by Frank Mir for commentary. Craig Hummer is the in-ring interviewer. The Main Event tonight is for the WEC Bantamweight Championship as one of the top P4P fighters in the world, Miguel Torres, defends his belt against Brian Bowles.
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (16-4) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-5)
Massouh is coming off a decision loss to Raphael Assuncao at WEC 40. Garcia is coming off of a first round submission loss to the Featherweight Champion, Mike Brown. Both guys are looking to get back to their winning ways tonight.
R1- Garcia is the more aggressive fighter early and lands a huge right hand at the two minute mark that floors Massouh. Garcia pauses and gives Jameel time to recover and then umps on top for some Ground and Pound. Back to their feet and Garcia lands some knees. Jameel comes back and gets a take down. Massouh did a good job of regaining his exposure and getting in some offense at the end of the round but Garcia hit the big shot of the round and popped right up at the end of the round after Massouh had been on top for about a minute. Garcia 10-9 after one round.
R2- Massouh went for a take down and Garcia grabbed a guillotine on the way down but couldn’t hold it. Massouh controls the first half of the round without doing any substantial damage. Massouh gets Garcia in a choke and Garcia gets to his feet and looked like he was going out but Massouh let go of the move and tried to take Garcia’s back and Garcia got loose. Garcia looks real wobbly right now. Garcia looked finished in the final minute of this round but Massouh just didn’t show the killer instinct and let Garcia live to fight another round. This is tied up 19-19 after two rounds. The winner of round three wins the fight.
R3- Garcia is once again being more aggressive in the first half of this round but neither guy has done enough to claim this round. Garcia hit a glancing spinning back kick. Garcia is throwing bombs as he’s looking for the knockout punch but isn’t connecting. Garcia is going to take this final round just based on effort. Massouh really had Garcia reeling after that choke but after that point he really lost his aggressiveness and never threatening Garcia. I’ve got Garcia winning this fight 29-28. Not a real impressive showing by Garcia but he showed a lot of heart in hanging on after barely surviving the choke and coming back to win the third and final round.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Massouh and 29-28 Garcia.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by Decision (Split)
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2) vs. Jeff Curran (31-11-1)
Mizugaki is coming off of a great fight against Champion Miguel Torres in which Torres won by Decision. Mizugaki is the first fighter in WEC to take Torres to a decision. Jeff Curran is coming off a decision loss to Joseph Benavidez.
R1- Curran caught a Mizugaki kick and clinched him against the cage. Curran spent the better half of the round trying to take Mizugaki down with Mizugaki stuffing him the entire time. With two minutes left in the round Mizugaki got a take down and took Curran’s guard. Curran is active in his guard but he ate some decent shots from Mizugaki. Curran was able to go for an arm bar and get out of the guard. Curran took Mizugaki down but again ended up in Mizugaki’s guard. Good first round that I gave to Mizugaki due to the two take downs, take down defense and landing more strikes.
R2- Both guys are landing shots early in the round. Mizugaki got a take down half way through the round. Mizugaki landed some strikes from this position. Curran grabbed a guillotine but it was pretty much just for position and he was not in danger of finishing the fight. Mizugaki is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Mizugaki got a take down to start the round. Curran fought an active round from the bottom. Curran landed a nice sweep into a triangle choke with 40 seconds left in the fight. Curran rolled him over and tried to put more pressure on Mizugaki but Mizugaki held on. Curran took this round but I’ve got Mizugaki holding on for the 29-28 win. Good fight and a great attempt at the end of the fight by Curran to try and steal the fight.
Judges score cards: 29-28 Mizugaki, 29-28 Curran and 29-28 Mizugaki
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki by Decision (Split)
Kind of interesting that we’ve had 2 fights and 2 split decisions so far.
WEC 43 will see Donald Cerrone fight Ben Henderson for the Interim Lightweight Championship. Both guys are cage side with Craig Hummer and they hype up their fight.
The TapouT guys are in the house for the fights tonight. So is Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown.
Lightweight Fight- Ricardo Lamas (6-0) vs. Danny Castillo (7-1)
At WEC 39 Lamas beat Bart Palaszewski by unanimous decision. The only time I’ve seen Castillo fight was at WEC 34 where he lost by Submission to Donald Cerrone in thirty seconds of the first round. Castillo has a 2 inch reach advantage. Castillo is coming off a win on the under card of WEC 39.
