A Battle-Tested Beebe Defends His Crown Wednesday

By Thomas Gerbasi

The end was near. WEC Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland was stunned and eating elbows and punches from 21-year old upstart Chase Beebe, who was just five days away from his 22nd birthday and showing all the youthful enthusiasm he could muster as he looked to win his first world title.

The referee moved in and spoke to Wineland. Beebe heard every word and just fought harder.

“I heard (referee) Steve Mazzagatti telling him he’s got to do something,” remembered Beebe of the March bout. “So I was thinking that if I just kept going and kept going that he would eventually stop it.”

Mazzagatti didn’t stop the fight and Wineland escaped the round. When the bell rang, Beebe trudged to his corner.

“I was tired man, exhausted,” he said. “I think I blew too much energy.”

He still had three five-minute rounds to go.

Beebe had been in this situation before, in his lone pro loss against Matt Fiordirosa in August of 2006. After taking out his previous five opponents with chokes in less than a round each, Beebe was forced to the second round for the first time, and when round three came, the gas tank was empty.

“I didn’t know what a fight was,” he admits. “I choked everybody out in the first round, and then I got in a war with Matt Fiordirosa, and the first two rounds, it was a great fight. But come the third round, I just died. I was so tired I couldn’t keep my hands up.”

He would lose a three round unanimous decision, and then went back on his first round submission streak. By the time he faced Wineland though, he knew what to do when faced with an opponent who wouldn’t go away. Take a deep breath, grit your teeth and gut it out, using what got you there. For Beebe, it was his wrestling and ground game, and when the final bell rang, there was a new champion at 135 pounds.

“I knew it would happen eventually,” said Beebe of going the five round championship distance. “There are so many great fighters out there that I knew that I was gonna go five rounds sometime, and I was just happy that I got it over with and I know what it’s like. And now that I know what it’s like, I can train for it and be ready for it the next time.”

For Beebe, next time is this Wednesday night, when he defends his title for the first time against Rani Yahya, who is dropping from the featherweight division for his shot at the bantamweight crown. It’s an intriguing matchup, with Yahya drawing much interest from fight fans after his unorthodox win over Mark Hominick in June.

In that bout, Yahya made no bones about the fact that he wanted to get his foe to the ground at all costs, and a series of bizarre takedown attempts followed. But when he finally got Hominick on the mat, the end came soon after, with Yahya earning the victory in just 79 seconds.

“I wasn’t all that impressed, to be honest with you,” said Beebe. “He does have phenomenal jiu-jitsu skills and it’s definitely something I’ve been working hard with because I know he’s gonna throw some crazy stuff at me, but as far as his wrestling and standup are concerned, I’m not too sure where he’s at. I know he was desperate to get on the ground with Hominick because Hominick’s a good standup fighter, but in this game, I think it’s all about being well-rounded these days. You’ve got to be disciplined in all three (standup, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu), and I think he just excels in one. I hope he doesn’t try to do that (the takedown attempts) against me because he’s gonna catch a knee or something bad trying to dive in like that.”

It’s the confidence of a champion, and despite his age, Beebe has settled into his role as one of the WEC’s brightest young stars, surprising some, including the fighter himself.

“I think I surprised myself more than anybody,” Beebe admits. “But I just think that good wrestlers have the potential to adapt quicker than other people and I think the better wrestler you become, the more potential you have to become a greater fighter. It’s just a matter of knowing what it takes and adapting to the different styles, knowing where you’re weak and critiquing it.”

A four-time Illinois State champion and a former member of the Purdue wrestling team, Beebe obviously has the wrestling credibility to back up his words, but what may set him apart is a discipline that forces him to not only train and perform in mixed martial arts, but to keep a full load of classes at Eastern Illinois University, where he is a year away from graduation.

“It’s hard, I’m not gonna lie, but I just gotta not have much of a social life,” laughs the Economics major when asked how he manages to juggle school and life as a pro fighter.

The paycheck as WEC Champion doesn’t hurt either.

“Right now it’s about the payday because honestly, this one will cover me for the whole school year,” said Beebe. “But you never know how long your body’s gonna hold up, especially in MMA. So many things can happen to you and so many things can go wrong, so I’m not trying to bank on it.”

But for now, Beebe is not thinking about books, exams, or reports. He’s thinking about defending his belt against Rani Yahya, and nothing else.

“This guy’s gonna throw a lot of good things at me, but I’m extremely confident in my submission defenses, and I’m just gonna be relentless,” said Beebe. “I’m gonna keep coming after him until I break him. I know he’s gonna be a game opponent, but it’s not gonna be a jiu-jitsu match. When there are punches involved, it changes everything. Getting hit in the face changes your whole perspective.”