WEC 44 Wrap-Up

By Frank Curreri

Minutes after the featherweight title belt changed hands at WEC 44, the inevitable question arose: Did we just enter The Jose Aldo Era?

Every world champion is greeted with such abrupt speculation, even though more often than not, title reigns in MMA’s big leagues are defined by brevity, not longevity. Asked about Aldo’s chances for a long tenure, a stitched-up Mike Thomas Brown didn’t completely answer, but sounded skeptical that an Anderson Silva-type of tenure would be duplicated by Aldo, who has won nine straight and hasn’t lost in nearly four years.

“It’s really hard because there are so many good guys and there are so many variables in the sport,” said the former champ Brown, who succumbed to Aldo on Wednesday by second-round TKO. “If you’re fighting the top two or three guys in the world over and over and over it’s hard not to let one slip through your fingers. If you’re fighting easy fights then yeah, you could win 20 in a row … (But) it’s like baseball: you don’t win ‘em all.”

Some incredibly gifted fighters presently occupy thrones in the UFC and WEC. But of the eight combined champions in both organizations, only Anderson Silva can claim more than three consecutive title defenses (Silva has seven title defenses over three years). Georges St. Pierre has repelled three straight foes, UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn and WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner have each made two defenses, and UFC kingpins Lyoto Machida and Brock Lesnar have one apiece. Brian Bowles, who won the WEC bantamweight belt in August, has yet to defend his title.

Brown had beaten his first two challengers and many had presumed he would be too big, too strong and too experienced for Aldo. But it was the Brazilian who steamrolled the steamroller this time around, punishing Brown in the standup game and walloping the American after he fell off-balance to the canvas. While some cageside observers wondered if the stoppage due to head strikes might have been premature, Brown didn’t take umbrage with the referee’s call.

“I wasn’t improving my position,” Brown said afterward. “I knew he hit me good but I was never wobbly or anything like that. There were some flashes of light. I wasn’t hurt but I was caught in a bad position where my legs were in the air and I wasn’t getting out of there any time soon, so.”

Subdued but classy even in defeat, Brown offered no excuses for the setback. He said he was fully prepared and in great condition for the bout, but regretted not throwing more combinations and perhaps attempting more takedowns, particularly of the double leg variety.

“I was a little wary to shoot double legs on him because I knew his knees are really good,” he explained. “I was trying to throw a (punch), clinch and push him against the cage and take him down but it wasn’t really working. He had good balance.”

Aldo’s speed didn’t take him by surprise, Brown said, but he developed a healthy respect for the former semi-pro soccer player’s vicious leg kicks.

“I knew, Ooh I don’t want to get hit with too many of those or I’ll have trouble walking later on,” Brown said. “He’s just a good fighter. He has good hips, he’s a good athlete. He’s not an easy guy to beat. He’s one of those guys that you better have your ‘A’ game on to beat and I didn’t have my ‘A’ game on tonight. He’s a world-class guy now and he has the belt.”

At the post-fight press conference, Aldo was a man of few words, and when a reporter asked him to offer his thoughts on Anderson Silva – Aldo sidestepped the question and made no comparison and the man many consider to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

“I started my Muay Thai training with Pedro Rizzo and he always inspired me to do the same game plan, to stand up and bang,” said Aldo, who is just 23 years old and had previously said during a WEC interview that he considers himself to the best fighter in the world.

In keeping with the let’s-wait-and-see theme on Aldo’s potential, WEC General Manager Reed Harris also reserved judgment about Aldo’s prospects for a lengthy reign. The WEC featherweight landscape is still loaded with talent – former champions Brown and Faber are still formidable, along with hard-hitting Josh Grispi, Raphael Assuncao and Manny Gamburyan, among others. And upsets are fairly routine in MMA, Harris noted. But in Harris’ eyes, regardless of Aldo’s run at the top, he will forever hold a place of distinction in Harris’ heart.

“I can tell you that Jose is the first champion to ever kiss me on the forehead,” Harris smugly told reporters. “And I have to admit, I kind of liked it.”

In other news and happenings from WEC 44:

The Fight of The Night (and $10,000 bonus checks) went to Cub Swanson and John Franchi for their engaging battle, which Swanson won in the closing ten seconds of the fight despite breaking his left hand and a finger.

KO of the Night went to Jose Aldo.

Submission of the Night went to Shane Roller, who came-from-behind to submit a very game Danny Castillo. Roller (7-2) told the media afterward: “I think this win solidified me being a true contender for the (lightweight) belt.”

The Please-Get-A-New-Haircut Award went to Kenji Osawa, who lost a unanimous decision to Antonio Banuelos but proudly sported a half-mohawk, half-mullet hairdo that made him look like someone trying to imitate Big Hair 80s rocker Billy Idol.

Manny Gamburyan enjoyed a decision victory over Leonard Garcia – arguably the biggest win of Gamburyan’s career – and took time to praise longtime training partner Karen Darabedyan, who defeated former WEC lightweight champ Rob McCullough in his WEC debut.

“He’s going to be champ, I guarantee you guys,” Gamburyan said of Darabedyan.

Former Olympic wrestler Kamal Shalorus, who beat Will Kerr by first-round TKO, on his winning strategy: “I know Will Kerr is good at jiu-jitsu and he wanted the ground so that’s why I decided to strike. I had the opportunity to take him down easy but I didn’t.”