WOW NO THREAD FOR WEC 47 ? OFFICIAL WEC 47 THREAD

[Nemesis21]

Saturday March 6th at 10pm on Versus WEC 47 Bowles vs Cruz

Who ya got ?

Bowles/Cruz
Torres/Benavidez
Pulver/Vazquez
Deividas/LC Davis
Palaszewski/Darabedyen

Jorgensen/George
Castillo/Pettis
Mendes/Koch
L Garcia/ Roop
Paixao/Buck
Lamas/Casimir

[CPT]

Should be a good one. It has kind of slipped under the radar though.

I think it's probably because of the Bowles/Cruz main event. Neither guy is really proven enough to carry a card, even though they are excellent fighters. I feel like it would kind of be like Matt Serra defending the title against Josh Koscheck or something back when Serra had just upset GSP.

Or it could be because most of the WEC talk has been about their jump to PPV next month.

Anyway....

Bowles vs. Cruz
I think Bowles shows just how good he is and wins this fight handily. Cruz presents some problems for him with his length and striking, but I think Bowles will be significantly stronger and be able to control him.

Torres vs. Benavidez
Torres is a clear favourite, but this is a risky fight for him. It's possible that Benavidez takes him down, a lot, and grinds out a decision. Then again, if he couldn't do that to Cruz, it will be hard to do to Torres, who is a big threat from the bottom as well. I think Torres wins it and gets the next title shot.

Pulver vs. Vasquez
I'd really like to see Pulver win a fight sometime, and this might be it. Vazquez hasn't looked great since taking the step up in competition that comes with being in the WEC. Pulver's losses have been to the real studs of the FW division, and I'm not sure Vazquez is in that group. What I don't want to see is another teary retirement speech.

Taurosevicius vs. Davis
I think Davis wins this. DT has been giving guys a lot of problems, but if Davis can push the pace a bit and make sure he wins at least one of the first two rounds, he should win the fight. DT's style of winning the first two rounds on points and going into the prevent defense in the third kind of bothers me.

Palaszewski vs. Darabedyan
I think Darabedyan takes this one. He should be able to take Bart down and control him en route to a decision or maybe even get a submission.

Some really good fighters on the undercard, especially Jorgensen and Mendes, but I think they are pretty much just keeping busy.

[High 5]

Wow, thanks for reminding me.

[Cammo101]

I can't wait for this card. It is a very underrated card. I think Cruz is a better striker than Bowles, but he lacks the one punch KO power that Bowles has. So, I am going Bowles here.

Torres will beat Benavidez.

If Pulver loses, I may cry.

Mendes vs. Koch and Jorgensen vs. George should be on the main card IMO.

[cowboyronnie]

I don't think I give a damn about Bowles, and agree with the Serra comparison. I believe in Torres. He's what turns this up from being a C maincard, though a deep full card.

The undercard is pretty stacked with names, with all credit going to the WEC for creatign that stable of fighters. I'm not sure how we'll get to see the undercard fights. I think WEC for the first time last card then put them up on their website, ala the UFC (?).

Pulver...oh God. There's no fighter who has ridden a single win further. He's been tooled by so many damn guys since that Gomi loss, it's ridiculous. If he gets this win, he needs to retire on the spot. He should be half-way to the dressing room with a wave to the crowd before the ref's finished raising his hand. He'll have found a way to squeak out of the sport with dignity.

[High 5]

Well that's no way to end a main event title fight. Urijah Faber is not impressed if it was just a broken hand that stopped Bowles. Great showing by Benavidez and Cruz. I wasn't impressed with either of them after their fight, but they dominated tonight. Really disappointed in Torres. I thought he was going to start the comeback tonight.

Solid card other than Bowles throwing in the towel. Great head kick KO (horrible ref took forever to stop the fight), great come from behind submission, and another great cry from Pulver.

[Nemesis21]

Nice armbar victory by Bart after pretty much losing the first four mins of that fight.

Expected Davis/Deividas fight to be better.

Pulver should retire.

Nasty head kick KO by Pettis, agree took the ref a little long to step in.

Huge win for Benavidez, thought Torres would be going on another streak.

@ Bowles/Cruz fight. I like both fighters, Cruz has amazing foot work.

[cowboyronnie]

That was amazing by Cruz. WTF? I've seen a couple pure MT fighters do a sort of galloping stance where they can switch feet, but to bounce between stances like that is nuts. So amazing. The guy must jump rope with cylinder blocks strapped to his ankles to get that kind of coordination.

