WEC 50

Cruz does best Tiger Knee impressin on Benavidez's face

Went 5-0 on the main card, that being said this card did hold some surprises for me. Namely the improved takedown defense of Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis not to mention his flashy kicks that validate his nickname.

Behold the Au Batido

Scott Jorgenson and Brad Pickett put on the fight of the night as expected, but was still contradictory due to the highly competitive yet one sided end way it was contested. In the main even Dominic Cruz defended his title and gave Joeseph Benavidez another loss in what looked like a replay of their first match up with a bit more feeling. Cruz once again used his hit and run style to frustrate Benavidez who was hoping to stay planted on both feet and hope for a counter and while he was able to land none of the strikes seemed to visibly effect Cruz nor did it change the momentum of the fight. Joeseph had his best round in the fourth where he was able to do serious damage in the clinch where he opened up the champs face with a knee.

In the end it wasn’t enough and Benavidez lost a tough split decision. With Jorgensen coming off his 5th win in a row its safe to assume he will be the next threat to Cruz’s throne and Benavidez will remain a top contender at 135 but will have a better chance at championship gold at 125 whenever the WEC gets the Flyweight division in gear.

Bellator XXV

Had another event with perfect picks on the main card. With that said it wasn’t the most electrifying of events, all fights went to decision. Dan Hornbuckle got a hard fought win after his loss in last seasons welterweight tournament as did everyone else. At the end of the day one can’t complain after the previous Bellator card had all finishes.

Strikeforce: Houston

Muhammad "King Mo' Lawal on his way to losing his title to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante

Now onto the most notorious card of last week for all the wrong reasons. Spirited middleweight title fight aside between Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, a back and forth battle that went the distance like all other middleweight championship fights since Cung Le relinquished the title. It was an okay fight that was easily forgettable due to the bizarre goings on the rest of the card. From KJ Noons brutal round (and some would say fight) ending combination on Jorge Gurgel.

Ouch

Finishing the round strong or intentional late shot?

And then in the second round, Noons went for the kill yet again throwing what seemed to be an illegal kick/knee to a downed opponent.

It doesn't land flush but that could have been nasty.

Former pro wrestler and army vet Bobby Lashley fought and lost after the end of the 2nd round when he was visibly exhausted and dazed in his fight against Chad Griggs. Oddly enough this wasn’t the biggest story of this fight, that dubious honor will go to one of the most vilified referees in combat sports Jon Schorle and his decision to stand up a mounted Chad Griggs so that Lashley could get a cut checked and not giving Lashley his position back. Not only did this result in an already fatigued having to try to get the position back the hard way it led to him expending the little bit of energy he had left which caused him to lose the fight. Utterly unacceptable at any level.

The main event and 2nd title fight of the evening had newly minted light heavyweight champ King Mo make his first title defense against Anderson Silva training partner and resident muy thai wrecking machine Rafael Feijao. Mo was able to put up 2 good rounds, willing to trade strikes after his wrestling seemed to falter here and there. While he was getting takedowns they were proving difficult to get and it was even harder keeping Feijao on the ground.

This led to Lawal taking chances with his good but still improving stand up, unfortunately the low crouching ‘Cuban’ stance fed right into Calvancantes knees and thai clinch strikes. Despite being up at least 1-1, the 3rd round held a nasty surprise for Lawal as Feijao just pounced on Lawal after tagging him. Mo while stunned tried to get a single leg takedown to shake out the cobwebs but was met with downward elbow after downward elbow, forcing the ref to stop the fight and yet another light heavyweight champ lost his belt in his first title defense in the Strikeforce organization.

All in all a good week of fights and since I will be off work for both the Bellator and UFC cards this week expect fight picks and some twitter action from us here at theclinch.net

Really good fight for up and coming featherweight and frequent Sherdog Radio Network personality Javi Vasquez. He got to show off his pervasive and suffocating ground game against Mackens Semerzier who pulled off one of the biggest upsets of 2009 when he submitted Wagnney Fabiano.

