Aldo Does It Again at WEC 51

WEC events always deliver, and WEC 51 was no exception, as several great fights and explosive finishes were on display for viewers on Thursday night. Jose Aldo showed once again why he is one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world while retaining his featherweight championship, while Miguel Torres and Donald Cerrone both got back on track, as well.

Mark Hominick won a split decision that appeared to me to be a comfortable win before the scores were announced, as he used his excellent jab and high pace to wear down Leonard Garcia over three rounds. In the first, Garcia kept his wildness mostly in check, as Hominick established his jab and took control of the cage. Garcia was active with kicks to the leg and body of Hominick, but still dropped a 10-9 round in my view.

The second round was pretty similar, as Hominick mixed up his strikes well while Garcia started to tire noticeably midway through the round. Garcia nevertheless tried to turn up the heat, but Hominick was able to counter Garcia’s flurries and land some nice power punches to the end of the round. It was another competitive round, but I scored it for Hominick.

Garcia came out swinging in the third round, perhaps feeling some urgency, though he tried to straighten his punches noticeably, maybe to avoid being countered so easily. However, Hominick still landed his jab whenever he wanted, and landed a left hook that momentarily dropped Garcia.

At this point, Stephan Bonnar made the unfortunate statement that “all you have to do is look at their faces to see who has landed the harder shots”. You would think an experienced fighter like Bonnar would know that that’s a lot of bunk. Different fighters mark up, cut or bruise easier than others. Not saying Hominick wasn’t landing harder shots, but you don’t rely upon the condition of a fighter’s face to tell you that.

Near the end of the round, Garcia landed a head kick, but not with his shin, and Hominick was just fine and finished out the fight with another winning round. I gave him the nod 30-27, but the judges gave him a split decision with two 29-28’s and a 29-28 for Garcia from the dissenting judge.

Next up, we had Chang Sung Jung, better known as “The Korean Zombie” vs. George Roop, in a competitive fight that had a vicious finish. The two were both looking for leg kicks early on, though Roop often traded jabs for leg kicks. Jung landed some straight rights and a good uppercut, but Roop was able to dance out of trouble whenever it presented itself. Jung stalked throughout the round, but Roop was able to stay out of trouble and land leg kicks and jabs throughout to win the 10-9 round on my scorecard.

The second round started much the same, with Roop circling and working his jab while Jung was patiently trying to corner his opponent and land hooks. Roop landed a head kick without much on it that was a sign of things to come, as a moment later, Roop followed a 1-2 with a left high kick that landed flush on Jung’s jaw, knocking him out cold. It was a huge knockout win for Roop, who gave props to The Korean Zombie afterward for his toughness.

Also, Craig Hummer tried to channel Mauro Ranallo in the post-fight interview: “You said you were a precision striker, but you may have to change your name to ‘Doctor’ because that was absolutely surgical.” Ugh.

Miguel Torres won his bout with Charlie Valencia that started slowly for both competitors, but ended with Torres sinking in a rear naked choke to get back on the winning track.

Round one of Torres-Valencia saw Torres probing throughout the round, chasing Valencia around while pawing out with his lead left hand and occasionally snapping quick, accurate jabs. Valencia mostly settled for leg kicks while skipping around on the outside. A low kick that caught Valencia near the end of the round appeared to get Valencia into the fight, as he came out much more aggressive with a couple of kicks right off the bat. However, Torres still stalked Valencia and landed his jab at will, then finished with a flurry that put Valencia on his back, though Valencia recovered quickly. I gave the round to Torres, 10-9.

Torres came out more aggressively in the second, and before long overwhelmed Valencia with some kicks and a flurry that allowed Torres to take Valencia’s back in a scramble. He trapped Valencia with a body triangle, and from then on it was academic, as he sunk in a rear naked choke that Valencia fought valiantly, but had to eventually tap out to.

After the fight, Torres said he never felt that he was at a crossroads in his career, as he is just 29 years old and has a lot of fighting left in him.

The feud between Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner had its second installment next, as Cerrone kept the pressure on for all three rounds, winning a unanimous decision over his rival.

