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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist WEC 36 was a solid card from top to bottom that was made infinitely more enjoyable due to the fact that no money needed to be spent in order to watch it. Of course when you look back on the card and realize that Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen wasn’t even worth watching for free; it is kind of hard to really be pleased after having watched this one. This was a night of everything going wrong for the WEC that possibly could, and what is most certain is that no one predicted what took place and fewer could have believed you had you told that that this was how things would turn out.
The first televised fight pitted Jake Rosholt against Nissen Osterneck in a middleweight match up, and going into this one I really expected Rosholt to shine and make quite the statement. Rosholt is a decorated wrestler and I expected to really see him dominate in this regard and he did so with ease. Rosholt can take down anyone but what he does after this is what he needs to work on, and his inexperience could not have been made more painfully obvious than it was during this fight.
Remarkably Jake showed a really good chin as he handled a few shots with relative ease, but this was more about what Rosholt cannot do just yet than it was about what he is truly capable of. Rosholt got the TKO win but the best is definitely yet to come and he is not there yet. It could be pretty exciting to see where this fighter goes and training with Xtreme Couture should bring a lot of polish to this potential in-ring diamond.
The second bout of the evening was another one I was really looking forward to and featured Jens Pulver taking on Leonard Garcia in a featherweight bout. This would be Pulver’s return to the ring following his loss to Urijah Faber, and I do believe that most if not all seemed to expect Pulver to return to victory and position himself favorably for a Faber rematch by defeating Garcia. Now, Garcia was no slouch going into this fight in terms of raw ability, but he simply didn’t have the resume of Pulver; and for all intents was going to be cannon fodder for “Lil Evil”.
It only took him one minute and twelve seconds to turn everything upside down and add his name to the short list of men who have been able to break down Pulver. Jens has always been known for his toughness and for having a very solid chin and Garcia simply swung hammers on this night and rocked him in a way I have not seen done to Pulver that I can recall if ever at all.
When you take into account that Pulver went five rounds and did not come close to being finished against Faber and look at what Garcia was able to do, it really makes you wonder what Garcia can do in the future against Faber or other top fighters. I don’t think Jens is finished, not by a long shot; and I really do feel that this fight will go down more as for having put Leonard Garcia on the map rather than taking Jens Pulver off of it in the long run. I would like to see a rematch and while this would seem out of line and absurd given how things played out, I do feel that Pulver’s past body of work should be more than enough for him to get a second chance at things with Garcia.
Next up was a middleweight bout between David Avellan and Aaron Simpson, and this one was over in the blink of an eye. When you talk about your fast finishes, this one ranks right near the top and was an explosive one as Simpson unloaded a right hand which landed directly on Avellan’s chin and put him to sleep. This one lasted eighteen seconds and was nothing more than one shot and maybe an ooh or an ahh, but there was definitely not time for both of those noises.
Finishing things quickly is only a good thing if you are talking about a fight or maybe a pie eating contest at your county fair in the summertime. So, while the rest of us have spent years trying to forget that time we were done in a matter of seconds, Aaron Simpson will always cherish his moment and have a really dandy highlight to accompany things. That makes us more thankful we didn’t whip out the camera for our little moment.
Speaking of times when you wish you didn’t have a camera ready, it was time for the Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen bout to take place. Filho failed to make weight and as such this was now to be just a three round bout, but a much anticipated one going in, that failed miserably to even meet a single expectation that I may have had. I am actually thankful that Filho was overweight and that this was not a five round bout as I would have probably gone mad if I had been subjected to any more of their inaction.
I have seen better fights take place in mall parking lots on Black Friday than this hot, steaming nugget that Filho and Sonnen teamed up to unload in the center of the ring. In fact, my elderly relatives have fought harder over the last piece of dark meat on Thanksgiving than these two men. This was utterly atrocious and while Filho may have a few excuses, Sonnen has none whatsoever.
Paulo Filho has issues and they are serious ones at that. This man is clearly battling some demons and, judging from his performance, it would be best if all energies are expended in that direction before ever making him walk down the aisle once again. In fact, if anyone is Filho’s friend, they would be a better friend for suggesting that he hang them up than they would by hanging on and watching him possibly get battered senseless.
In that respect, I have to give credit to Sonnen who clearly knew that he was inside the ring with a compromised opponent who was clearly incapacitated and only physically present. For that reason alone I would be willing to suggest that we may next see Sonnen compete in the UFC as I feel that perhaps he didn’t fight as spirited as he should have due to the odd actions of his opponent.
This was three rounds of nothing, and three glasses of O’Douls would knock you out of your chair before another offering of this fight. This fight was so bad that even Jared Shaw would declare it had no business being aired on television; and it definitely makes it so that no one will declare that they miss the middleweight division of the WEC. Sonnen won by way of unanimous decision and I had the fight scored 30-26 as I gave Sonnen a two point advantage in the final round for Filho’s curious decision to not even appear to be trying to fight back.
