Category — WEC

A few things have been stuck in my craw ever since Saturday’s WEC 47. Things that just don’t sit right, like Brian Bowles throwing in the towel with a busted hand after just two rounds.

You can call it a doctor’s stoppage but the only way for the doc to know the hand is busted is to x-ray it – or have the fighter confess that it’s broken. And Bowles seemed pretty calm and matter-of-fact about the whole thing even though it meant he’d just lost the bantamweight belt. I alluded to this in my fight recap story – I know not everyone can break a hand (or two) and keep fighting a la Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown. But it’s as though Bowles knew he was outclassed and getting his ass kicked – which he was, by a very nimble Dominick Cruz – and the broken hand was a way out.

I could be wrong but that’s how I read it. I’m not the only one, as Cory Brady over at Five Ounces of Pain makes the same call and lays out a few more pet peeves from the event that I agree with top to bottom. I especially like his trouble with tears and his assessment of Miguel Torres’s less-than-impressive performance.

Anti-climactic. That just about sums up Saturday’s WEC 47. Whether it was Jens Pulver being armbarred into retirement (again) in the first round, or former bantamweight superstar Miguel Angel Torres being choked out by a fighter half his size or champ Brian Bowles throwing in the towel after two rounds because of a broken hand, the rug was repeatedly pulled out from under the card.

In fact, Bowles’ inability to continue – and his admission that the broken hand hampered his mental game, his ability to focus on not getting his ass kicked – was jarring and disappointing. I even cracked that Urijah Faber broke both hands in the first round against Mike Brown and still went the distance, throwing wild elbows instead, and all Bowles managed was a few more minutes of damage avoidance before giving up. Not fair, I know. I stub my pinky toe and I’m on the DL for a week. Still, the quit-factor was disappointing.

But give credit to his opponent, the new champ Dominick Cruz. Busted hand or not, Bowles looked like a statue opposite the fleet-footed, stance-switching firecracker. Cruz’s manager, Matt Stansell, predicted the fight would resemble a bullfight, and Cruz was every bit a matador, dancing around Bowles, peppering the increasingly frustrated fighter with punches and kicks and the occasional takedown. I’ve little doubt that broken hand or not, Bowles wouldn’t have left the cage with the belt around his waist.

While Bowles goes back to the drawing board, the win sets up a rematch between Cruz and Joseph Benavidez. Cruz took their first encounter by unanimous decision, handing Benavidez his only loss at the same time.

Benavidez overcame an 11-inch reach disadvantage to stun Torres with a second-round guillotine submission. He waded into the pocket to land overhand rights that left Torres looking bewildered, he took Torres to the ground and opened a nasty cut on his forehead that left him looking scared, and he finished him off with the choke after a failed armbar attempt that left him and me and a lot of other people in shock. It was the former 135-pound champ’s second straight loss (he surrendered the title to Bowles last year).

Pulver, a former UFC lightweight champ and semi-legend, was a step or two behind in the few minutes he lasted against Javier Vasquez. He got taken down three times, reversed it twice but on the third found himself in an armbar that hyper-extended his elbow and in all likelihood shortened his cage career.

A couple of other notables from the card. How did Bart Palaszewski manage to hang on to Karen Darabedyan’s wrist tightly enough to pull off that armbar? By a thread, I’d wager. And Scott Jorgensen’s standing guillotine 31 seconds into the opening round that lifted Chad George off his feet and rendered him unconscious even as he was tapping was one of the most vicious I’ve seen.

Tonight’s WEC 47 card is tight. Undefeated bantamweight champ Brian Bowles (8-0) headlines against challenger Dominick Cruz (14-1). It’s Bowles’ first title defense since taking the belt from Miguel Torres last August. Torres (37-2) is also on the card. He’ll face Joseph Benavidez (11-1) in a 135-pound tilt that will fast-track the winner to a title shot.

But the fight I’m really eyeing is Jens Pulver (22-12-1) against Javier Vazquez (13-4). Some say the former UFC lightweight champ is washed up and maybe he is. Pulver has dropped six of his last seven, after all. But consider who those six winning opponents were – BJ Penn, Urijah Faber (twice), Josh Grispi, Leonard Garcia and Joe Lauzon. It’s not as though Pulver is taking the easy way out of the game. And I’m curious to see what he still has left.