This time around it was Vasquez doing the choking but also showing off good wrestling and bjj. Hope to see him in another fight before the year ends.

Unfortunately I will be at work this evening and will not be able to watch this live, which sucks but its my fault for assuming this was going to be a Sunday card. Bellyaching aside lets get to the picks, main card only.

Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis – This is a #1 contender bout for the next shot at the WEC lightweight title. Roller may be the safe bet due to his wrestling, but Pettis has the ability to finish the fight standing or off his back. Going with Pettis on this one.

Showtime via Sub

Cub Swanson vs. Chad Mendes – Swanson is a somewhat one dimensional bjj player who usually lets his reckless style of fighting gets him into trouble. Chad ‘Money’ Mendes is Urijah Fabers protege and a formidable wrestler. Mendes should take this.

Chad via UD or Sub

Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett – This is a #1 contender bout for the next bantamweight title shot. As a fan of both fighters this is a hard one to pick, Scott is a super aggressive wrestler with solid stand up and the strength of a fully matured farm animal. Brad Pickett is a crafty fighter with a deceptively good ground game for a Englishman. Both are top 10 fighters and I give Scott the edge via coin toss they are so (presumably) evenly matched.

Young Guns Jorgensen via Split Decision

Bart Palaszewski vs. Zack Micklewright – Don’t know too much about Micklewright and am expecting another standard Bartimus performance where he takes a beating and pulls out a miracle sub.

Palaszewski via sub

Main Event – Bantamweight Championship

(Champ) Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez – On paper this rematch is a fight of the year candidate. Since the last time they fought Cruz has improved his frenetic hit and run fighting style and won the title, while Joey B has finished his last two opponents, Rani Yahya via brutal tko and then slashing former champ Miguel Torres’s face open then strangling him.

Offensive and defensive abilities aside this fight comes down to one thing, the skill set that defines the lighter weight figters and why the WEC is so exciting: Speed. More specifically who has it and who doesn’t. Dominic Cruz’s style is predicated on his ability to move in and out of striking range, frustrating his opponents and making them swing wildly so he can strike and more specifically counter his opponent at will. He also has the defensive wrestling to keep the fight on his terms. That being said if Benavidez is able to make adjustments and attack appropriately we should be in for a good, competitive fight.

I still see Cruz frustrating the Alpha Male fighter and making his first successful title defense.

Cruz via UD.

From Caposa

Truly brutal stuff here, I am guessing the Sandro and Frausto finishes will be in volume 2.

Props to Fight Magazine for producing these awesome videos of WEC Featherweight champ and one of my favorite fighters Jose Aldo.

The two vids cover the personal side of Aldo, from his tough upbringing and meeting the woman who would become his wife. His first sport of choice soccer/football/the worlds game/the beautiful game and how he eventually got into mma.

Maybe the guy in the corner knows something we don't?

Photo from Sherdog.com

I can’t get enough of this KO, not only does it herald Sandro as one of the elite fighters of the featherweight division. It is just one damn beautiful to behold. Marlon Sandro is the new Sengoku featherweight champion.

From Middleeasy.com

Seeing as how his only loss was a very questionable decision from biased Japanese judging, you could argue it as highly dubious.

Bloody Elbow has a write up of this win and Sandro’s stunning metamorphosis from solid featherweight to nightmarish finisher who just may be the best in the world at 145. That being said he needs to come to the WEC to prove it, even though WEC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo is his campmate. Depending on whether one of the two change weight classes, it may be best for them to rule their roost from different orgs.

To say the last couple of weeks in MMA have been busy would be as silly as saying the disaster in the gulf of Mexico is a minor inconvenience. With the top 3 (or 4 if you split the Zuffa owned UFC and WEC promotions) mixed martial arts organizations all holding events withing the same 7 day period, you would think an mma blogger like myself would have a plethora, no a veritable smorgasbord of topics to discuss, picks to mull over, post event analysis to bump gums/keyboard over.

