WEC Aldo vs Faber

[Ross]

Forget about the run of lackluster title fights from recent shows, this is going to be one of the best cards of the year. The atmosphere for Aldo and Faber in Faber's backyard will be crazy and there's rematches from two of the best fights of 2009 on the main card as well. It's also interesting that they're kind of doing this as a UFC show. It's not branded as the UFC but the WEC name is nowhere to be seen during the advertising while Goldberg and Rogan are commentating, Buffer is doing the announcing and Spike are airing an hour of the prelim fights. It's a PPV in the US but airs on Setanta here at midday, not sure if they're airing the prelims though.

Main card
Featherweight Championship bout: Jose Aldo vs Urijah Faber - Aldo's a freak but he'll have his hands full here, Faber has the speed and the heart to hang in there and survive Aldo's initial onslaught and from there who knows what will happen, leaning towards Aldo by decision but I wouldn't be really shocked if Faber subbed him
Lightweight Championship bout: Ben Henderson vs Donald Cerrone - should be an awesome fight, their first fight was arguably the best fight of 2009 and Cerrone never has a dull scrap, he got edged out last time but I'm pretty high on his skills, his takedown defense is improving all the time and I think this time one of the subs he attempts will be tight and Benson won't be able to detach his limbs to survive, Cowboy by a choke sub
Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs Manny Gamburyan - something bugs me about Manny so it should be pretty cool to see Brown cave him in
Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani vs Scott Roller - Roller's got great wrestling credentials and it's his obvious key to victory but Njokuani has some heavy power and Roller's been flattened a couple of times, Njokuani to take it by a KO here
Bantamweight bout: Antonio Banuelos vs Scott Jorgensen - the other rematch from a great 2009 fight, Banuelos won the split decision there in a fight I thought he won but Jorgensen's been on a roll since then, I'm thinking he'll avenge the loss in more decisive fashion, comfortably taking out the decision

Prelims
Featherweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs Chan Sung Jung - not sure here, Garcia is a big 145er and Asian fighters are usually undersized due to not cutting weight but Garcia's looked awful since the loss to Brown last year, I'll go with Chan purely due to his kickass nickname - the "Korean Zombie"
Lightweight bout: Alex Karalexis vs Anthony Pettis - not sure here
Bantamweight bout: Brad Pickett vs Demetrious Johnson - never heard of Johnson but Pickett has some skills, going with him via sub
Featherweight bout: Chad Mendes vs Anthony Morrison - Mendes by decision
Bantamweight bout: Takeya Mizugaki vs Rani Yahya - could be a fun scrap, hopefully this makes the main card. Both guys are badly needing a win here but I'll go with Mizugaki by decision after avoiding Yahya's sub attempts and winning the rounds with GNP
Featherweight bout: Brandon Visher vs Tyler Toner - Visher packed some power in his debut

 

[RobbyRoy]

I couldn't give an educated opinion on any fight except the three big ones but I'm really looking forward to this. The little blokes always bring it and this card is just stacked with exciting fighters.

For the record, I think Aldo, Cerrone and Brown will all win by (T)KO.

 

[Vendrell]

I'm not entirely convinced on Aldo just yet even though on paper he beats Urijah. I say this because the featherweight belt has been like a game of pass-the-parcel lately (much like the UFC's light-heavyweights). Everyone thought Urijah was a top p4p guy then Mike Brown took him out. Then they said the same about Mike Brown and Aldo took him out. Now they're saying Aldo is a total stud so who knows? He does look great though and has age on his side.

Whatever happens, it's an awesome card and I can't wait to see Mike Brown defeat Gamburyan via homicide.

So does anyone have Setanta ???

 

[Magnum]

I'm sold enough on Aldo to tip him against Faber. I see Aldo frustrating Faber in the first rounds and using his reach and movement to matador Faber. If Faber gets wild that will when Aldo will strike. Faber's only real chance is to be extremely disciplined and work for a decision and push the pace real hard in the hope to wear Aldo out. As long as he doesn't get careless we could be in for a war. I'm guessing Aldo will take it with a late TKO or decision. Great fight

Brown should comfortably handle Manny, but he needs to watch out for the leglocks.

I pretty much agree with the rest of Ross's picks and analysis, but I'll go for TUF 1 alum Alex Karelexis to get the win.

 

[Vendrell]

Holy s**t. Leg kicks FTW! Aldo's a stud, no doubt about it. Full credit to Urijah for hanging in there. I've never seen a cornerman carry his fighter back to the corner before.

Manny Gamburyan by KO! Looks like he'll get the next title shot. Mike Brown, I am disappoint. Sherdog forums are having a meltdown because everyone lost a week's pay on this fight.

Garcia vs The Korean Zombie was one of the fights of the year!

 

[PLSC]

Aldo reminds me of a smaller Anderson. Sick striking and very good BJJ which we never get to see! He is only 23 ffs. I could see him at 155 in a few years.

Faber was all heart but kind of stupid to stand with Aldo early on when he knew the takedowns were his only chance.

Ben Henderson! Demolished Cerrone and proved that he is the better fighter despite people whinging about the decision in the first fight. His Guillotines are deadly. I think he could beat Melendez and would be top 5 in the UFC.

Pretty good card overall for the PPV debut. Manny, Roller, Garcia fights were all great.

 

[Ross]

One of the best fight cards in a long time, I thought.

Garcia and the Zombie was possibly the greatest brawl in MMA history, rivalling or even surpassing Frye and Takayama and Griffin and Bonnar. I thought Jung won the fight and easily landed the most powerful shots but you could make a reasonable case for Garcia on the 10-9 system.

Faber is tough as nuts to survive that fight but Aldo is like a mini-Anderson, only minus all the exaggerated movements and total lack of respect for his opponent. The fifth round was a bit of an anti-climax but I think Aldo respected Faber and didn't want to give him any possible opening.

The Henderson/Cerrone rematch being so short was probably the only letdown on the card, simply because it could have been another great fight. Having said that, if it was Cowboy that won in under two minutes I'd have most likely been fine with it.

Good comeback from Jorgensen after getting picked apart in the first round, he seemed to find his range from there and dominated a tough opponent. Was a really good fight too, on most other cards it probably would have been FOTN. Same with Pickett and Johnson, Pickett busted out a ton of Rampage-style slams throughout the fight.

Dana said he'd heard Brown had a break-up with his wife and missed camp for two weeks but still a pretty big upset. Can't see Gamburyan being close to Aldo if that fight is next in line but stranger things have happened.

Edit: Faber's leg a couple of days after the fight

 

[Magnum]

Aldo is better than Anderson IMO (who I've never agreed with as the best mma fighter in the world). Total stud. Taking on the best of a pretty stacked division and destroying them all. Faber had no answer. Top shelf striking, good beard, good takedown defense, sick ground game, gas tank, drive, patience but aggression. And actually tries to finish his opponents (almost TKO’d Faber in the 4th, surprised it wasn’t stopped but good reffing by Rosenthal). Great fight, great card. I’d like to see Aldo bulk up a little as he gets older hit the UFC 155’s. He could even challenge Henderson for two WEC belts in what would be another PPV worthy headliner.

Manny surprised me with his power. Brown just wilted. Unfortunately for him he’ll now get Aldo, in which he’ll be destroyed.

Henderson also proved he is awesome by finishing Cerrone which I did not expect him to. Another stud, and agreeing with PLSC, probably a top 5 in the UFC LW div. I did think the first fight could have gone either way, but even according to the dodgy American system Ben probably did enough to get the win. This time, he proved without a doubt he has Cerrone’s number. Awesome stuff.

Worthy PPV.