Jonathan Snowden over at Brawl Sports has a good interview with Pulver that covers the ups and downs of his entire career. Pulver is a lot smarter, or at least a lot more self-aware and introspective, than his cage persona indicates. And if you’re at all familiar with his abusive white-trash upbringing, you’ve got to respect what he’s done with his life.

Yippee ki yay, muthafucker! The most-exciting fight from last year is about to happen all over again. WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson will make his first defense of the 155-pound title against Donald Cerrone at April 24’s WEC 48. Bendo defeated the Cowboy at WEC 43 to take the interim belt and advance to the unification bout against champ Jamie Varner, whom he choked out at WEC 46. Cerrone, meanwhile, choked out Ed Ratcliff at WEC 45 to earn the rematch.

Hopefully, round two will be a lot like round one, which saw Bendo survive unbelievable submission attempts (see photo above) to bang out a win in one of the few edge-of-your-seat showdowns on any MMA card in the last couple of years.

And that’s not the only fireworks we can expect from WEC 48. In addition Henderson vs. Cerrone II, the card will feature a co- main event between former 145-pound champion Urijah Faber and reigning division kingpin Jose Aldo, which could be one of the most-exciting fights of 2010.

I’ve never been much of a Jens Pulver fan (unless he was fighting BJ Penn). I admire his feral tenacity, but that’s about as far as it goes. But I have to give him a lot of credit for making something of himself considering where he’s come from. It’s no secret Little Evil had an abusive white trash upbringing. When he was seven, his father stuck a gun in his mouth and then deciding he wasn’t worth the bullets. And his whole fight career seems to have been built around literally battling those demons. Every time he steps in the cage, he imagines his opponent is his father.

Well, this trailer for a film about Pulver called Jens Pulver: Driven has me intrigued. If the final film pays off what the trailer promises – in-depth, honest, emotional, raw, and most-importantly insightful and self-reflective – then I’m there. It’s also got a Friday Night Lights quality about it – I suspect it’s the choice of music – and that’s a good thing.

I’ve been in touch with the filmmaker, Gregory Bayne, so expect an interview with him in the next couple of weeks.

As for Pulver, who dropped his last four fights to Urijah Faber (twice), Leonard Garcia and Joseph Grispi, he plans to unretire on March 6 at WEC 47. The former UFC lightweight champ (as well as PRIDE and WEC veteran) will face Javier Vazquez on a card that also features WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz, Leonard Garcia vs. Diego Nunes and Miguel Torres vs. Joseph Benavidez.

I’ve already touched on the lightweight title fight from Sunday’s WEC 46. Champ Jamie Varner got caught and interim champ Ben Henderson took advantage. End of story. I just wish Henderson had thrown a strike for every time he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, though. Wonder if there’s any fight stats on that.

If the WEC is smart they’ll set Varner up in a rematch with Donald Cerrone to settle that old score, with the winner getting a rematch with Henderson for the belt (Henderson beat Cerrone for the interim belt while Varner was recovering from injuries he suffered in his first fight with Cerrone).

Urijah Faber made his return to the cage since busting both hands against Mike Brown. Faber subbed Raphael Assuncao with a third-round rear-naked choke after a back-and-forth battle that never shifted below fourth gear. Expect Faber, the former featherweight champ, to challenge current champ Jose Aldopay-per-view next. That fight could end up on the WEC’s first , and if I might suggest, how about setting it in Calgary, which the WEC is planning to hit in the near future?

Brown, who won the title off Faber only to lose it to Aldo, got back into the winner’s circle with a first-round rear-naked choke submission of Anthony Johnson. Brown’s been gracious about Faber getting Aldo next but expect Brown to get his next title shot as soon as puts up another win.

What else do I want to touch on from WEC 46? Hmm… How about Mark Hominick armbarring Bryan Caraway just moments after commentator Frank Mir said that being on his back is not the place that a striker like Hominick wants to be? Obviously Mir’s point was that Hominick is more comfortable on his feet, although you couldn’t tell by this fight. Oh yeah, and Waggney Fabiano got on the right side of the win/loss column with a unanimous-decision victory over Clint Godfrey.

