WEC 44: Jose Aldo captures featherweight gold, Garcia and McCullough fall again

Results

Mike Brown entered his third featherweight title defense against the Brazilian featherweight sensation Jose Aldo at WEC 44 in Las Vegas, Nevada earlier this evening, and left the octagon without it after Aldo was pulled away from the helpless champion.

The first round featured a display of stand up that leaned in the favor of Aldo. Brown attempted to bring down the challenger, but Aldo’s takedown defense proved too much for the champion, whose wrestling pedigree is hardly anything to scoff at.

Round two saw Brown go for another desperate takedown after getting tagged by Aldo. The takedown shot went awry when Aldo took the upper hand, Brown’s back, and the WEC featherweight belt via a technical knockout stoppage at 1:20 of the second round.

One of the most dynamic featherweights to ever wear the blue gloves of the WEC, Aldo has continued to run through opponents all the way to the top of the 145 pound division. His three fights before Brown lasted for a combined total of just over six minutes. It took him only six minutes and twenty seconds to rip the belt from the waist of Brown.

Aldo has become one of the most dynamic fighters in any light weight class the WEC features. The featherweight division was possibly considered the deepest division of the promotion before tonight. After Aldo’s performance and becoming the new champion, it’s hard to argue that suggestion.

The other main attraction of the evening was a featherweight bout between Leonard Garcia and Manny Gamburyan. The game plans were clear, as Garcia wanted a slugfest, while Gamburyan wanted it on the ground.

After three rounds, the judges saw fit to award Gamburyan a unanimous decision victory after his success in getting Garcia to the ground a number of times. This sets Garcia back from his quest for featherweight glory, as the first time he reached a title shot, then champion Mike Brown proved him unworthy.

Although Garcia may not have received the kind of fight he had looked for, Rob McCullough certainly did, as “Razor” and Karen Darabedyan threw down on the feet for three five minute rounds.

While Darabedyan was beating McCullough at his own game early, winning the first round handily, “Razor” Rob stormed back in the second round with vicious body kicks. The third proved to be another close round, as the two headed to the scorecards.

The judges saw it very differently from one another, as Darabedyan was award a split decision with the scores 30-27, 27-30, and 29-28, making this yet another fight to stir up controversy surrounding judging in mixed martial arts.

Rounding out the scheduled main card was a lightweight bout between Shane Roller and Danny Castillo.

The fight was close early, but Castillo held the slight edge going into round two. However, Roller stormed back and put up a great fight in the second round, nearly finishing Castillo. However, a vital mistake cost Roller his great position and sent the fight to a third round.

The third round began with Castillo rebounding from his close call during the last round. Roller turned the tables on Castillo, taking control of him on the ground. After sinking the hooks and flattening him out, Roller successfully tapped out Danny Castillo via rear naked choke.