R1- This has started out as a stand up fight between two wrestlers. This was a close and even first round. Lamas did a better job landing leg kicks and that might just give him round one.
R2- This round continues with both fighters on their feet. Castillo caught Lamas with a big right hand and Lamas went down and Castillo jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight. This was a really close fight up until this point but that shot by Castillo was a big straight right hand to the chink and Lamas went down.
Winner: Danny Castillo by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (13-1)
Cruz has dropped down in weight for this fight. Cruz’s only loss has come to Urijah Faber and is on a 3 fight win streak. Cruz has a 4” height and 3” reach advantage. At WEC 40 Benavidez defeated Jeff Curran by Decision.
R1- Benavidez landed a couple of strikes and then got tripped up when Cruz grabbed his leg on a kick. Benavidez is lightning quick and he hit a couple of shots on Cruz but Cruz was able to get a take down. Benavidez grabbed a guillotine and couldn’t clamp it in but used it to get back to his feet and separate himself from Cruz. Cruz got Benavidez to the ground again but couldn’t hold him down. Cruz got yet another take down but Benavidez scrambled and Cruz could not get in any offense. Good, close first round. Cruz got 3 take downs but didn’t do any damage when he had them. Benavidez was the aggressor and hit better strikes so I’ve got him taking the round 10-9.
R2- Both guys start out quick. Benavidez chases Cruz down with a flurry but Cruz caught Benavidez coming in a second time and then Cruz landed a flurry on Benavidez and Benavidez grabbed a guillotine and used it to stop the onslaught. Benavidez missed with a kick and went to the ground and Cruz came after him with some strikes and then landed a take down. Once again Cruz could not take advantage of his take down and they returned to their feet. Cruz ended the round with another take down. Cruz took this round so I’ve got the fight 19-19. Really fun fight so far.
R3- Cruz got a take down with three minutes left in the fight but once again gets nothing from it. Both guys are throwing shots but neither has distanced themselves in this round as we are coming down to the last 60 seconds. Cruz got a take down and Benavidez popped immediately back up. Cruz landed some shots and got a take down and hit some Ground and Pound. Cruz ended the fight on top of Benavidez. Really good fight and Cruz finished strong. Cruz will take this fight 29-28. Really good effort by both guys.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Cruz
Winner: Dominick Cruz by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Bantamweight Championship: Miguel Torres (c) (36-1) vs. Brian Bowles (7-0)
Torres is on a 17 fight win streak and has defended his belt 3 times. Torres is coming off of a successful title defense at WEC 40 over Takeya Mizugaki. Bowles is coming off of a win at WEC 37 against Will Ribeiro by submission in third round. Torres has a 2” height and 5.5” reach advantage.
R1- Bowles rocked Torres at about the one minute mark with a right hand but Torres punched his way out of trouble. Bowles got a take down at the two minute mark. Torres was able to hit some up kicks and was able to get back to his feet at the two minute mark. Torres hit a big right hand and followed it up with a flurry of punches but Bowles was able to counter and get Torres down and land a big punch on Torres and he landed several punches and ended the fight. Big time upset! Great fight by Brian Bowles as he took a good shot from Torres and was able to find a right hand threw Torres’ flurry and then finished it on the ground. Big time win for Bowles.
Winner and new champion: Brian Bowles by KO 3:57
Friday, July 17, 2009
WEC 40 4/5/09 Re-Cap
WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki 4/5/09
Chicago, IL
UIC Pavillion
Versus
Over the last year WEC has put out the best MMA product for my money and the great news is that you can watch WEC for free on Versus. Hopefully WEC’s string of solid and exciting shows continues tonight as Pound for Pound Top 10 fighter Miguel Angel Torres will be in action defending his Bantamweight Title. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and his partner is once again Frank Mir (last show Jens Pulver filled in). Torres is defending against Mizugaki. I haven’t seen him fight but Mir puts him over as a Top 5 fighter in his division.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-4)
Assuncao is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt who also has strong Muay Thai. Massouh is a well rounded fighter who has 10 submissions in his career. Both fighters are making their WEC debut. Massouh has a large 5’ height and 5’ reach advantage.
R1- Assuncao hit a good shot at the one minute mark that knocked Massouh down. Assuncao took his guard but Massouh got a heel hook and Assuncao got out and took Massouh’s guard again. Assuncao got another take down towards the end of the round and then got a guillotine right at the end of the round. Assuncao is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Pretty close second round until Assuncao grabbed a guillotine at about the two minute mark. Assuncao finished up the round on top of Massouh and took this round 10-9 as well.
