World Extreme Cagefighting 36 Results
by Robert Sargent
Despite an atrocious middleweight bout between WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen, WEC 36 was otherwise another great event for World Extreme Cagefighting, ending with Mike Brown becoming WEC Featherweight Champion.
The middleweight bout, which was changed to a non-title fight after Filho missed weight by an incredible seven pounds, was filled with 15 minutes of non-action.
WEC Featherweight Championship
Mike Brown vs "The California Kid" Urijah Faber
After reigning supreme atop the featherweight division for two years, a foolish and wild standing elbow strike from Faber proved to be his downfall, as Brown countered with a looping right hook that sent Faber crashing to the canvas.Faber landed a quick one-two early in the first round, but Brown immediately stopped the champion's momentum with a counter right cross. The fighters clinched and Faber landed a knee to the jaw. Both fighters landed strikes, with Brown stunning Faber with a combination. Faber foolishly threw a wild standing back elbow strike that completely missed and was countered by a huge right hook from Brown. Faber went flying to the ground, where Brown followed up with dozens of additional punches. Eventually, the referee had seen enough and called a stop to the fight. A highly impressive victory for the new champion, Brown.
Winner: Mike Brown by TKO (Punches) at 2:23 of round one. He improves to 20-4-0 and becomes the new WEC Featherweight Champion.
Chael Sonnen vs Paulo "Ely" Filho
Originally scheduled to be a WEC Middleweight Championship rematch, this bout was changed to a non-title affair after Filho missed weight by seven pounds, and Filho's complete lack of interest in the fight resulted in him losing for the first time, via highly lopsided Unanimous Decision.All three rounds of this terrible fight, to no fault of Sonnen, saw Filho doing next to nothing while Sonnen was forced to resort to kicks to the legs and sparse combinations while standing. Sonnen stuffed takedowns throughout the fight, and dropped Filho early on in round one. Filho, however, was content to lay on his back and force Sonnen to kick at his legs. Filho tried briefly for kneebars in the first round, but gave up entirely on submissions for the remainder of the fight. Sonnen's punches during the rare exchanges on the feet caused Filho's eyes to swell up throughout rounds two and three, but it was evident that Filho had no interest in being in the fight and was still suffering from emotional issues.
Though the bout was a non-title fight, Filho has apparently shipped the WEC Middleweight Championship to Sonnen. Regardless, with the changes to the WEC's weight classes, the middleweight division will now be merged into the UFC, so the title no longer holds much meaning anyway.
Winner: Chael Sonnen by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 21-9-1.
Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs Jens "Lil' Evil" Pulver
After sitting out much of 2008 due to legal troubles, Garcia bounced back with a fury, as he stopped the former UFC Lightweight Champion with punches in less than 90 seconds.Both fighters swung for the fences in the early going, but neither was able to connect with the wild punches. Garcia scored with a quick combination, but Pulver backed him up against the cage. Garcia countered with a right hook, then followed it up with two more that dazed Pulver. More punches from Garcia resulted in Pulver falling to his knees, and Garcia began teeing off with massive punches from both hands. Pulver had no recourse, and the referee stopped the fight.
Winner: Leonard Garcia by TKO (Punches) at 1:12 of round one. He improves to 12-3-0.
Jake Rosholt vs Nissen Osterneck
This battle of undefeated fighters went the way of Rosholt, but this was one of the most competitive and entertaining bouts in recent WEC events, and was an excellent start to the televised card.Osterneck came forward with a flurry of wild strikes to begin the fight, and a number of them landed. Rosholt ducked to evade a combination, then took Osterneck down and moved to side-control. After landing weak strikes, Rosholt took Osterneck's back, but Osterneck managed to escape and get back to his feet. Osterneck turned the tides with a series of huge lefts and rights, forcing Rosholt to clinch to avoid damage. Again, Rosholt scored a takedown and moved to side-control. This time, he landed damaging right hands and a pair of knees to the shoulder of Osterneck. The referee briefly halted the action after mistakenly believing that Rosholt had kneed Osterneck's head, but the fight resumed and Rosholt moved to mount. After landing a series of big punches, Rosholt forced Osterneck to give up his back, but Osterneck regained half-guard just before the bell. 10-9 Rosholt.
Osterneck scored with leg kicks early in round two, then stuffed a takedown attempt from Rosholt. Rosholt finally managed to get Osterneck down, but found himself trapped in a Kimura. Osterneck moved to an armbar, then an omoplata, but Rosholt escaped both submissions and moved to side-control. Osterneck fought his way back to his feet and landed a series of looping punches. A big knee landed for Osterneck, but he slipped while throwing a head kick. Rosholt made him pay, as he immediately moved to mount and landed numerous punches. Osterneck turtled and gave up his back, offering no resistance to the strikes, and the referee stopped the fight.
Winner: Jake Rosholt by TKO (Punches) at 3:48 of round two. He improves to 5-0-0.
Aaron Simpson vs David Avellan
This battle of undefeated middleweights ended as quickly as it began, as a vicious punch from Simpson sent Avellan crashing to the canvas.The fighters came out quickly and Simpson landed a left to the body. He followed it up seconds later with a huge overhand right that knocked Avellan out cold. Follow-up punches from Simpson were an afterthought, as the referee jumped in to stop the fight.
Winner: Aaron Simpson by KO (Punch) at 0:18 of round one. He improves to 4-0-0.
Undercard Fights:
Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone defeated "Razor" Rob McCullough by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-27) after three rounds. He improves to 9-0-0, 1 NC.Jose Aldo defeated Jonathan Brookins by TKO (Punches) at 0:45 of round three. He improves to 12-1-0.
Carmelo "The Fury" Marrero defeated Steve "The Hooligan" Steinbeiss by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 10-2-0, 1 NC.
Danny Castillo defeated Rafael Dias by TKO (Punches) at 2:54 of round two. He improves to 6-1-0.
Rani Yahya defeated Yoshiro Maeda by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:30 of round one. He improves to 12-4-0.
Excluding the dismal middleweight co-main event, WEC 36 continued the growing list of excellent events from World Extreme Cagefighting, and set up a number of interesting title fights for future shows.