All in all it was a good card that out-entertained most recent UFC cards even if it didn’t offer up any Fight/Knockout/Submission of the Year candidates. For the rest of the results, head over here.

Can they please stop interviewing the loser in the cage after a fight? When will they learn that there’s nothing to be gained from it. At best, the fighter is gracious in defeat, says he lost to the better man, that he’ll come back better than ever and then he reels off a list of sponsors. At worst, you get Tito Ortiz’s excuse-making. At least Forrest Griffin’s post-Anderson Silva sprint spared us an attack of foot-in-mouth (or head-up-ass) disease.

On Sunday, it was Jamie Varner showing his lack of class following his loss to Ben Henderson in their lightweight title unification bout at WEC 46. The lightweight champ was ahead on my scorecard heading into round three against the rubbery interim champ when he gave up his neck during a shot and found himself tapping really quickly to a standing arm-in guillotine. Already annoyed at Henderson’s Jesus-praising speech (something else I think we could all do without), I became disgusted when Varner took the mic and claimed Henderson wanted to grapple and he wanted to fight and that’s why he lost.

Anyone who watched the first two rounds would think differently. It was Varner who was shooting for takedowns, which he must know often lead to grappling. It was Varner who locked in a guillotine of his own in the first round that he couldn’t finish. It was Varner who shot in and handed Henderson his head on a platter. What was Henderson supposed to do? Ignore the opportunity to finish the fight? Stand there and bang some more (which he’d been doing all along, I must add).

It’s called mixed martial arts, Jamie, not boxing or kickboxing or stand-and-strike or patty-cake. Yes, Jamie, “shit happens,” as you said. You made a mistake, Henderson took advantage and you got caught. I get that you were high on adrenaline and endorphins and feeling frustrated and disappointed and angry, that it was “in the moment” and that if you had a chance to compose yourself and think about things you might not have said things quite the way you did. But then I didn’t see any apology or clarification forthcoming at the post-fight press conference.

Fans are tearing you a new asshole on your Facebook page. The language is harsh, but the point is a good one.

But since I’m pretty sure there will always be fighters making douche bag comments following a loss (or a win, if you’re Brock Lesnar), can the promotions please limit it by not interviewing the losers immediately following the fight? It’s in everybody’s best interest.

The word “stacked” gets tossed around more than a bimbo at a Hell’s Angels rally. One MMA website (which shall remain nameless) even said last Saturday’s UFC 108 was stacked. (For the record, it wasn’t stacked, but in retrospect it exceeded expectations in terms of entertainment; hindsight is 20/20 and all that.) But Sunday’s WEC 46 is certainly that, the Playboy Playmate of fight cards.

The headliner is a lightweight title unification bout between a pair of Energizer Bunnies, champ Jamie Varner and interim champ Ben Henderson. Varner’s a serious striker who’s been sidelined with an emergency room full of injuries since he beat Donald Cerrone last January. Varner took an illegal knee to the noggin in the fifth round and won the fight on the scorecards and also suffered a broken hand and foot in the process. Bendo, meanwhile, hasn’t lost in more than three years. He scrapped his way to the interim belt against Cerrone in October in the most exciting fight of 2009, surviving bone-splintering submissions while dropping bombs from within Cerrone’s guard.

Also on the card are two former WEC featherweight champions, Urijah Faber and Mike Brown. Faber and Brown clashed at June’s WEC 41 – Faber busted both hands in the first round and still gutted it out to a five-round decision that saw Brown capture the belt. Now Faber will face highly touted Muay Thai fighter and BJJ black belt Raphael Assuncao in a guaranteed barnburner.

Brown lost the belt to Jose Aldo in November so it’s a safe bet he feels he has something to prove when he steps in against WEC newcomer Anthony Morrison.

Further down the card you’ll find Dave Jansen and Kamal Shalorus both battling to remain undefeated (and to move a step closer to the lightweight title) while two featherweight grapplers with big names – Macken Semerzier and Deividas Taurosevicius – will likely stand and bang (cuz that’s what two grapples often do when they face off).

Hopefully, an undercard bout or two will find its way onto the broadcast, as jiu-jitsu ace Wagnney Fabiano looks to bounce back from a shocking submission loss to Semerzier when he meets Clint Godfrey; Shawn Tompkins-trained striker Mark Hominick faces Bryan Caraway; Akitoshi Tamura meets Charlie Valencia; George Roop takes on Eddie Wineland; and Will Campuzano takes on Coty Wheeler.

