WEC 51 Parting Shots

WEC 51 definitely was just what the doctor ordered after a fairly disappointing September in MMA. Everything was on tap, from highly-competitive fights to dominating displays, such as the one by Jose Aldo. Here are my final thoughts on WEC 51:

Can anyone test Aldo?

WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo appeared to be human for a total of about one minute in his fight against Manny Gamburyan. Early in the fight, he looked somewhat awkward as Gamburyan came forward with a combination that appeared to catch him by surprise- though it didn’t appear to hurt him.

Now, it’s a testament to a fighter’s ability when you have to point at one specific exchange where a fighter didn’t look so hot. When you have to look that hard for evidence that a fighter may not be completely unbeatable, it kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Even though Aldo has explosive victories against the likes of Mike Brown, Cub Swanson, and many others (including Gamburyan, now), the fight that convinced me of his high level of talent was the bout with Urijah Faber. When someone dispatches his foes early and easily like Aldo has done, you always wonder about how they would do in a longer fight, how their stamina would hold up, whether they could keep the pressure on, etc.

Now, we’ve seen Aldo destroy people suddenly with pin-point strikes, and we’ve seen him wear down an elite fighter over a period of 25 dominating minutes. What more do you need to see? If you don’t see Aldo as a top three pound-for-pound fighter, you haven’t been paying attention.

Is Aldo the key to WEC expansion?

Now, I’m not privy to all of the business stuff behind the scenes (I was actually fairly confused about the lack of the “WEC” brand on the company’s first pay-per-view until other, harder-working writers figured it out for me), but I have to think that the WEC would love to have more regular pay-per-views. I honestly think that at least the featherweight division would be absorbed into the UFC if it wasn’t for the WEC’s deal with Versus.

Versus didn’t seem to have a problem (or did they even have a say?) with the absorption of the heavier weight classes, which I’m sure was because it’s not as if the WEC had any top ten fighters at light heavyweight, middleweight or welterweight. However, featherweight is probably a big difference, especially since Aldo is the best young fighter in the world at any weight.

Still, wouldn’t it be great to see Aldo headlining UFC pay-per-views? I’d like to see him and other top WEC fighters get paid what they’re worth, and you know that the lighter-weight fighters would get their share of the hefty bonuses that Dana White offers at each UFC event.

Detractors will say that the UFC doesn’t have enough events to accommodate its current roster, let alone another one (or two) weight classes. I beg to differ. Most of the fights that are on the prelims can be put together for UFC Fight Nights and events on Versus. The addition of an extra weight class or two just means that we can see higher-level fighters on UFC pay-per-views, with lower-ranked fighters theoretically going on cable TV cards. Of course, this is just some writer from Iowa’s views, and they don’t necessarily jive with Zuffa’s plans. But hey, better cards for the fans with more weight classes to draw top talent from, and better paydays for lighter fighters…we all win, right?

At the least, you can expect that Aldo will land on pay-per-view again, even if it’s as part of the WEC. Enjoy watching Aldo on Versus while it lasts, because we’ll be paying to see him fight eventually. And it’ll be worth it.

Cerrone-Varner 3…why not?

Some would question the wisdom of allowing Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner to make their own matches and face each other a final time, but I am not among their ranks.

What else are we going to have them do? Cerrone has lost to Henderson twice, and Varner isn’t anywhere close to a title shot at this point. Meanwhile, they have given fans two good fights, and have somehow accomplished what is usually impossible-maintaining a high level of dislike for one another even after spending over 38 minutes beating each other up.

Neither are current title contenders. However, a fight between the two will attract viewers, and will serve as a great co-main event for a title fight at some point in the future. It gives them each something to do while we see divisional champ Ben Henderson defend his title once or twice more, too. Sure, Cerrone handled Varner fairly decisively, but it’s a rare matchup that features real animosity and will provide guaranteed entertainment. To paraphrase Freud, “Sometimes a fight is just a fight.”

Quick Shots

–It was interesting to see Miguel Torres fight with a more methodical, cautious style, at least in the first round of his bout with Charlie Valencia. I don’t think that Torres bought into the hype that he had been overrated…I just think he was a guy with back-to-back losses who really didn’t want to lose a third. Valencia is a quality opponent who was just outside the featherweight top ten in my book, so I think the win validates Torres.

–The WEC has emerged as a safe zone for fighters who failed to make a splash on “The Ultimate Fighter”. Alex Karalexis, for example, has just a 4-3 record in the promotion, but has been an active WEC fighter for four years after failing to make a splash at lightweight in the UFC. Meanwhile, another fighter who wasn’t a standout on the show, George Roop had an impressive performance against “The Korean Zombie” at WEC 51, upping his WEC record to 1-1-1. It may not seem impressive, but with a loss to Eddie Wineland and a draw with Leonard Garcia, Roop has not had any easy fights in the WEC. Then there was TUF 5 runner-up Gamburyan, who came up short against Aldo but is 3-1 with wins over Mike Brown, Garcia and John Franchi in the WEC.

Obviously, the change of scenery seems to have helped these guys, but the opportunity to fight within Zuffa’s umbrella at a more natural weight class is clearly the biggest influence. With fighting outside of your weight class for the sake of getting on the show being sort of a tradition on “The Ultimate Fighter”, the success of Roop and Gamburyan is a reminder not to judge the fighters you see on TUF too harshly, particularly if they’re giving up weight to opponents just to be on the show.

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