Friday, November 7, 2008

WEC 36 Review

Wow this night was nothing like I thought it would be. It was incredibly disappointing on many levels. First of all the fight of the night wasn't even televised. I thought Jake Rosholt definitely isn't ready for the UFC and did not live up to the hype. Jens Pulver gets blasted in the first round of what I thought would be a war and fight of the night. The Paulo Filho fight was a disgrace to MMA. And Faber also goes down in the first round. This night seriously couldn't have gotten any worse even if Frank Mir jumped in the cage naked and started singing show tunes. I'm so disappointed I'm tempted to not even go in depth on this but I won't wimp out. I'm just going to keep the fight detail to a minimum so I can put this card and this blog behind me for good.

Donald Cerrone v. Rob McCullough: Cerrone comes in and dominates McCullough in a unanimous decision. This really sends McCullough back to the drawing board but introduces some new blood into the lightweight division. I didn't get this one right.

Jake Rosholt v. Nissen Osterneck: This fight was semi interesting. Osterneck was killing Rosholt on his feet. It's a good thing Rosholt has a good chin because I really thought Osterneck was going to knock him out. Rosholt was smart and took the fight to the mat early and often where Osterneck was no match. Rosholt eventually pounded him out by TKO in the second round. I got this fight right but not the prediction.

Jens Pulver v. Leonard Garcia: Both these guys came in looking for redemption of some form or another. This fight was only disappointing in how short it was. They both looked ready for a war but Garcia caught Pulver with a wacky punch that sent Pulver spinning and eventually Garcia began teeing off on a dazed Pulver before the ref stopped the fight in the first round by TKO. Again I got this fight wrong.

Paulo Filho v. Chael Sonnen: In what has to be one of the, if not the, most confusing and disappointing performances in MMA history Paulo Filho misses weight by 7 pounds causing this to become a non title 3 round fight. This obviously pissed off Sonnen who had been waiting for this rematch for almost a year. Filho came out and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world but that cage. He literally almost never threw a punch and just fell to his back hoping he'd catch Sonnen in some miracle submission even though Sonnen for the most part refused to go to the ground with him and get caught like he did the last time. Filho staggered around the cage and looked distracted by things outside it. No one has any idea what's going on with him. Everyone thought after his break to recover from addiction and depression he would come back in form. After it was announced that the WEC would fold the middleweight division it made this title fight irrelevant. However, it was a BAD sign when he missed weight that badly and his performance seemed in line no matter how little this fight meant to him. Something is seriously wrong here and the UFC I'm sure is having serious second thoughts about bringing him in to the fold. I was way off on this fight.

Urijah Faber v. Mike Brown: This fight was a shocker. I really expected Faber to take down Brown who is a large featherweight and who is known as a power puncher. Instead Faber decided to stand and trade which bit him in the butt big time. Brown staggered him and then caught him with the finishing blow before pounding him out by TKO in the first round. Again I was way off here.

This was a terrible night all around. This was disastrous for the WEC. They showcased a young talent who will never fight for them again. Their two biggest names in the featherweight division go down hard. And Paulo Filho leaves the worst fight in history as his stamp on the middleweight division's last fight in the WEC. Not only that but I went 1-4. I'm embarrassed for myself and everyone involved in that card last night. I hope the WEC's next card with Miguel Torres rebounds in a big way. Stay tuned for my TUF recap. Until then,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...

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