Last night was another great show for the WEC. The main event between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber brought the house down and the whole show was highlighted with great finishes.
Scott Jorgensen v. Antonio Banuelos: This was a crazy brawl from start to finish. I was really surprised Jorgensen wanted to stand and bang but it didn’t appear as though he could get Banuelos to the ground. This was a great war that eventually Banuelos won by split decision. I was way off on this fight.
Manny Gamburyan v. John Franchi: I picked this one right on the nose as Manny picks up the unanimous decision victory winning all three rounds across all cards.
Jens Pulver v. Josh Grispi: This fight was very sad for me. I’ve long been a fan of Pulver and his “rags to riches” type story. Unfortunately it appears as though his fight game has just fallen off a cliff and he won’t get it back.
He’ll always be a warrior and come into the fight well trained, in shape, and ready for war but he just doesn’t have that edge anymore and the game has passed him by. Josh Grispi put this fact on full display last night choking out Pulver via a guillotine 30 seconds into the fight. I got this pick wrong.
Pulver got very emotional after the fight and it seems as though he might be hanging up the gloves. I don’t blame him after the way his last 3-4 fights have gone. It’s just sad to see the old guard (who I like) start to fade away.
Donald Cerrone v. James Krause: This fight was way out of Krause’s league. Cerrone came out very cocky but backed it up with some great striking that rocked Krause and allowed him to take his back and finish the fight via rear naked choke at the end of the first round. I got the pick right but not the prediction.
Krause did better than I thought holding his own in the stand up for awhile and even getting some takedowns on Cerrone. Unfortunately his ground game wasn’t good enough to keep Cerrone down and eventually he got caught in the stand up. Overall though for the situation he was put in I thought Krause did well. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next against an opponent more on his level.
Jose Aldo v. Cub Swanson: Ho-ly crap! Is there anything Aldo can’t do!?
Swanson is an extremely tough fighter who has never been KO’d and Aldo took him out in eight seconds with a flying knee! This kid has to get a title shot within his next two fights or I’m boycotting the WEC. I got the pick right but not the prediction.
Mike Brown v. Urijah Faber: This fight was great. It wasn’t all that technical and there wasn’t a flashy KO or submission. But from a guts stand point these two put on the toughest performance I’ve seen from almost any two fighters through a five round fight.
Brown was obviously the bigger fighter and was having his way with Faber in the takedowns. However, Faber’s explosiveness and athleticism kept him in the fight on the ground where he was able to use that to sweep and get back to his feet.
On the feet these guys were pretty much even until Faber broke his hands sometime around the second round and had to resort strictly to kicks and elbows. Unfortunately I think the broken hands negated any chance Faber had at winning the fight as Brown picked up the unanimous decision.
I got the prediction right but I picked the wrong fighter. However, I still think a trilogy is in order given Faber’s handicap through most of the fight. I think if Faber’s hands had held up he could’ve been in a good position to get a couple submissions or even out strike Brown.
Overall this was a great night of fights. I went an average 3-3 plus one bonus point for getting the prediction right. On a brief side note Strikeforce could learn a lot from the WEC in the way of showcasing young, athletic, hungry, and talented fighters rather than pay too much for over the hill stars of yesterday. In any case, stay tuned for my UFC 99 preview and No News Barred every Wednesday right here on InsideFights.
