WEC 31 Notes – Postfight

Urijah Faber– probably gets even better after this fight.  Curran gave him so needed competition and put him in some bad spots, but Faber showed some real good submission defense until he got it turned around and did his thing.

Jeff Curran– fought better than I expected.  He’s a win some, lose some kind of fighter when faced with equal opposition. He got the better of Faber on the ground for the first round but did not have the strength to put him away.

Charlie Valencia-quick and crisp punching set up everything for him.  He is exactly the type of fighter that could threaten Beebe.  Did not learn much about his TD defense which will be huge against Beebe.

Ian McCall– maybe a little outclass by Valencia, but he was not afraid to stick his head in an throw his shots.  No flinching or nothing, Valencia just hit his mark first.  He could be dangerous against most fighters

Doug Marshall- Took a couple shots but ended up arm barring Gandulla.  The fight was pretty short but Marshall showed he may not be as one dimensional as most portray him. Gandulla got home with a couple punches which sends up a few red flags, but all in all Marshall showed continued improvement.

Ariel Gandulla- still needs lots of work, at 39 years old, big improvement is unlikely.

Paulo Filho– looked very slow, almost lethargic, for a second consectutive fight.  He is going to have big trouble against a good clean striker,  Nobody with any sense will go the ground with him though.  Iron grip. Very shaky as a big favorite, overrated.  He did overcome some real dangerous situations in this fight.  

Chael Sonnen – Almost finished Filho, but his punching was sloppy and slow.  He did not push the pace when he had Filho in trouble and after dominating stand up he reverted back to his wrestling, which led to his demise.  He appears to be very susceptible to submissions.

Jens Pulver– not much can be learned from such a quick fight.

Cub Swanson– put himself into a terrible position, tap the breaks a little.  He should get better off this fight.  plenty of training and a big dose of common sense.

WEC 29 Aftermath

Its been a few days since WEC 29, so now is the time to evaluate what was learned about our heros.

Brock Larson– He suffered a disappointing loss and you could see his anguish after the fight. He should tapped, but did not give in and possibly took a serious injury to that elbow. When he recovers he’ll be a better fighter. He was imposing himself on Condit until he got caught in the armbar. Larson is a good fighter and this loss should not diminish his value, in my opinion. Hopefully the elbow will be good to go soon.

Carlos Condit– Another impressive fight from Condit. He was obvisiouly overmatched by Larson’s strength but adapted well and dealt with the pressure perfectly. Condit showed that he’s a dangerous fighter from his back, with good sub attempts and some dangerous strikes too. It will take a very good fighter to beat him, most likely a crisp puncher that can punch his way in close.

Paulo Filho– Filho beat a good veteran fighter while coming back of a considerable layoff. Filho’s vaunted ground game was shut down by Doerkson. Both guys looked slow in my eyes. Filho could have some real trouble with a quick and technically sound puncher. He is open to straight shots and his punching was sloppy. For a highly ranked fighter, his stand up is very suspect.

Joe Doerksen– Seem slowed, but defended TD’s well against the BJJ king. Doerksen still should be able to handle guys at his level and below, but will struggle against the top rung guys-particularly strikers that defend takedowns. A qwik, young guy with some power should really give him fits.

Jeff Curran– Showed he can handle a guy he should beat. Curran looks like he will struggle against the top tier guys. He’s got a well rounded game.

Stephan Ledbetter– Young fighter had a good showing against a solid vet in Curran. He’s tough and has some ability. He was unable to mount much of an attack against Curran and should do much better if he gets matched up against someone closer to his current ability. Could pull of an upset against the type of fighter that throws “caution to the wind.”

Tiki Ghosn– Early loss is hard to learn much from. Was Tiki terrible or his opponent very good? I will lean towards Avena being good. Ghosn came forward, where he ran into trouble and did not deal with it well. His defense needs to improve when he runs into adversity.

Blas Avena– looked impressive. He was quick and powerful, once he got the advantage he was all over Ghosn. Avena has the look of a quicker more aggressive Okami. Watch his progress, he needs another fight in three months.

Jamie Varner– very impressive against a solid fighter. Varner is strong on the ground and capable standing. He definitely moves up off this performance, which reminded me a little of Sherk.

Sherron Leggett– Ran into an awesome looking Worm, but don’t throw him under the bus yet. He was resilient and managed some effective attacks against Varner, who might be near the top of this divison right now. Leggett need to work on his jui-jitsu, but he will be back winning fights soon. I don’t see him being overmatched by anyone.