Filho was so out of sorts that he began looking around the arena and it is conceivable that he had no idea why he was inside of a cage at this point. Neither man was interviewed following the fight; and I have to imagine that both exited by way of a trap door and were ushered out of the building, or else they would have faced a real beat down in the form of angry fans who had just pissed their money away on tickets to the event. This is when I give thanks for this card airing free on the Versus network.
It was then time for our main event and we were in for a treat as Urijah Faber was going to fight himself for the WEC featherweight championship. No, he actually fought Mike Brown but going into this fight it would have seemed as if it were Faber vs. Faber from all of the press releases and company promotional tools. Faber vs. Faber could have actually been a better fight for both Urijah and the WEC as Mike Brown pulled off the upset in an unquestionable manner. Mike Brown thoroughly defeated Urijah Faber; and this was shocking when you look at the facts of Faber being considered the absolute best in the land at this weight class for so long.
Urijah Faber threw an elbow that was horrible, but in all actuality he has been so good for so long that everyone would have banked on it being a smart move. Faber has gotten away with some reckless fighting in the past because he has been able to do everything else so well and up until this point had not been caught at the right time which is exactly what happened on this night. Faber swung wildly and missed and Brown took advantage of the hanging curveball and drove it out of the park as Urijah went down hard from this show and could do nothing but try and cover up.
Mike Brown jumped on his fallen foe, and he was able to get in a few shots before simply raining down punches with Faber doing nothing in return, forcing the ref to wave this one off. Mike Brown had just pulled off the upset and defeated Urijah Faber by first round TKO and is now the new WEC Featherweight Champion.
I strongly feel that if you match up Mike Brown with Urijah Faber ten times that Faber comes out on top in ten of those, and he simply got caught for being reckless by a fighter skilled enough to take advantage of such a mistake. Faber has really not faced any challenges, and while Pulver did take him the distance back in June, that fight was all Faber throughout all five rounds.
The best fighters need to be challenged in order to remain the best and I feel Faber has been so comfortable inside of the cage that by this point he felt he could do anything he pleased and succeed. Now, he is going to have to return to the gym having been humbled and begin to work on the little things that he has possibly neglected for some time. I would welcome the opportunity to see Leonard Garcia get the first crack at Mike Brown but would really much rather see Urijah Faber get an immediate rematch.
The WEC really lost on this night in that A) their top middleweight fighters looked like such a joke that it appears to make great sense to do away with the division and B) their unbeatable superstar in Faber was summarily upset in a matter of minutes. This was the type of night that spelled the end for Elite XC on CBS, but by no means am I suggesting that Elite XC was ever on the level of the WEC. It is just that when you have your two main event fights turn out the way they did, and then a fighter like Jens Pulver is beaten by an unheralded fighter in Garcia, it is going to take some great things to turn the tide for them in the upcoming months.
The good thing for WEC is that the next two cards have two of their top stars in the main event slots. WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres has a chance to save the day in December at WEC 37 and then WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner could possibly do the same at WEC 38 in January. The one thing that is noticeable about WEC is that while Urijah Faber was definitely the face of the promotion in recent times, Urijah Faber is not the only fighter for this company that is of the world class variety.
This was a very good card overall when you figure that we may be seeing a potential star in Leonard Garcia taking the stage and perhaps we could see a more driven Urijah Faber return to action in 2009. An upset is only an upset if it means that this will severely impact the future and I don’t think what happened on this night is enough to write off either Jens Pulver or Urijah Faber any time soon. At any rate this perhaps will create some compelling match ups for this company and could be turned into a good thing for them.
The one good thing is that the middleweight division will be no more and they can put their focus on the lighter weights; and by doing so finally find their niche in the game and have the means to sell themselves as a product different from all of the rest. No longer will the WEC have to be perceived as only a minor league for the UFC but perhaps as the place to go for the small fighters who can finally have opportunities aside from the 155 lbs. weight class.
In light of the happenings from this evening, it has become known that Paulo Filho intends to vacate his middleweight title and arrange for it to be shipped to Sonnen. We can only hope that customs seizes this package and destroys it as neither of these men deserve to have any ties to this championship after their awful bout at WEC 36.
Although, Sonnen would have to work harder in opening the package in order to retrieve this belt than he did in the cage against Filho, so maybe we should let him go ahead and keep the belt. It isn’t like this belt matters anyway. What does matter is that Filho takes the time to take care of himself rather than worry about fighting anyone any time soon.
WEC 36 was pretty solid but overall a rather unspectacular card and nothing for anyone to go out of their way to see a replay of. In complaining about this card I really feel as if I am Oliver Twist and I am asking Mr. Bumble for some more gruel when I should really just be happy that I didn’t have to pay for my meal in this case. It was free but that doesn’t make this one anything to write home about and I certainly don’t want any more of this one, but I will be looking forward to seeing Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia. I have a feeling the WEC gruel will taste much better on December 3.
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