R3- Assuncao hit a good combo at the beginning of the round and then controlled on the ground for the first half of the round until Massouh flipped him over. Assuncao quickly got back into the dominant position. Assuncao wins this fight 30-27 on my score card. Overall, it was a decent fight with a good first round.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three cards
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up they show a hype video for the re-match between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber on June 7th for the Featherweight Championship. They come back from the hype video and Mike Brown and Urijah Faber are at ringside and Todd Harris interviews them to hype up the fight.
They show a tribute video for Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Brian Bowles, Donald Cerrone and Jens Pulver (w/child) are shown sitting together.
Lightweight Division- Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben Henderson (8-1)
Henderson is on a 7 fight win streak with most of his wins coming by submission. Roller comes out to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Roller is a 3x Division 1 Wrestling All American but has as many knockouts as he does submissions. Roller has a slight 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Roller hit a nice right and then caught Henderson in a guillotine but couldn’t finish him. Henderson got up and got the advantage and hit some good strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Great come back by Henderson as he was in a ton of trouble in the opening minute of the fight.
Winner: Ben Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:41
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszweski (30-12) vs. Anthony Njokuani (10-2)
Anthony has a 5.5’ reach advantage and a 3’ height advantage. Bart is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Chicago.
R1- Bart got a take down about a minute into the fight but couldn’t keep him down. Njokuani stuck Bart with a straight right as he was avoiding a punch and Bart went down. Njokuani landed some brief Ground and Pound but then the ref stood them up. Bart got a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Close round, I’ve got Njokuani 10-9.
R2- Njokuani hits Bart with a great combo at the beginning of the round and just takes him out. Njokuani does a back flip and a break dance spin to celebrate. Right hand, left kick, right hand. Nice flurry by Njokuani.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R2 0:27
Bantamweight Fight- Jeff Curran (31-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)
This is the “Co-Main Event.” Benavidez last fought in WEC in December and had an impressive unanimous decision victory over Danny Martinez. Previous to that he submitted Junya Kudo in the first round of a DREAM fight. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner for this fight. Jeff Curran is the more experienced fighter and is the home town fighter in this fight. Curran’s last fight was a decision loss to Featherweight kingpin Mike Brown. Curran has a 4’ reach and 2’ height advantage. This is a big step up for Benavidez.
R1- Really good and competitive first round. With a minute and a half left Benavidez catches Curran and knocks him to the mat and jumps on top. Benavidez took round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys are throwing some really quick punches. Curran went for a Superman punch and struck out and Benavidez quickly took Curran’s guard but couldn’t get anything so they stood up at the two minute mark. Curran pulled guard but missed the guillotine, Curran then went for a different sub and then a triangle but could not land any of them and Benavidez took side control. This round could go either way, virtually a toss up. Curran probably gets some points here for trying to finish the fight with a flurry of submissions.
R3- Benavidez got a take down about a minute and a half in by chopping Curran’s leg out from under him with holding onto his other leg. Benavidez stays on top of Curran for the last minute of the fight. Curran went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Really good fight, the first two rounds were great. I’ve got Benavidez 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Benavidez
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Title Fight: Miguel Angel Torres © (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)
Torres looked fantastic in his last defense against Manny Tapia and had a FOTY candidate in his fight before that against Yoshiro Maeda. This will be the first time that I’ve seen Mizugaki fight. Mizugaki is aggressive, likes to stand and has dangerous Ground and Pound. Torres has a large 6.5” reach and a slight 2” height advantage. Torres is the hometown fighter in this fight and gets a heroes welcome to the cage.
R1- Both guys really swinging freely early in this fight. Really strong and even first round that was a virtual toss up. I give it to Mizugaki as he controlled the early part of the round and finished strong. Torres looked to get more comfortable and find his range with kicks more as the round went on.
R2- They mixed it up pretty good for the first minute of the fight with Torres slipping a couple of times but Mizugaki not wanting to follow him to the mat. Torres starts to land some good punches in the middle of this round. Torres looked really good in the second half of this round and wins this round. So I’ve got the fight 19-19 at this point but round one was a virtual toss up.