The first round was wild from the get go, as a huge knee from Cerrone had Varner running away to get space. Cerrone then rushed Varner and Varner’s mouthpiece fell out, and Cerrone didn’t want to give Herb Dean space to put it back in. He called Varner a “bitch” for wanting his mouthpiece in.

Both fighters came forward with big punching combinations, both landing good shots. Varner seemed to be dancing around to clear the cobwebs. Cerrone briefly had a takedown but Varner stood up. Varner landed a nice three punch combo before getting space. Moments later, a nice counter left hook for Varner. Cerrone clipped Varner with a short left hand that stunned Varner, who immediately shot for a takedown but couldn’t land it.

The two swung hard to finish a wild round that I gave to Cerrone, 10-9.
In the second, Varner regularly started combinations off with a left hand hook to the body, which gave him a lot of success. Cerrone hit a takedown that surprised Varner and immediately passed to side mount, then north-south, but Varner stood back up. Varner kept checking his eye, as he had a cut between his eyebrows. Cerrone regularly came forward with a couple of straight punches at a time, usually landing and often throwing in a leg kick for good measure.

Near the end of the round, Cerrone’s leg kicks were obviously starting to take their toll on Varner, whose pace slowed noticeably. Cerrone landed a nice combo and another jab at the end to put the exclamation point on a slower-paced, but successful round.

The third round started with the fighters touching gloves for the first time in the night. Cerrone continued to have success with his kicks, even throwing in some high kicks for good measure, while Varner didn’t throw as much as his opponent but continued to land at a pretty good rate. A huge right connected for Varner two minutes in, but Cerrone shook it off, as well as a second right that came seconds later.

A clinch in the center momentarily resulted in dirty boxing and clean knees landing for both fighters. Varner stepped in to throw a right hand and got taken down again by Cerrone, who changed levels beautifully. Cerrone worked elbows to get Varner’s cut really flowing, though a guard pass allowed Varner to stand back up with a minute left. Hard low kicks from Cerrone closed out the fight as Varner was noticeably gassed at the end.

A weird moment followed at the end when the two touched gloves, but Cerrone pushed Varner away when he moved in for an apparent hug, leading to Varner pushing Cerrone back as he walked back to his corner. Pretty funny, actually. These guys are like Peter Griffin and the Giant Chicken on Family Guy…they can’t get along no matter what.

I had the fight 30-27 for Cerrone, and the judges all agreed, giving Cerrone the victory. Cerrone said he’d eagerly face Varner one more time, even in Arizona. When asked whether this fight would put it all to rest, Cerrone said, “Oh, hell no!” Varner said Cerrone acts like his friend, then gets all pissed off, and…it’s all starting to sound a bit too “LiveJournal” for me. Great fight, though.

Manny Gamburyan definitely looked like he belonged early on, but a nifty uppercut from Jose Aldo put the challenger down, and punches to follow up finished the fight for good as Aldo retained his WEC Featherweight Championship.

Gamburyan landed a big right hand right off the bat in the first round, as Aldo didn’t throw a strike until he landed a knee to the body 45 seconds in. Manny was more active, but caught air on a lot of his strikes, too. Aldo was quiet, landing several nasty leg kicks that lent considerable urgency to Gamburyan’s cause late in the round. There was a weird moment where Gamburyan apparently caught a knuckle or a finger in the eye and backed off, looking to Dean and asking for time, which Dean would not give him as he probably didn’t see the contact to the eye.

In the second, Gamburyan came out a bit more aggressive, but Aldo was the one who caught Gamburyan with an uppercut as Gamburyan was shooting, and followed up by straddling his opponent and landing a succession of rights, then lefts that knocked Gamburyan out for the win. Afterward, Aldo said, “If it’s up to me, my reign will last forever.” At this rate, who can doubt him?

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Tags: Chang Sung Jung, Charlie Valencia, Donald Cerrone, George Roop, Jamie Varner, Jose Aldo, Leonard Garcia, Manny Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Miguel Torres, WEC, WEC 51