Along with the standard random news/developments and goings on I sadly had to bow out due to my main soap box/this website going on the fritz. More accurately, there seemed to be a problem with the site posting auto save drafts from what seemed to be every article I had ever written. Thanks to Brandon for addressing the issue and getting things back in order. Now it is time for me to find my riddum and head back into the fray that is the “mma blogesphere” while the getting is still good. There is still the weekly goodness from Bellator going down along with 3 of the top heavyweights in the world fighting in a 2 week period, first on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum card and next weeks UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin which has already made headlines due to one of the co main event fighters, the legendary Wanderlei Silva being replaced due to injury by last weekds knockout of the night winner and fan favorite Chris The Crippler Leben.

I still wonder how this will look in hindsight months and years from now, these past couple of months have been the closest to constant weekly major org mma this young sport has ever seen. And if this is a sign of things to come, the future is bright in regards to human cockfighting.

The early rumblings around the net for last weekends ppv debut of the WEC is looking good. Here from Heavy.com is the jist of the current speculation.

Last Saturday’s “Aldo vs. Faber” event was surrounded by many questions, with the most important being this: how would the event fare on pay per view? Even though viewers never once saw the World Extreme Cagefighting logo, this was, for all intents and purposes, the first WEC show on pay per view. How would viewers respond to the addition of traditional UFC elements like Dana White, Joe Rogan, Mike Goldberg and Bruce Buffer?

According to sources in the cable industry, early estimates indicate that the show did between 150,000 and 200,000 buys on pay per view, a number that has to be considered a resounding success internally…

This news coupled with the surprisingly good ratings for the prelims that aired on Spike. Its safe to assume that the ppv gambit played off. The only question left is weather Zuffa will keep to two orgs seperate or at least fold the feather & bantamweight divisions into the UFC.

I’m am primarily happy that the card was good and now that the smaller guys have the full force of the Zuffa hype machine behind them, things are only going to get better.

After a month of lackluster events (Bellator not included, those cards were dope) WEC 48 was easily the event of the month and year. Never have I been so happy as an mma fan to see my picks go the wrong way. They nearly showed the whole damn card ffs, last years WEC 41 was my fave event from the WEC and last weekends show surpassed it. I am so geeked out over the card i will post my feelings and thoughts in list format

- We need Banuelos and Jorgensen 3

- Manvil earned his title shot by upsetting the unfocused former champ in Mike Brown

Njokuani will not go far as a 1 dimensional striker, even though he is a good 1 dimensional striker.

Roller vs Showtime Pettis needs to happen.

One Punch Pickett is a Brit with wrestling and submissions?! That’s unpossible.

Mighty Mouse Johnson is a good fighter and with a couple adjustments (tightening his striking to grappling transitions) will be a contender in the future.

Bendo is a top 10 (albeit 9 or 10) lightweight and is only getting better. His strategy of putting it to the notorious slow starter in Cowboy Cerrone quick fast and in a hurry shows he can execute a gameplan too. Smooth = Christ loving Beast.

I thought Visher was a beast by the beat down he put on Courtney Buck. But Toner picked his shots and put him out. Raw aggression can backfire sometimes I guess.

Now are you going to finally give Aldo his props & before I hear any “How do you not put away a wounded Faber” arguements nobody asked MTB about it when he couldn’t do it and Fabers hands were busted in that rematch. Faber is the new Big Nog ridiculously tough and still dangerous even when visibly hurt. Aldo knew going in he was facing probably the only guy who could keep up with his speed and immediately took that away from Faber. After he wrecked his leg you saw him try to find the one shot finish that never materialized. In the 3rd round he kicked him straight in the jaw, staggering Urijah, began to swarm and Faber rebooted and clubbed Aldo with a right hook that made the champ back off.

