The WEC is back! This Sunday, pound-for-pound great Miguel Torres puts his bantamweight title on the line against top 10 bamtamweight Takeya Mizugaki. This should be a great night of free fights, so let's break down the action:
Rafael Dias vs. Mike Budnick
Dias is 11-5-1, 0-1 in the WEC, with nine wins by stoppage. He is a submission fighter. Budnick is 7-2, 1-2 in the WEC, with six wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter with decent boxing and Muay Thai.
This should be a good fight. I think Budnick has a more diverse arsenal so I'll pick him to win by decision. If Budnick loses, though, he may be out of the WEC for a while.
Manny Tapia vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Tapia is 10-1-1, 2-1 in the WEC, with six wins by stoppage. He is a striker with decent wrestling and BJJ. Tamura is 12-7-2, 0-1 in the WEC, with four wins by stoppage. He is a solid grappler.
Tapia should walk through Tamura. I'm picking him to win by decision.
Rani Yahya vs. Eddie Wineland
Rani is 12-4, 2-1 in the WEC, with 11 wins by submission. He is a BJJ fighter. Eddie is 14-5-1, 1-1 in the WEC, with nine wins by stoppage. He is a striker with good grappling.
I like Wineland in this fight due to his well-rounded game. I'll pick Eddie to win by decision.
Wagnney Fabiano vs. Fredson Paixao
Fabiano is 11-1, 1-0 in the WEC, with eight wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter. Fredson is 8-2, making his WEC debut, with five wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter too.
This is a great match up of talented BJJ artists. I think Fabiano is the better BJJ artist and all-around fighter. I'm picking him to win by decision.
Dominick Cruz vs. Ivan Lopez
Cruz 12-1, 2-1 in the WEC, with six wins by stoppage. He is a wrestler with solid hands. Lopez is 8-0, making his WEC debut, with six wins by stoppage. He is a submission fighter with decent hands.
Lopez is undefeated but hasn't face this level of competition yet. I like Cruz to put an end to Lopez's undefeated streak. I'll pick Cruz to win by decision.
Bart Palaszewski vs. Anthony Njokuani
Bart is 30-12, 1-1 in the WEC, with 23 wins by stoppage. He is a striker with solid submissions. Anthony is 9-2, 0-1 in the WEC, with four wins by KO. He is a striker.
I think Bart is more well rounded and has a ton more experience. I like him to win this fight. I'll pick Bart by submission in the second round.
Rafael Assuncao vs. Jameel Massouh
Assuncao is 12-1, making his WEC debut, with 10 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter. Jameel is 21-4, making his WEC debut, with 17 wins by stoppage. He is a submission fighter with solid hands.
This should be a great match up. Jameel is very accomplished and is well rounded. However, Assuncao is an amazing grappler and I think he is the better fighter overall. I'll pick him to win by submission in the second round.
Shane Roller vs. Ben Henderson
Roller is 5-1, 2-0 in the WEC, with all five wins by stoppage. He is a wrestler with improving hands and submissions. Henderson is 8-1, 1-0 in the WEC, with seven wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter with good wrestling.
This is a good clash of styles. Whoever has the better wrestling and can control where the fight takes place will probably win. I'm going to pick Roller to keep the fight standing and use his better striking to win the fight by KO in the second round.
Jeff Curran vs. Joseph Benavidez
Curran is 29-11-1, 2-2 in the WEC, with 18 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter. Benavidez is 9-0, 1-0 in the WEC, with eight wins by stoppage. He is a good grappler with decent hands.
Benavidez has an impressive record but he's never faced a fighter like Curran. I think Curran will get this fight to the mat and control the fight ending Joseph's undefeated streak with a win by decision.
Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Torres is 35-1, 4-0 in the WEC, with 29 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter with great Muay Thai. Takeya is 11-2-2, making his WEC debut, with five wins by stoppage. He is a striker with decent grappling.
Takeya is a good fighter but he shouldn't pose a serious threat to Torres. I expect Torres to keep it standing even though he should probably go to the mat. I'll pick him to win by TKO in the second round.
This should be a great night of free fights. Top 15 FWs Fabiano, Assuncao, Curran, and Tamura are all on the card (Curran and Tamura are at 135). On top of that, top 10 BWs Tapia and Benavidez are also on the card.
This card is seriously stacked, folks, so I hope you're as excited as I am! Stay tuned for my review of WEC 40 along with DREAM 8 next week and TUF 9 episode two. Until then,
Soccer kicks and head stomps...
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