WEC 42 Thoughts

Another WEC event, another DVR overrun. Thank God I decided to DVR both "Sports Soup" and "Fanarchy." It's more Versus Network than I ever expected to watch, but if it means seeing the frontrunner for upset of the year, it's worth the excess.

WEC is quickly becoming my favorite overall promotion in terms of sheer action. The advantage of having featherweight and bantamweight as the premiere weight classes is that WEC is guaranteed to have faster, more explosive fights. The only thing they lack in comparison to their big brother is the brand equity and recognizable names. You could probably rattle off six or seven big names from the UFC whereas WEC only has three well-known names. But that takes absolutely nothing away from the action.

I feel WEC has consistently put on excellent fights this year. Especially considering the big title defenses by Miguel Torres against Takeya Mizugaki and Mike Brown's rematch with Urijah Faber. Those two fights alone have made many people fans overnight.

My thoughts, match-by-match.

Leonard Garcia vs. Jameel Massouh: Very explosive, competitive first round. I give both guys credit for gutting it out, but by the third it was obvious both were feeling the effects. If Massouh put forth a little more effort, he could've won easily. Garcia still seemed off his game in the third despite some big shots thrown. Great effort by both guys, though. This is a good win for Garcia after losing to Mike Brown. One or two more may put him back in line.

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Jeff Curran: This was just wrong... It reminded me of Clay Guida losing to Tyson Griffin a few years back... I don't know what fight the judges were watching. Curran fought well the second round and beyond a shadow of a doubt won the third round. He fought really well from his back, and you don't see that much in modern MMA. I don't agree with the decision, Curran definitely should have won the split decision. But both guys are great competitors. Mizugaki is tough as nails for not tapping to that triangle. It won't be long before Mizugaki finds himself staring across the cage from Brian Bowles.

Ricardo Lamas vs. Danny Castillo: Let me just say I really wish they'd consider eliminating this division as they have with welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight over the last few years. I really think a lot of these fighters could be used to spike the shallow-ish UFC lightweight division. But anyway... Nothing huge here short of the final moments. Lamas had some pretty looking strikes, if only he connected. Castillo's on a 3-fight win streak, and you have to believe that when the title picture is cleared up between Donald Cerrone, Ben Henderson and Jamie Varner, Castillo's name has to be a consideration for a challenger.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Dominick Cruz: Cruz absolutely smoked on the ground. Watching him transition between the mount and the back in the first round was reminiscent of BJ Penn the night before, and his stand-up made the difference in the second. Both guys are clearly very fast both offensively and defensively, which makes for some very hot scrambles and exchanges. I was surprised to see Benavidez on the end of so many takedowns, but much of this was due to Cruz's size I feel. Another very competitive bout with Cruz showing some good takedowns.

Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles: Let me say it again... Wow. I've read one online reviewer compare this to Matt Serra defeating Georges St. Pierre, and I'd have to agree. I knew Bowles presented a credible threat, but considering how tenacious Miguel Torres is, I never would've seen that coming. Brian Bowles probably packs more power in his punches than just about anyone else in the bantamweight division, which is something Miguel Torres probably isn't used to. His title defenses have typically been against guys of similar speed and prowess, but he hasn't faced such heavy hands before (at least in WEC). This is Torres' first loss in six years and 17 fights, not to mention the first time he's ever been finished. That says a lot about Bowles' ability. I was very impressed with those punches, and it made for an incredibly dramatic finish that was both shocking and memorable.

So with this one in the books, what's next for the former top bantamweight and his successor? Well, for Bowles, he gets a long layoff until February 2010 thanks to a broken hand he sustained. Can't say I'm shocked given how hard he was throwing those bombs. As for Torres, he'll probably rematch Mizugaki in a bout to determine who gets a second crack for the title. It may even be for an interim title given the layoff expected for Bowles. It remains to be seen whether or not he'll be able to make his first defense against Dominick Cruz or not.

But one thing was clear about Bowles' victory... it was no fluke. Miguel Torres didn't look "off," or "sloppy." Bowles just was the better man. Oftentimes when a top dog is unseated, much like the GSP-Serra match, we're hasty to label an upset as a fluke. Mike Brown proved that not every upset deserves comparison with Serra's shocking win, as he has now defended his belt twice against valid contenders. I'm shocked Miguel Torres lost, but everybody loses sometimes. I'm not shocked his first lost was to Brian Bowles. The next lot of top tier fighters has arrived in WEC in the form of Bowles and Brown. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle the pressure.

I maintain WEC is the most consistently entertaining U.S. promotion right now, but they need to do a better job of scheduling with Versus. I learned to DVR the next scheduled program after I recorded up to the first fifty seconds of Torres vs. Tapia. I don't know if others got wise to this yet, but WEC really needs to rectify this fast.

But it's a minor complaint for such a worthy promotion. I'm looking forward to seeing how the year winds up for this rapidly budding promotion.