How Faber survived that 4th round crucifix onslaught is beyond me, a lesser fighter would have turtled up and quit from the 3 rounds of leg kicks much less the torrential downpour of elbows he received. I would also like to applaud Aldo’s body shots looked nasty as hell. I blame the 5th round on Rosenthal not breaking up an restarting the fight. Other than that it was one of the better 5 rounders I’ve seen. Fabers champion level heart, grit and cornermen carried him through the toughest fight in his career. But Jose Aldo is the man at 145 and I can’t wait to see his next performance.

What can I say about Garcia/Jung that hasn’t already been said while it was most certainly very entertaining. But people should give props to the Pickett vs Johnson and Banuelos vs Jorgensen bouts too. While the latter two bouts did not have the reckless abandon and disregard for personal health that Garcia and Jung had they were just as intense and way more technical. But mma elitist whining aside it was an insanely fun fight to watch. And should be placed alongside Bonnar vs Griffin 1 and Gatti vs Ward as one of the most brutal and enjoyable fights in recent memory, judging controversy aside.

That being said I am going to finish this post and re-watch some more fights. Regardless of ppv buys this was a quality card from the one mma org that rarely disappoints.

As a fan of the lighter weight classes and the WEC in general I am going to sit back and pick the ENTIRE CARD. Hopefully this event goes off without a hitch and all the fighters stay healthy and make weight. Now on to the picks.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung

Bad Boy Garcia is getting a gift stylistically in Jung. The Korean Zombie is a gamer who is known to wade through punches to initiate his game. Leonard is not the kind of fighter you let hit you at will, especially with his whiplash punches.

- Garcia starts the card off with a bang via TKO

Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Karalexis

In my first live mma event at WEC 47 I saw Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis kick Danny Castillo’s head off. I cannot in good faith pick against him.

- Showtime via Cemetery kick

Brad Pickett vs. Demetrious Johnson

In a battle of the cartoon nicknames we have the Brit ‘One Punch’ Pickett and Greg Jackson disciple Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson. This one will be a good high paced scrap & since I heard an interview with him earlier this week I am going with Mighty Mouse to save the day.

- Johnson via UD

Chad Mendes vs. Anthony Morrison

Even though I really like AntMo/Cheesesteak Morrison, Money Mendes will probably wrestle him to bits. I hope Anthony is able to make a fight out of it or even pull out the win.

- Mendes via UD

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Rani Yahya

Striker vs Grappler, Yay this match up has never happened in mma before/sarcasm. This fight is tricky to call with both fighters coming off pretty bad losses, this bout will be a testament to who can rebound and perform the best. Takeya may not be Yahya’s equal on the ground but is pretty good at staying out of trouble and boxing people up against the cage. Conversely Rani has poor striking defense but has to get in close and hug opponents to the ground or pull guard to initiate his world class bjj. If Mizugaki uses a stiff keep-away jab and times his counter right hook/cross he will win.

- Mizugaki via tko

Brandon Visher vs. Tyler Toner

Brandon ‘The Viper’ Visher is a beast. This will be my first time watching Toner and I wish him the best. But Visher is a fighter on the come up and expect him to make an example out of Toner

- Visher via Violation

MAIN CARD

Mike Brown vs. Manny Gamburyan

Now we start the televised portion of the card, the mma veteran and Judoka in Gamburyan has his work cut out for him. Mike Brown is a beast and probably the strongest featherweight in the division. While he may have problems with quicker opposition anybody who tries to plant their feet to stand and bang with Brown usually end up getting countered and while their brain is still rattling find themselves getting tko’ed or chocked out.

Manny won’t be dumb enough to get drawn into a slobber knocker as evident in his last fight with a frustrated Leonard Garcia. Expect the Manvil to try and turn this into a grappling match but to still lose against the former champ.

