WEC's Next Big Event: WEC 31

The WEC is starting to look suspicious. After all, the UFC has had a handful of cards that have not had a single title fight, and barely a high profile matchup. Now, UFC fans are considering themselves lucky if they are getting a single title shot.

So where does the WEC get off putting three title fights on their upcoming card. It is, really, about putting together a high quality product for the fans, but also doing their best to get some serious attention while promoting some of their less famous fighters.

The biggest matchup on the card is the first title defense of undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu machine Paulo Filho (15-0-0). Some fans rank Filho as the number one fighter in the world at 185 pounds, and nobody has him ranked outside of the top three. He's set to fight UFC veteran Chael Sonnen (19-8-1) who, as a wrestler, provides nothing that Filho hasn't seen before in an opponent, but really offers Filho the opportunity to show his strengths as a grappler while also facing an opponent who can't simply be written off as a nobody. Really, the matchup is to further introduce American fans to the style of fighting they can expect from the WEC, display the dominance of Filho and give the main even on the card some notoriety.

The most interesting fight on the card is the match between current WEC featherweight champion and resident organization animal Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (19-1-0) and Jiu-Jitsu legend Jeff "Big Frog" Curran (28-8-1). Curran is a long time veteran of the sport and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu chops and experience will prove an interesting test for Faber, who has been no less than devastating in his three fights in the WEC, where he has yet to hear the bell ending the first round.

Both of those fights will provide most of the draw, but the great unknown champion of the infant WEC organization is the lightheavyweight champion working lower in the card: Doug "The Rhino" Marshall. While little is known about Marshall (6-2-0) as a fighter, because he has only had 8 fights, all have been in the WEC, so he is established in the organization and may become the first big star brought up in the organization. The WEC certainly has a good deal riding on Marshall, but his opponent, Cuban Ariel Gandulla (4-0-0) isn't considered a serious threat to his title, because he only won his title shot by a split decision.

Still, the lighter weight classes for which the WEC is fast become noticed, are set to provide an interesting backing for the quickly expanding lightheavyweight division, and the installation of Filho as champion of the middleweight division shows that the WEC is serious about expanding it's ranks of champions from the bottom up. So expect the announcement of some heavyweight contracts in the next six to ten months, and the emmergence of a belt in about eighteen.

The WEC is going to really put some pressure on and may put together a show that makes MMA fans drawn in by the publicity behemoth that is the UFC start turning to smaller options and the quality of fights they are seeing in the UFC start diminshing.

It's almost as though WEC is offering a challenge to its big brother cagefighting organization:

If you're not going to give people title fights, we will.

And I'm excited to see what will happen

WEC 30 Results

The event was awesome. Great fights and great fighters are making World Extreme Cagefighting fun to watch, and the fact that it didn't cost me any money to watch was even better.

Here are the results from last nights fight:

Ian McCall defeated Coty Wheeler via TKO at 4:34 in the 3rd Round.

Blas Avena defeated Joe Benoit via submission due to a guillotine choke at 29 seconds in the 1st Round.

Donald Cerrone defeated Kenneth Alexander via submission due to a twisted triangle choke at 56 seconds in the 1st Round.

Bryan Baker defeated UFC veteran Jesse Forbes via TKO at 4:15 in the 1st Round.

Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks defeated Scott McAfee with a guillotine choke at 2:15 in the very first round.

UFC veteran John "The Natural" Alessio defeated Marcelo Brito via unanimous decision.

Bantamweight warrior Miguel Torres defeated previously undefeated Joe Bedard with a triangle choke at 2:30 in the 1st round.

Brian Stann continued his string of first round TKO's by beating Jeremiah Billington at 3:07 in the first. Stann still has yet to see the end of a round in his 5-0-0 career.

Chase Beebe held onto his belt, defeating Rani Yahya with a 5 round unanimous decision.

"Razor" Rob McCullough retained his belt as well, destroying Rich Crunkilton in 1:29 of the 1st round.

Overall, a great fight. I am fast becoming a fan of the WEC and some of the fighters, especially Torres (who I have been following since his days in the small Chicago scene), Bryan Baker (who outwrestled a very accomplished wrestler), Bryan Stann (who seems to destroy everything in his path) and "Razor" Rob (the 155 pound champion who stopped 8 or his last 9 opponents, and has never been stopped in his career).

The WEC may not have the payroll or the celebrity of the UFC, but the style of the fighters and their wilingness to leave it in the cage has made for some really exciting fights and I'm looking forward to seeing more in the future.

World Extreme Cagefighting: The Minors, Except Not

Dana White will tell you that organizations like World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Elite XC (EXC) are the minor leagues of the mixed martial arts monster that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that's true, to a certain extent.

While the UFC has more money and more talent than the "secondary shows", the smaller organizations are coming into their own. The WEC has done that by moving faster than the UFC to establish lower weight classes, like a 135 pound class (even more fast paced than the UFC's 155 pound division).

The WEC will be holding an event on September 5th (yes, it's a Wednesday) at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It's a major event for the WEC because, though it's being held in the middle of the week and will not have the major pay-per-view sales that the marketing leviathen known as the UFC has been posting, it's being held in a major venue.

I'll keep my picks for the WEC event short and just give the names, but I will say that some of my favorite lighter weight fighters (like 135 pounder Miguel Torres and submission fighter Donald Cerrone) are on this card, which is dominated by the smaller, lighter, quicker and more skilled divisions that the WEC loves to showcase.

"Razor" Rob McCullough (14-3-0) vs Rich "Cleat" Crunkilton (14-1-0) : McCullough by 1st Round TKO

Chase Beebe (10-1-0) vs Rani Yahya (11-2-0) : Yahya by Unanimous Decision

Ian McCall (4-0-0) vs Coty "Ox" Wheeler (6-0-0) : Wheeler by Unanimous Decision

Bryan Baker (4-0-0) vs Jesse Forbes (4-1-0, fought on The Ultimate Fighter season 3) : Baker by 2nd Round TKO

Miguel Torres (18-1-0) vs Jeff "Little Popeye" Bedard (9-0-0) : Torres by 2nd Round submission

John "The Natural" Alessio (19-10-0) vs Marcelo "The Jungle Boy" Brito (6-1-0) : Alessio by Unanimous Decision

Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks (5-0-0) vs Scott McAfee (5-0-0) : Hicks by 2nd Round TKO.

Brian Stann (4-0-0) vs Jeremiah Billington (9-1-0) : Stann by 1st Round TKO.

The abundance of undefeated and unknown fighters should make this a very entertaining event. The presence of some lesser known fighters like Rob McCullough (well known to WEC fans and a former UFC fighter), John Alessio (also a former UFC fighter), Miguel Torres (a legend for performing very well against larger opponents) and Marcus Hicks (just getting started, but already establishing himself as one of the most exciting 155 pounders out there) will make this event interesting, as will the presence of alot of unknown fighters who I haven't had the opportunity to scout.

It should be a great event and though it's not a major, primetime, weekend show it will be exciting to watch and interesting to see the impact it has on the career of the up-and-comers that heavily populate the card.