MMA Hot Stuff

WEC 46 Predictions and Random Thoughts Like Grizzly Bears

This Sunday, the WEC crew will blow into Sacramento for what feels like Urijah Faber's thirtieth fight at the ARCO arena. I'm kidding but you have to admit the ARCO arena is his second home. In his back yard with the stand filled with his friends from afar. All of that and I'm not even talking about the main event. Who doesn't love watching the California Kid though..? My predictions are below. Winners in green.

Finally, we're going to see the Lightweight title unified. As you may recall, Jamie Varner walked away with a very controversial win over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at WEC 38, when the fight was stopped in the fifth round when Cowboy hit Jamie's temple with an illegal knee while Jamie was down. After given the alloted amount of time to recover, Jamie said he could not continue due to double vision (and a broken hand). Well, that was almost a year ago. Jamie has been recovering and during that time the WEC set up an interim title bought between Cowboy and Ben Henderson. Ben beat Cowboy via unanimous decision (in a pretty rad fight getting them fight of the night bonuses -cha-ching) to win the Interim Lightweight Championship. So here's how I see it. You have Ben (aka Smooth) coming off a spectecular win, and has been training with elite fighters including Kenny Florian and BJ Penn. And we know Jamie likes to throw punches. Although having said that he hasn't been in the cage for almost a year (most likely will be a bit rusty). I expect Ben to take Jamie down early and submit him. I don't foresee this going past the second round. For extra points I expect Ben to get him in a Rear Naked Choke. 

What do we know about Urijah... He doesn't like to lose. And has only lost to one person in the past four years (Mike Brown; twice). He'll be facing Brazilian Raphael Assuncao who has an impressive record of 15-1 (currently on a 6 win winning streak). This very well could turn out to be a great fight but see it going to the ground early. Urijah is coming off that last loss to Mike Brown and has something to prove in front of his home crowd. I see Urijah winning by submission (via something fancy like a guillotine).

Who doesn't love watching guys enter the cage that are undefeated! Well lucky for us because Dave Jansen is just that. Undefeated with a record of 14-0! His last win was against one of my other favorite WEC guys; Richard Crunkilton via unanimous decision. Dave is set to face (also undefeated) Kamal Shalorus; fighting out of Austin TX. Don't mess with Tex. Speaking of don't mess with Tex Kamal is not only a grappling instructor but also partner at American Combat Association. I point this out because Dave has been successful on the ground but this time, if he doesn't get Kamal there he might be in trouble. I'm picking Kamal to win by TKO in the first. I'm anxious to see this fight.

I LOVE fighters that love to fight. That's what I think of when I think of Mike Brown. Well that and grizzly bears for some reason. Mike just fought on the WEC 44 card in November, and lost by TKO to Jose Aldo. Mike's facing a pretty experienced fighter (although making his WEC debut), Anthony Morrison.  When Mike was asked what he thought of Anthony he said he's quick and a hard hitter. He's also coming off a win against Alvin Robinson just weeks ago. For me, it comes down to grizzly bears. Mike will take this. And I have a feeling he's going to show us his redemption by beating Anthony by TKO. Early, I'm saying the end of the first round.

What's the saying, "strike while the iron is hot?" That's exactly what comes to mind when I think of Mackens Semerzier. He just shocked everyone during his WEC debut in October when he submitted Wagnney Fabiano in the first round. Not a bad way to make your debut with the WEC. Well he's back to face Deividas Taurosevicius and he's nothing to laugh at. His record is 11-3 where he also fought on WEC 43 and won via split decision against Javier Vazquez. I'll say I think Mackens is a future contender for the WEC. I expect him to win by submission.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know. Either leave a comment or send me an email. Rachel@mmahotstuff.com

 
 

WEC: Triple your pleasure!

This Sunday, August 3^rd, the WEC brings three times the fun with a stacked card that includes three title fights and some other great match-ups in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.

 

Carlos Condit defends his welterweight title against Hiromitsu Miura. Condit, considered by many to be one of the top 10 welterweights in the world (and only one of 2 top 10 welterweights not in the UFC) brings his 21-4-0 record into the cage and has been unstoppable in the WEC. Condit is one of the most well rounded welterweights out there and is only getting better. He’s on a 7 fight win streak with all of his wins in the WEC coming by way of submission (and all but 1 in the first round!).

 

Miura, a veteran of Pancrase, DEEP and K-1 brings a 9-4 record and a 2 fight win streak into the cage. His last loss came at the hands of Jason “Mayhem” Miller in May ’07. With most of his wins coming by way of KO or TKO, one would think Miura would like to keep this fight standing. Unfortunately for him, Condit is no slouch on his feet. Miura is in for a tough fight, and it seems Condit has got to be a heavy favorite in this one.

 

Brian Stann takes on Steve Cantwell in his first title defense since winning the belt in decisive fashion with a KO of Doug Marshall in March. What can you say about Brian Stann? The man is 8-0 with all of his fights ending by TKO or KO, and even more impressive, he has finished all of his opponents in the first round.

Cantwell is 5-1 with 3 TKO’s and 2 submissions. His only loss was to, yes, Brian Stann by way of TKO in the first round. Stann is a former Marine that served in Iraq, so you’ve gotta believe that stepping into the cage for an organized fight is a walk in the park compared to what he saw and experienced while serving his country. I don’t see anyone in the WEC taking Stann’s belt, and eventually this guy is going to have to move to the UFC to truly test his skills.

 

In our last title fight of the night, Jamie Varner makes his first title defense against Marcus Hicks. Varner, with his 14-2 record brings a substantial amount of experience into this fight against Hicks, who sits at 10-0. If you saw Varner’s win over Rob McCullough you know his boxing skills are superb, and being a former Division I wrestler, we know his grappling is up to par as well.

Hicks, whose three WEC victories have all come by way of Guillotine Choke has his work cut out for him. However, Hicks is an explosive and powerful fighter that could catch Varner at any time. In his last fight with Ed Ratcliff he showed he’s got some serious power in his hands… that was before he caught him in a vicious Guillotine to end the fight.

 

Also on the card we’ll get to see one of my favorite featherweight fighters in Micah Miller. Micah, brother of UFC fighter Cole Miller, is bringing a 9-1 record into the cage against 10-1 Josh Grispi.

 

 

In other action, we'll see the introduction of Shane Roller to the WEC as he takes on Todd Moore. Roller, a three time All-American from Oklahoma State is the first of a team of three OSU wrestling stand-outs to make a debut in the WEC. He will be joined by his Team Takedown teammates Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendrikcs who make their debut on the September 10th card. They'll all be looking to mimic the success of another former OSU wrestling star that recently made a successful WEC debut in Mark Munoz.

 

This promises to be an exciting card!