R3- Mizugaki opened u a small cut on Torres’s forehead and they paused the fight to check the cut. They both really open up after the pause in the fight and then Torres starts to push the pace but Mizugaki answers with a barrage of his own. Good, very close round with neither fighter showing dominance. Torres seemed to land the better shots. I’ve got him up 29-28 in a very close fight so far.
R4- Torres went for a take down but Mizugaki stuffed it and stood back up rather quickly. Torres seems to be grasping control of this fight as he’s stuffing Mizugaki against the cage. Torres misses on a knee bar attempt but when they stand back up he uses his jab effectively. Torres rocked Mizugaki with a right hand and he went back but absorbed the punch nicely. Torres really started to take control of this fight in this round. I’ve got Torres up 39-37 going into the final championship round.
R5- Miguel gets Mizugaki up against the cage and unloads with a good combo but Mizugaki absorbs the punches. Torres hasn’t lost any speed on his jab even in the later stages of this fight. Torres is just too quick and has too much cardio at this point of the fight. Mizugaki is tired but is hanging in there. Both guys slug it out at the end of the fight and this one is going the distance. Really strong fight. I’ve got Torres winning and retaining his title by the score of 49-46.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Torres.
Winner and still WEC Bantamweight Champion: Miguel Torres by Decision (Unanimous)
Chicago, IL
UIC Pavillion
Versus
Over the last year WEC has put out the best MMA product for my money and the great news is that you can watch WEC for free on Versus. Hopefully WEC’s string of solid and exciting shows continues tonight as Pound for Pound Top 10 fighter Miguel Angel Torres will be in action defending his Bantamweight Title. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and his partner is once again Frank Mir (last show Jens Pulver filled in). Torres is defending against Mizugaki. I haven’t seen him fight but Mir puts him over as a Top 5 fighter in his division.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-4)
Assuncao is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt who also has strong Muay Thai. Massouh is a well rounded fighter who has 10 submissions in his career. Both fighters are making their WEC debut. Massouh has a large 5’ height and 5’ reach advantage.
R1- Assuncao hit a good shot at the one minute mark that knocked Massouh down. Assuncao took his guard but Massouh got a heel hook and Assuncao got out and took Massouh’s guard again. Assuncao got another take down towards the end of the round and then got a guillotine right at the end of the round. Assuncao is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Pretty close second round until Assuncao grabbed a guillotine at about the two minute mark. Assuncao finished up the round on top of Massouh and took this round 10-9 as well.
R3- Assuncao hit a good combo at the beginning of the round and then controlled on the ground for the first half of the round until Massouh flipped him over. Assuncao quickly got back into the dominant position. Assuncao wins this fight 30-27 on my score card. Overall, it was a decent fight with a good first round.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three cards
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up they show a hype video for the re-match between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber on June 7th for the Featherweight Championship. They come back from the hype video and Mike Brown and Urijah Faber are at ringside and Todd Harris interviews them to hype up the fight.
They show a tribute video for Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Brian Bowles, Donald Cerrone and Jens Pulver (w/child) are shown sitting together.
Lightweight Division- Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben Henderson (8-1)
Henderson is on a 7 fight win streak with most of his wins coming by submission. Roller comes out to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Roller is a 3x Division 1 Wrestling All American but has as many knockouts as he does submissions. Roller has a slight 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Roller hit a nice right and then caught Henderson in a guillotine but couldn’t finish him. Henderson got up and got the advantage and hit some good strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Great come back by Henderson as he was in a ton of trouble in the opening minute of the fight.
Winner: Ben Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:41
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszweski (30-12) vs. Anthony Njokuani (10-2)
Anthony has a 5.5’ reach advantage and a 3’ height advantage. Bart is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Chicago.
R1- Bart got a take down about a minute into the fight but couldn’t keep him down. Njokuani stuck Bart with a straight right as he was avoiding a punch and Bart went down. Njokuani landed some brief Ground and Pound but then the ref stood them up. Bart got a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Close round, I’ve got Njokuani 10-9.
R2- Njokuani hits Bart with a great combo at the beginning of the round and just takes him out. Njokuani does a back flip and a break dance spin to celebrate. Right hand, left kick, right hand. Nice flurry by Njokuani.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R2 0:27
Bantamweight Fight- Jeff Curran (31-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)
This is the “Co-Main Event.” Benavidez last fought in WEC in December and had an impressive unanimous decision victory over Danny Martinez. Previous to that he submitted Junya Kudo in the first round of a DREAM fight. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner for this fight. Jeff Curran is the more experienced fighter and is the home town fighter in this fight. Curran’s last fight was a decision loss to Featherweight kingpin Mike Brown. Curran has a 4’ reach and 2’ height advantage. This is a big step up for Benavidez.