Now all that needs to happen is for the card to live up to its on-paper potential.

Is anybody still watching The Ultimate Fighter? Last night it conflicted with WEC 44 so I didn’t even catch up with it (i.e. fast forward through it) until this morning. In a nutshell, Kimbo Slice is afraid of needles, coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson squared off in the most homoerotic beach volleyball game since Top Gun, Matt Mitrione continued to whine about his hurt head and Brendan Schaub knocked out in the second round to advance to the semi-finals. Oh, and next week we’ll be treated to two quarter-final fights, which means twice as much to not care about.

Am I the only one who wasn’t completely blown away by Jose Aldo’s victory over featherweight champ Mike Brown at Wednesday’s WEC 44? Yes, Aldo has lightning strikes – at times it looked like he was on fast forward and Brown was on rewind – and his takedown defense against the strongest fighter in the division was impressive.

But the first round was nothing to write home about. It was mostly a feeling-out process for both fighters highlighted by a couple of Aldo’s flying knees that looked cool but did little damage. And the second-round TKO seemed to be more the result of Brown crumpling under pressure and giving up than Aldo destroying him (it’s easy to destroy someone who’s not really fighting back).

I’m not taking anything away from Aldo; he took Brown’s back, sunk in the hooks, flattened him out and pounded on his skull until the ref stepped in. He deserved the win and he did it in dominant fashion. I’m just not prepared to hoist him upon my shoulders as the new king of MMA and declare that we should expect a long and prosperous reign. That’s a trigger I’m not ready to pull.

Let’s see how he handles the pressure of being champion. Let’s see how he handles former champ Urijah Faber. Brown beat Faber. Aldo beat Brown. And if this was rock-paper-scissors we all know what comes next. Of course Faber needs to get past Raphael Assuncao first and Aldo will likely next face Manny Gamburyan.

In other main card results, Gamburyan earned a unanimous decision over fellow mighty mite Leonard Garcia that was like watching Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera through a microscope; Karen Darabedyan out-struck five time World Muay Thai champion Rob McCullough to take a split decision; Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo by rear-naked choke to end a back-and-forth battle in the third round.

Wednesday’s WEC 44 has the potential to be the best card of the week. (And how great is it to say “card of the week” as opposed to month?)

The headliner features featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown (22-4) defending his title for the third time against feared Brazilian striker Jose “Junior” Aldo (15-1). This has barn-burner written all over it with Aldo’s insane striking game clashing with Brown’s wrestling and ground-and-pound. I’m predicting Brown by TKO in the later rounds – if he can survive the early heavy-handed assault of Aldo.

The other big fight on the card is a battle of two ormer UFC lightweight fighters turned WEC 145-pounders Manny Gamburyan (9-4) and Leonard Garcia (13-4). Again, it’s style vs. style, with Gamburyan’s ground game against Garcia’s lightning stand-up. My call? It’s a race to see who imposes their game plan first, but I expect Garcia to see most of the fight from his back in a TKO loss.

Rounding out the card are ex-champ Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Karen Darabedyan (8-1). A win by McCollough puts him back into lightweight contention. Shane Roller (6-2) takes on Danny Castillo (8-1) caps things off in a toss-up, odds-wise.

World Extreme Cagefighting has set a date for a lightweight title unification bout between champ Jamie Varner and interim champ Ben Henderson. It’ll headline WEC 46 on January 10.

Varner has been out of action with injuries he suffered in his split-decision victory over Donald Cerrone last January while Bendo is coming off a fight-of-the-year-caliber decision victory over Cerrone at WEC 43 last month. Also on the card is a featherweight showdown between Urijah Faber and Raphael Assuncao.

Speaking of Urijah Faber (22-3 MMA; 7-2 WEC), the former WEC featherweight champion is finally set for his return to the cage after recovering from a severely broken hand suffered in a loss to 145-pound champ Mike Brown at WEC 41. Faber will face Raphael Assuncao (14-1 MMA; 2-0 WEC) at WEC 46 on January 11. That card is also rumoured – and I do mean rumoured – to be c0-headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between champ Jamie Varner and interim champ Benson Henderson.