There's just so little continuity from WEC fighters. Why? It looked like Urijah Faber was undefeatable 3 yearsa ago. He was so well-conditioned, so strong, so athletic. Then it looked like Mike Brown would be too much for anyone. Then it was Torres, his skill-set is insane. They genuinely looked so head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Esp Miguel. Is it because the WEC division began so thin, that names were made too easily? Or is there something at the lower weights, with the dynamism, that fights can just go either way?

FWIW, I think it's a confidence thing for Miguel.

Nice armbar victory by Bart after pretty much losing the first four mins of that fight.

Expected Davis/Deividas fight to be better.

Pulver should retire.

Nasty head kick KO by Pettis, agree took the ref a little long to step in.

Huge win for Benavidez, thought Torres would be going on another streak.

@ Bowles/Cruz fight. I like both fighters, Cruz has amazing foot work.

these are the absolute most obvious comments anyone could make

[Cammo101]

Torres and Bowles losing was a worst case scenerio for the WEC. It takes their biggest name at 135 out of title contention and forces a Cruz/Benevidez rematch for the title. Which is a fight no one is really clamoring to see as a main event. Now would be the perfect time to bring over Masakatsu Ueda from Japan and throw him right into a title fight with Cruz. Then you could have Bowles fight Benevidez for then next shot while Torres gets an easier fight against someone he can beat, because a third straight loss would be very bad for the WEC, which is short on draws, especially at 135.

[CPT]

I think Jorgensen is in the mix for the title shot now (won 3 in a row, beating Mizugaki before this fight) but yeah, it does create a big mess at 135 in the WEC. They had to figure at least one of Bowles or Torres would win. It's really too bad, because after his performance, Cruz vs. Torres jumped to near the top of the list of fights I want to see. And as mentioned, nobody is really calling for a Cruz vs. Benavidez rematch yet, even though it was a close fight, and a pretty damn good one, IIRC. I wonder if they do Torres vs. Bowles right away? Or as soon as they are both ready. Maybe do Benavidez vs. Jorgensen for a title shot. Benavidez will probably win that, but at least it would put a little more space between him and the rest of the pack in order to justify the quick rematch. Wagnney Fabiano could be in the mix as well, but he's only recently dropped to 135, and probably needs another fight or two there before being considered for a shot. It will be interesting to see what happens.

As for the fights, I wasn't that surprised that Cruz won, but I was very surprised at just how much he dominated. He really made Bowles look silly. For some reason I had the idea in my head that Bowles was more of a wrestler. And also, I don't mean to question Bowles' toughness, because fighting with a broken hand would definitely suck, but I wonder if he might have sucked it up if he were doing a little better in the fight. Probably not, as he basically handed over his title, but it crossed my mind. Cruz looked excellent. Don't even really know how to describe it. Like an aggressive 135 pound Machida.

I wish I had more confidence in Benavidez being somewhat of a bad matchup for Torres, because there was money to be made. Even without the cut and the finish, if the fight continued to play out as it did, he would have taken a unanimous decision. Too bad that he lost to Cruz so recently, because that kind of performance over a guy like Torres would usually warrant a title shot.

Rough to see Pulver go out like that....again.

Davis and DT was pretty bad. You knew this one was going to decision, and I'm glad Davis got it. Kinda weird that one guy had it a 29-29 draw, but nice to see a judge willing to throw the 10-10 round out there (at least I think that's what must have happened). Unfortunately, that judge probably will not be asked back, if what I've heard about judges giving 10-10 rounds is true.

Darabedyan looked very good, but obviously too sloppy on the ground, getting caught in that armbar (and nearly caught a few other times) by Palaszewski. Good win for Bartimus though. He could carve himself a nice little niche as a gatekeeper to the stars at 155 in the WEC. Darabedyan looks full of potential, but as mentioned, he has to tighten some holes in his game.

Wicked KO by Pettis. That ref was awful, from not caring about the blatant low blow right in front of him in the Davis-DT fight to being so out of position that Pettis landed 5 shots to a KO'd Castillo before he jumped in.

Nice choke by Jorgensen. As I mentioned, I think he might just sneak in there for a title shot, or at the very least, a #1 contender's fight. This fight was more or less to keep him busy, as I think he elevated himself to contender status by beating Mizugaki.

Pretty good show overall.

[Nemesis21]

That was amazing by Cruz. WTF? I've seen a couple pure MT fighters do a sort of galloping stance where they can switch feet, but to bounce between stances like that is nuts. So amazing. The guy must jump rope with cylinder blocks strapped to his ankles to get that kind of coordination.