R1- Really good and competitive first round. With a minute and a half left Benavidez catches Curran and knocks him to the mat and jumps on top. Benavidez took round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys are throwing some really quick punches. Curran went for a Superman punch and struck out and Benavidez quickly took Curran’s guard but couldn’t get anything so they stood up at the two minute mark. Curran pulled guard but missed the guillotine, Curran then went for a different sub and then a triangle but could not land any of them and Benavidez took side control. This round could go either way, virtually a toss up. Curran probably gets some points here for trying to finish the fight with a flurry of submissions.
R3- Benavidez got a take down about a minute and a half in by chopping Curran’s leg out from under him with holding onto his other leg. Benavidez stays on top of Curran for the last minute of the fight. Curran went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Really good fight, the first two rounds were great. I’ve got Benavidez 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Benavidez
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Title Fight: Miguel Angel Torres © (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)
Torres looked fantastic in his last defense against Manny Tapia and had a FOTY candidate in his fight before that against Yoshiro Maeda. This will be the first time that I’ve seen Mizugaki fight. Mizugaki is aggressive, likes to stand and has dangerous Ground and Pound. Torres has a large 6.5” reach and a slight 2” height advantage. Torres is the hometown fighter in this fight and gets a heroes welcome to the cage.
R1- Both guys really swinging freely early in this fight. Really strong and even first round that was a virtual toss up. I give it to Mizugaki as he controlled the early part of the round and finished strong. Torres looked to get more comfortable and find his range with kicks more as the round went on.
R2- They mixed it up pretty good for the first minute of the fight with Torres slipping a couple of times but Mizugaki not wanting to follow him to the mat. Torres starts to land some good punches in the middle of this round. Torres looked really good in the second half of this round and wins this round. So I’ve got the fight 19-19 at this point but round one was a virtual toss up.
R3- Mizugaki opened u a small cut on Torres’s forehead and they paused the fight to check the cut. They both really open up after the pause in the fight and then Torres starts to push the pace but Mizugaki answers with a barrage of his own. Good, very close round with neither fighter showing dominance. Torres seemed to land the better shots. I’ve got him up 29-28 in a very close fight so far.
R4- Torres went for a take down but Mizugaki stuffed it and stood back up rather quickly. Torres seems to be grasping control of this fight as he’s stuffing Mizugaki against the cage. Torres misses on a knee bar attempt but when they stand back up he uses his jab effectively. Torres rocked Mizugaki with a right hand and he went back but absorbed the punch nicely. Torres really started to take control of this fight in this round. I’ve got Torres up 39-37 going into the final championship round.
R5- Miguel gets Mizugaki up against the cage and unloads with a good combo but Mizugaki absorbs the punches. Torres hasn’t lost any speed on his jab even in the later stages of this fight. Torres is just too quick and has too much cardio at this point of the fight. Mizugaki is tired but is hanging in there. Both guys slug it out at the end of the fight and this one is going the distance. Really strong fight. I’ve got Torres winning and retaining his title by the score of 49-46.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Torres.
Winner and still WEC Bantamweight Champion: Miguel Torres by Decision (Unanimous)
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.
Friday, May 15, 2009
WEC WrekCage 5/15/09 Re-Cap
WEC WrekCage 5/15/09
Versus
This show is from 2008. Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for these fights. Today’s show featured two fights from WEC 33 from March of 08 and one fight from WEC 29 from August of 07.
Bantamweight Fight- Chris Manuel (6-0-1) vs. Kenji Osawa (13-7-1)- WEC 33- 3/26/08
Manuel has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Good even first round. Osawa landed better punches but Manuel landed better leg kicks.
R2- This was another very close round but not as fast paced as the first round. The fight looks like it will go down to whoever has the best final round.
R3- Manuel got some good shots in at the beginning of the round but then got clinched. Manuel hits a nice kick and Osawa is bloodied up around his mouth. Manuel gets a take down and gets Osawa’s back. Manuel really dominated this round. Manuel definitely took this round but the first two rounds were a toss up. It will be interesting to see the judges’ decisions.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Manuel, 29-28 Osawa and 28-28 for a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Welterweight Fight- Alex Serdyukov (9-4) vs. Ryan Stonitsch (9-0-1)- WEC 33- 3/26/08
Alex has a 5” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Ryan came right at him with some punches but Alex fought him off. Alex ended up catching Ryan in a triangle and submitted him.