- Brown via TKO

Shane Roller vs. Anthony Njokuani

In a fight with title implications for the winner expect an intense scrap. Despite his collegiate wrestling pedigree Shane suffers the plight of all wrestlers getting into MMA, dealing with quality strikers. And Anthony Njokuani is as quality as you can get in the WEC’s lightweight division. Anthony will have to show off any improvements to his defensive wrestling and or offensive guard work if Roller decides he doesn’t want to deal with Njokuani’s stand up. I would usually pick a wrestler in this situation but Shane hasn’t convinced me that he is a world beater while Anthony does have moments of brutal brilliance.

- Njokuani via tko

Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos

In one of the most entertaining back and forth brawls of 2009 in WEC 41 we saw Scotty Jorgensen weather an eye poke and sub sequential beating against Banuelos in their first fight. Thanks to a quick finish in WEC 47 and fighter replacement Jorgensen is out to avenge his split decision loss (one that I believe he won). If Scott can put his hands on the quicker fighter in Antonio and knee the bejesus out of his ribs to slow him down me may be able to get a finish.

But the roommate of Chuck Lidell is anything if not scrappy as hell and will make Jorgensen work for every inch of his eventual win.

- Young Guns Jorgensen via hard fought UD

Co-Main Event

Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone

In their first bout I picked Cerrone to get the interim strap, despite his slow starts and somewhat careless/reckless yet exciting approach to cagefighting. Having only seen him survive a guillotine and knock out Shane Roller I had written off Ben Henderson as just a tough wrestler with a hard overhand right. I was wrong, Cerrone was able to out strike Smooth only after he began to loose steam after wrestling and ground and pounding Cowboy in the first 3 frames.

If Cerrone has improved his wrestling and takedown defense he may have a chance. But seeing has defensive wrestling has always been the Texans Achilles heel I doubt he will be able to cover up the biggest hole in his game against a guy who is as pervasive in his wrestling and grappling ability in Bendo. Cerrone has to hurt and punish Henderson and do his damnedest to put him away. This fight is damn close to call but I’m going to go with….Cerrone I guess.

- Cowboy via TKO

Main Event

Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber

This fight will be an early fight of the year candidate, if I sound like a indoctrinated Zuffa zombie then to hell with it, I honestly believe this. In the heavier weight classes we have established divisions with known champs vulnerable to winning fights only to protect and prolong their legacy and doing so in less than exciting fashion. It is a simple case of success leading to stagnant and uninspired performances, winning for winnings sake.

Enter the WEC and the lighter weight classes, known universally in combat sports to be the more technical divisions. While not entirely devoid of the raw power and mainstream appeal of their larger brethren, the lighter guys would lose a bench press and popularity contest. But in regards to technique, tenacity and pure unadulterated speed you have to go with smaller guys and no two fighters embody those aspects more than Urijah Faber and Jose Aldo.

Faber the former champ but still the face of the division and most would say the organization wants to prove himself against in my humble opinion as some no name blogger to be the fastest one of the most dangerous men competing in mma today Jose Aldo. This will be Aldo’s first title defense and stylistically his toughest fight. The California Kid is very tenacious, unpredictable, crafty, kinetic, choose your superlative and or adjective it fits, Faber is tough match-up for any featherweight. In the new champ you have a very young fighter with lethal striking an unused but reportedly dangerous ground game, but what makes Aldo special are his unforgiving killer instinct and blinding speed.

In his title bout with former champ Mike Brown a man who holds 2 wins over Faber and was the only man to finish him. Aldo surprisingly started slow and proceeded to turn up his speed and chain his strikes to batter Brown in the first and then swarm and finish him in the 2nd frame with a tko. In the same fight we also saw that Aldo can defend take downs at least the ones of the bullying variety. While Fabers unorthodox style may give Aldo problems its his speed and wrestling that may be his best chance at victory.

Alas I have to go with the new champ on this one, no doubt this will be his toughest fight. But Aldo will remain the champ.

- Aldo via TKO rnd 2