There's just so little continuity from WEC fighters. Why? It looked like Urijah Faber was undefeatable 3 yearsa ago. He was so well-conditioned, so strong, so athletic. Then it looked like Mike Brown would be too much for anyone. Then it was Torres, his skill-set is insane. They genuinely looked so head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Esp Miguel. Is it because the WEC division began so thin, that names were made too easily? Or is there something at the lower weights, with the dynamism, that fights can just go either way?

FWIW, I think it's a confidence thing for Miguel.

Nice armbar victory by Bart after pretty much losing the first four mins of that fight.

Expected Davis/Deividas fight to be better.

Pulver should retire.

Nasty head kick KO by Pettis, agree took the ref a little long to step in.

Huge win for Benavidez, thought Torres would be going on another streak.

@ Bowles/Cruz fight. I like both fighters, Cruz has amazing foot work.

these are the absolute most obvious comments anyone could make

You are the most obvious **** on the board.

[Cammo101]

I don't think Jorgensen is in the title mix at 135, but I think he should be.

I'd like to see next...

Cruz vs. Ueda (get him to the WEC pronto)
Bowles vs. Benevidez (for the next title shot)
Torres vs. Eddie Wineland
Jorgensen vs. Yahya

[CPT]

Those matchups look fine to me, but they hinge on getting Ueda to come over. I'd rather see him have a fight in the WEC before getting a title shot, but if Mizugaki deserved an immediate shot, I guess Ueda does as well.

I still think Jorgensen has earned the right to at least be in a #1 contender fight with Benavidez. I think the WEC feels the same way as well. Even though he was on the preliminary card, they got his fight on the broadcast before that Pettis KO.

It's weird that after a show where their top 5 guys in the division all fought on the same card the division is such a mess.

[Cammo101]

Those matchups look fine to me, but they hinge on getting Ueda to come over. I'd rather see him have a fight in the WEC before getting a title shot, but if Mizugaki deserved an immediate shot, I guess Ueda does as well.

I still think Jorgensen has earned the right to at least be in a #1 contender fight with Benavidez. I think the WEC feels the same way as well. Even though he was on the preliminary card, they got his fight on the broadcast before that Pettis KO.

It's weird that after a show where their top 5 guys in the division all fought on the same card the division is such a mess.

They have the same problem at 145 and I will tell you why. It is because they put the wrong fights on TV and keep some of their better fighters on unseen undercard fights. Josh Grispi is the #6 ranked 145er and even hardcore MMA fans barely know him, because for some dumb reason he always fights on undercards. See also Scotty Jorgensen. The WEC is too caught up in making sure we see all their third rate 155ers like Bart Palaszeuwski (sp?) and Anthony Pettis who will never fight for a title, that they end up forgetting to show us their actual smaller contenders.

The WEC has always had huge problems deciding which fights should be aired. Case in point, the Mendes vs. Koch fight involved 2 undefeated young fighters on the verge of contendership and that fight was dark. This is a huge reason why I think the WEC needs to drop the 155 pound division, send Bendo, Varner, and Cowboy to the UFC, and add a 125 and female division to the WEC.

[High 5]

I don't see how the WEC would benefit from dropping 155 and adding 125 and a female division. I don't know any 125 fighters, so maybe a straight up trade would be beneficial, but leave out the female division. I'm not a male chauvinist or anything, but I hate when Strikeforce has those fights. They're just awkward to watch. And that's with Cyborg who is supposedly the best in the world.

[Cammo101]

I don't see how the WEC would benefit from dropping 155 and adding 125 and a female division. I don't know any 125 fighters, so maybe a straight up trade would be beneficial, but leave out the female division. I'm not a male chauvinist or anything, but I hate when Strikeforce has those fights. They're just awkward to watch. And that's with Cyborg who is supposedly the best in the world.

No one knew any 135 or 145 pound fighters either until the WEC started showing them. The 155 pound division in the WEC is 5th rate garbage. Adding 125 and females would allow them to bring in world class fighters for their weight and give more time to the top tier 135 and 145 pounders instead of watching 155ers who are the leftovers that the UFC, Dream, and Strikeforce didn't want.

Most of the elite female fighters are still available. Strikeforce has like 3 of them. I could name 8 to 10 elite female fighters that would jump at an offer to fight in the WEC. Megumi Fujji and Tara LaRosa being the biggest names.

[High 5]

I'm fine with trading 155 with 125 if the fighters are better, I just don't care anything about female fighters. Those fights just come across as a sleazy joke. Not that it matters if WEC is going full PPV. I might be willing to buy the next card, but I don't see them putting together another card that would inspire me.