Winner: Alex Serdyukov by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:35
Middleweight Fight- Logan Clark (9-0) vs. Eric Schambari (6-0)- WEC 29- 8/5/07
Both of these guys are undefeated. Logan Clark’s nickname is the “Pink Pounder”. Clark has a 3” reach advantage.
R1- Schambari gets a slam into Clark’s guard. Schambari is able to stay on top of Clark for the entire round. Clark got a triangle choke for about 20 seconds but couldn’t finish the fight. At the end of the round he went for a kimura but couldn’t get it so instead he settled for some Ground and Pound.
R2- Clark got a quick flurry early but then got taken down again. Clark caught Schambari with a Gogoplata but couldn’t hold it in place. Clark went for an arm bar but Schambari again escaped the move. Clark was on his back for the majority of this round but did a great job in going for submissions and controlling the fight from his back.
R3- Clark got on top of Schambari early in this round for a change and got some Ground and Pound. Clark was working for an arm bar but couldn’t get it and Schambari got back to his feet. Schambari ended up back on top of Clark. Schambari really controlled the majority of this round.
Not a great fight but it was interesting as Schambari dominated position but Clark came closer to finishing the fight. Very close fight but I think Schambari will win due to his dominance of where the fight went and how he controlled a lot of the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Schambari
Winner: Eric Schambari by Decision (Unanimous)
Versus
This show is from 2008. Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for these fights. Today’s show featured two fights from WEC 33 from March of 08 and one fight from WEC 29 from August of 07.
Bantamweight Fight- Chris Manuel (6-0-1) vs. Kenji Osawa (13-7-1)- WEC 33- 3/26/08
Manuel has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Good even first round. Osawa landed better punches but Manuel landed better leg kicks.
R2- This was another very close round but not as fast paced as the first round. The fight looks like it will go down to whoever has the best final round.
R3- Manuel got some good shots in at the beginning of the round but then got clinched. Manuel hits a nice kick and Osawa is bloodied up around his mouth. Manuel gets a take down and gets Osawa’s back. Manuel really dominated this round. Manuel definitely took this round but the first two rounds were a toss up. It will be interesting to see the judges’ decisions.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Manuel, 29-28 Osawa and 28-28 for a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Welterweight Fight- Alex Serdyukov (9-4) vs. Ryan Stonitsch (9-0-1)- WEC 33- 3/26/08
Alex has a 5” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Ryan came right at him with some punches but Alex fought him off. Alex ended up catching Ryan in a triangle and submitted him.
Winner: Alex Serdyukov by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:35
Middleweight Fight- Logan Clark (9-0) vs. Eric Schambari (6-0)- WEC 29- 8/5/07
Both of these guys are undefeated. Logan Clark’s nickname is the “Pink Pounder”. Clark has a 3” reach advantage.
R1- Schambari gets a slam into Clark’s guard. Schambari is able to stay on top of Clark for the entire round. Clark got a triangle choke for about 20 seconds but couldn’t finish the fight. At the end of the round he went for a kimura but couldn’t get it so instead he settled for some Ground and Pound.
R2- Clark got a quick flurry early but then got taken down again. Clark caught Schambari with a Gogoplata but couldn’t hold it in place. Clark went for an arm bar but Schambari again escaped the move. Clark was on his back for the majority of this round but did a great job in going for submissions and controlling the fight from his back.
R3- Clark got on top of Schambari early in this round for a change and got some Ground and Pound. Clark was working for an arm bar but couldn’t get it and Schambari got back to his feet. Schambari ended up back on top of Clark. Schambari really controlled the majority of this round.
Not a great fight but it was interesting as Schambari dominated position but Clark came closer to finishing the fight. Very close fight but I think Schambari will win due to his dominance of where the fight went and how he controlled a lot of the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Schambari
Winner: Eric Schambari by Decision (Unanimous)
Monday, March 02, 2009
WEC 39 "Brown vs Garcia" 3/1/09 Re-Cap
Todd Harris is the lead announcer but instead of Frank Mir we’ve got Jens Pulver in a Sweater Vest! Mir must be training for the Lesnar fight. Lil Evil in a freakin’ Sweater Vest. Wow, Jim Tressel must be a proud father.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
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