Wow. Seven fights within a 2 and a half hour time slot. A possible fight of the year candidate, a flying triangle submission, and a flying knee KO? What more could you possibly want in an event? Oh, a title fight that lived up to the hype so to speak. WEC 41 was a simply incredible event. Let's recap the fights as they went down:
Jens Pulver vs. Josh Grispi-The fight was over before it really got a chance to get started. They exchanged and Pulver shot in for a takedown and Grispi locked in a deep guillotine choke that forced Pulver to tap. Pulver toyed with announcing his retirement, but it's still up in the air right now. He's lost 4 in a row so the odds are he'll be released from the WEC. I'd love to see him go out on a winning note, as I'm a big fan. Grispi looked absolutely huge compared to Pulver, and the kid has a bright future ahead of him.
Donald Cerrone vs. James Krause-Krause was bringing it as the fight began, but Cerrone was able to catch Krause with a 1-2 that put Krause down. Cerrone began to rain down punches and Krause just basically gave Cerrone the choke and tapped out. I'm looking forward to Cerrone fighting Jamie Varner again.
Jose Aldo vs. Cub Swanson-Aldo lands a devastating double flying knee(both knees connected) and put Swanson out. Was that a WEC record time for KO? Aldo is the truth and I look forward to seeing him against either Leonard Garcia or getting a title shot soon.
Mike Brown vs. Urijah Faber-This fight went just how I thought it would...with Faber trying to use his speed to nullify Brown's power....and Brown taking Faber down to nullify Faber's speed. Faber told his corner that his hand was broken after the 2nd round. I think that injury limited him a great deal as he had to resort to throwing short elbows. He showed a lot of heart in fighting a guy like Mike Brown with a injury like that. Great fight. Mike Brown fought a great fight as he was able to dictate where the fight took place for the most part. However, I think the blueprint to beat Mike Brown was printed. Keep the fight standing and use speed to win the exchanges. However, that is easier said than done.
Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos-I thought this was potentially the fight of the year. You had Jorgensen surviving the onslaught early losing the first round....then winning the second round. The action was non-stop the entire time and these two guys went after it. The winner of the fight had to win the 3rd round, which I thought Jorgensen did...but the judges gave the nod to Banuelos. I disagree with that decision. I thought Jorgensen did more than enough to win that third round. There has to be a rematch in the future between these two. That was an absolute war.
Rolando Perez vs. Seth Dikun-Perez landed a flying triangle! Dikun showed a lot of heart and he stayed in the triangle choke for over a minute while taking elbows to the head. However, he eventually had to succumb to the choke.
Mike Campbell vs. Anthony Pettis-Great fight while it lasted. I was amazed at the way Pettis linked his submissions together as he kept firing them one after another. Campbell did a great job escaping the armbar, but later had to tap to a triangle choke later in the round. Pettis continues his unbeaten streak and I look forward to seeing him fight again.
Quick results after the jump:
- Rolando Perez defeated Seth Dikun via Triangle Choke in Rd. 1
- Frank Gomez defeated Noah Thomas via Arm Triangle Choke in Rd. 2
- Antonio Banuelos defeated Scott Jorgensen via Split Decision
- Anthony Pettis defeated Mike Campbell via Triangle Choke in Rd. 1
- Rafael Rebello defeated Kyle Dietz via Rear Naked Choke in Rd. 1
- Manny Gamburyan defeated John Franchi via Unanimous Decision
- Josh Grispi defeated Jens Pulver via Guillotine Choke in Rd. 1
- Donald Cerrone defeated James Krause via Rear Naked Choke in Rd. 1
- Jose Aldo defeated Cub Swanson via Flying Knee in Rd. 1
- Mike Brown defeated Urijah Faber via Unanimous Decision
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