WEC 51 Post-Fight Thoughts: Cerrone impressive, Aldo scary

If you craved violence after last weekend's lackluster UFC 119 card, WEC 51 was a nice rebound, providing a night full of action that we've come to know and love from WEC shows.

This was an extremely deep card that delivered without a doubt. The three undercard fights on the main card (led by George Roop's devastating knockout of Chan Sung Jung and Miguel Torres' submission of Charlie Valencia) certainly came though, but it was the co-main event between Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner and the featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo and Manny Gamburyan that made the show.

While breaking down the fight between Cerrone and Varner, I thought Cerrone's emotions could work against him. Boy was I wrong. Instead, it was exactly the opposite as he showed more fire and more intensity than ever before in defeating Varner by unanimois decision.

Cerrone was the proverbial house of fire in this fight, never letting up and pushing Varner the entire fight, clearly making him uncomfortable. Varner was able to tag Cerrone hard on a few occasions but Cerrone largely controlled the fight with Varner looking almost lost at times inside the cage. 

When Cerrone took Varner down with about two minutes left in the fight the look of frustration on Varner's face was evident and telling of the fight. It was one of frustration and almost despair. After getting up, Varner actually put his hands on his hips with 40 seconds left, a clear sign of defeat. He practically waved the white flag when he slapped hands with Cerrone before the bell even called an end to the fight.

This was an extremely impressive performance by Cerrone, more so considering it came against a big rival in an emotional fight.

In 2010 alone, we've seen two fighters deemed nearly invincible (Lyoto Machida, Fedor Emelianenko) lose. We've seen another (Anderson Silva) pushed to the brink of defeat.

Jose Aldo has no peer at 145 pounds.

Aldo's knockout of Manny Gamburyan confirms what we've already known: Aldo is a special talent that likely will be champion for a long time.

Aldo's speed is something no other featherweight fighter can deal with. The speed at which he ripped off rapid-fire kicks and punches against Gamburyan was stunning. At this stage of the game, Aldo's leg kicks might be the most devastating weapon in the sport. He's absolutely brutalized both Urijah Faber and Gamburyan with those, taking us back to the days of Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo's devastating kicks.

Unfortunately, the competition at 145 pounds isn't up to the level it is at the higher weight classes that fighters like Emelianenko, Machida and Silva compete in. Still, that fact shouldn't take away from us being able to enjoy and appreciate this special talent.

You know what's even scarier than Aldo's leg kicks? The fact that he's only 24. We'll be able to enjoy Aldo for a long time.

Still, he's going to need opponents. In a perfect world of no promotional contracts, who do you think would give Aldo the biggest run for his money?

No matter who it is, they are in for the fight of their life.

SBN coverage of WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan