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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS


WEC, World Extreme Cagefighting, was probably one of the best non-UFC MMA organizations ever.

What started from humble origins, WEC grew into a name-brand thanks to its consistently great cards, fun and exciting fighters (many of whom would go on to be household names), and in its latter years a focus on the lighter weight divisions that continue to deliver to this day. It gave us the Featherweight, Bantamweight divisions, and also by default the Flyweight division when it merged into the UFC.

WEC also had a loving cool belt that I still think beats the old UFC belt.




Needless to say, I was and still am a fan of the WEC but there's a question worth asking; "Is it rose-tinted sunglasses making the WEC seem so great in comparison to today, or was it actually good?"

Join me as I embark on a really silly and pointless journey of re-watching all 53 events held under the WEC banner. This should be once a week or so which will means this will take just shy of over a year of watching, reviewing, reminiscing, and probably regretting doing something like this.

Relive the moments where we see Paulo Filho stare at a ghost during his fight with Chael Sonnen, The Showtime Kick, Rob McCullough the establishment of small men fighters, and also the crowning of a Super Heavyweight fight which honestly I don't think I've ever seen ever despite watching the Superhulk Tournament in Dream.

The first event in the WEC and was held on June 30, 2001 meaning we are roughly 21 years from the beginning.

I probably should have done this last year now that I think about it. gently caress.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 11:51 on Jun 18, 2022

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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
There is sad news in that I could not find a copy of WEC: Princes of Pain the first WEC event. I'll post the write up I did because it looked pretty interesting and worth watching all things considered.










To begin we have WEC 1: Princes of Pain, which I keep reading as Princesses of Pain for some reason and I think I am probably losing my sanity and this is a symptom of it.

Anyway, the event was held at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA. Yes, that Tachi who would go on to create Tachi Palace Fights which was also a pretty solid C-league MMA Org.

Take a look at this card and tell me you A) don't get weird nostalgia and B) would probably confuse it for a UFC Fight Night if you didn't know this was 20 loving years ago.

Travis Fulton vs Dan Severn
Gan McGee vs Seth Petruzelli
Bruce Nelson vs Lalo Moz
Bryant Garcia vs Tony Alanis
Bryson Haubrick vs Scott Carson
Gabriel Garcia vs Phil Ensminger
Chris Sanford vs Bobby Martin
Ray Benavides vs Nick Agallar
Leonard Garcia vs Victor Estrada
Cruz Gomez vs Isaias Martinez

Overall? Not bad. Some notable names in Fulton, Severn, McGee, Petruzelli, and Leonard Garcia when you look across the history of MMA.









Let's break down these fights.

Travis Fulton vs Dan Severn
First, Dan Severn & Travis Fulton going into this fight had, combined, over 150 fights between them. Granted they are also insane old dudes who probably should have stopped WELL BEFORE THIS FIGHT for their own sakes. However, since this is MMA and even in 2022 we see matchups featuring old people well past their prime, this isn't really shocking or strange.



Gan McGee vs Seth Petruzelli
Although they would go on to be notable names respectively, at least in the early to mid 2000s, this is a weird pairing. McGee is 8-1 going into a matchup where Seth is a 1-1 rookie. McGee had, prior to this match, actually fought in the UFC versus Josh Barnett at UFC 28 in a losing effort. Seth? Well he had 1 regional fight, and then a losing fight in World Vale Tudo Championship (either 12 or 13, as both events supposedly took place on the same day) that per Tapology was only 21 days prior to this match. Probably had some affect on this match but also this is the early 2000s where people didn't care about actually taking time to heal your body between fights.



Bruce Nelson vs Lalo Moz
This is the professional debut of Lalo Moz and that's about all to be said. His opponent is the veteran Bruce Nelson who has going into this fight 14 fights as experience. The catch is that Nelson is 3-11 going into the fight. That's right, 3-11. He genuinely had only won his 3 victories in the regional scene up to this point, and actually lost to Travis Fulton prior to this fight. Oh and Matt Hughes. But was that Matt Hughes PRIOR to his UFC days right? No, Hughes had already been in the UFC a few times with fights versus Marcelo Aguiar and Dennis Hallman as well as going to Japan for some fights in Rings. Needless to say, Nelson is about as much of a tomato can as you can be. Amazing tidbit is that Nelso would go on to kep fighting until 2018 and ended his career at 27-36-1.



The rest of the card is a lot of younger talent who would, in all but the Garcia/Estrada and Gomez/Martinez fights, be very new to the sport. Even in those mentioned fights, they are still relatively young with under 10 fights.

Also just want to point out two amazing things about Cruz Gomez.

1) His nickname is "Little Big Man" and fought at Lightweight.
2) He has a tribal belly tattoo.







As I mentioned, WEC 1 seems lost to time as UFC Fight Pass doesn't have it and the various other sources to find them seem to be coming up blank as well.

Oddly UFC Fight Pass has WEC 2, but not WEC 1 or 3. WEC was on HDNet for a period so maybe the tape got lost due to incompetence.



Gonna take the week to either try and find a way to get these fights viewable, or probably just skip ahead and look at WEC 2: Clash of the Titans and prepare for that one.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Jun 19, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Yeah part of my love of WEC was that it was on late night on Versus and I could watch it while doing shifts at my college job and nobody bothered me since it was 10p to 2am.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
CarlCX has pointed out that WEC 1 is in fact on UFC Fight Pass, but its all individual videos of the fights and not the whole card and you have to search each fight individually and honestly given how lovely UFC Fight Pass' search function is I'd rather just skip ahead to WEC 2 than put myself through that lol.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Thank you for doing the work I was too lazy to do myself. I'll watch these tonight and lmao at having to use the UFC Fight Pass Facebook page to find the links.

Billion dollar company ran b6 a promoting genius.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
OK so I have sat down and watched WEC 1: Princes of Pain and it was pretty good! I enjoyed some of the throwbacks to MMA of old and also happy that most of the fights were relatively fast and competitive for how new the sport was.


I would also like to shoutout the old pentagon cage they used in early WEC and also the fact they did this outside and it looks like it had a decently sized crowd in what looks like a parking lot and honestly? I could dig to see more of that these days.



First up was Cruz Gomez vs Isaias Martinez. Martinez has a weird mark or something on his pec and its very gross looking. Tra Telligman's missing pec didn't gross me out as much as this thing does. Like it looks infected.

My first and initial comment is that both guys are wearing Tapout vale tudo style shorts just of different colors so this could just pass for a TUF finale and you'd not really know nor care about that difference. Also this was in the era of people allowed to wear wrestling shoes which is another silly thing from the past that I still love to laugh about.

Round 1, Martinez starts off with a flying knee of sorts and winds up falling over, but also sorta awkwardly falls so that Gomez is in his guard. Gomez tries to pass to half guard but winds up in guard and Martinez goes for rubber guard. Remember that being a thing? There's this odd scramble which sees Martinez throwing seated hooks to Gomez who eventually passes and gets side control again. Just that image is funny and good comedy on its own.



Gomez passes again. There's an armbar attempt by Martinez but Gomez scouts it easily and elbows and forearm chokes Martinez a bit for daring to do that. More elbows and knees and Gomez knocks Martinez out. It was pretty nasty.

Gomez wins via KO in Rd. 1






Next there is Leonard Garcia vs Victor Estrada

Good ol' Leonard Garcia before he became known as a human punching bag and had such a cute baby face. Also holy poo poo is Josh Rosenthal pre-weed bust and that's fun to see.

Round 1, Fight starts off with both guys coming out standing and looking to exchange. Garcia throws a kick, misses, and falls so the fight goes to the ground with Estrada in Garcia's guard. Estrada tries to get some punches in while Garcia goes for a comically easy to see triangle/armbar. Estrada avoids it, tries to pass but Garcia gets guard again. There's a pause cuz Garcia's glove slipped in a way that meant his pinky wasn't in it properly which they fix. Estrada stacks, attempts a pass, Garcia throws his foot up for some reason, Estrada goes for an ankle lock/heelhook and messes that up so Garcia stands up and starts walloping on Estrada who still has the ankle, trips Garcia and we end up with Estrada trying hard for a leglock while Garcia throws an odd punch, laughs and then is just kinda defending it. Eventually they get back to standing with Estrada shooting for a take down and getting into Garcia's guard again. Estrada gets to standing again with Garcia throwing some knees that seem to land pretty hard. Estrada turtles up on the ground and Garcia lets him up to his knees to grab Garcia's legs and take Garcia down and now has Estrada in his guard again. Just watch this sequence.

https://i.imgur.com/RewBvvL.mp4

I loving love it. Not much happens, and the round ends in that position more or less. I'd argue that its a 10-9 to Estrada cuz he had better position throughout the whole round.

Round 2, starts the same, Estrada throws some low kicks and eat a punch that sorta knocks him down a bit. Garcia goes for the finish and ends up in a leg entanglement with Estrada and Garcia going for double ankle locks at one point but Garcia gives up and slips out. They stand back up and Garcia gets a glancing headkick as Estrada tries to duck/cover up and it ends with Estrada on the ground KO'd.

Garcia wins via KO, Rd 2





Third fight is missing like Brut said so its now Bobby martin vs Chris Sanford both making their pro debuts!

Rd 1, These are some bigger boys and Sanford is wearing a tank top while also having this amazingly awkward look look on his face. Beautiful poo poo really. Martin looks like a fat discount Tiki Ghosn/Rafael Torre.

Sanford is fighting in the tank top! YES! This is the poo poo I wanted to see.

There's a lot of clinching in the round with Sanford mostly in control with Martin seemingly helpless to do anything but throw an occasional punch or kick. The striking is quick poor but Sanford does dow a roundhouse into heelkick combo which looks pretty slick even though both whiffed the air. Round ends and its easily 10-9 Sanford.

Rd 2, Both come out and Sanford seems more...controlled? His shirt is soaking wet after having water dumped onto him. Martin tries really hard to get some offense and in doing so Sanford throws a sort of lazy hook that lands flush on the money and KOs Martin. It was probably the most solid punch landed in the whole fight and it flatlined the guy.

https://i.imgur.com/LM7aqQ2.mp4

Sanford wins via KO, Rd 2





Next is Gabriel Garcia vs Phil Enminsger both are relatively new fighters with the two both being 1-3 as professional. Ensminger's nickname was apparently "The Great White Nightmare" and...yeah I'll just leave that there.

Rd 1, Fight begins with Ensminger doing some weird as gently caress movement that I guess is blocking as he walks towards Garcia but its so comically weird I think its meant to be playing mind games? They exchange and it leads to a few scrambles where they go from one side of the cage to the other before a 1-2 rocks Garcia who gets swarmed and the ref calls the fight.

Ensminger wins via TKO, Rd 1

The referee then has to forcefully pull Ensminger off Garcia because Ensminger refuses to listen to the ref. Ensminger then starts to argue with the referee that he didn't hear anything, he didn't deserve to be choked then he flips off the crowd. Apparently this guy wound up dying in 2006 and this was his lone WEC fight. His last pro fight, as a tidbit of history, was in 2002 and it was a loss to Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Weird poo poo.








Now its time for Bryson Haubrick vs Scott Carson. Heavyweights! gently caress yes.

Rd 1, Carson is very clearly the more fight athlete here lol. If I had to describe them in words only, imagine Luke Rockhold body vs Tim Sylvia and that's this. Haubrick looks legit scared and Carson is just kinda throwing whatever relatively smoothly with confidence. Fight goes to the ground and Carson clearly knows how to grapple while Haubrick doesn't and Carson takes his back and gets a choke.

Carson wins via Submission, Rd 1.

Bless you trashweights. God Bless You.








Next we have Tony Alanis vs Bryant Garcia both making their pro debut.

Rd 1, Alanis and Garcia come out swinging with Garcia's chin VERY high. Garcia throws a leg kick which leads to a take down by Alanis. Garcia then tries for a very sloppy armbar which Alanis throws off, then in a scramble throws a knee on Garcia which leads to more grapple scrambling. Alanis is throwing bombs and pummeling Garcia. One eventually lands perfectly and knocks Garcia's mouthpiece out as he goes to sleep. Fight is over according to Josh Rosenthal.

Alanis wins via KO, Rd 1.








:piaa::piaa:We are finally at my hyped fight of the night, Lalo Mox (0-0) vs Bruce Nelson (3-11):piaa::piaa:

I don't care that the result was spoiled for me looking on Wikipedia/Tapology. I am so hyped to see this.



Rd 1, Short exchange of punches, Mox lands a few glancing shots before hitting a three punch combo that sends Nelson to the mat.

Mox wins via KO, Rd 1

gently caress it, here's the whole fight.

https://i.imgur.com/65Tjn8d.mp4

:laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo::laffo:

Nelson went on to fight for another SEVEN-loving-TEEN YEARS :allears:

He is the true MMA Goon hero








In the co-main event we have Gan McGee vs Seth Petruzelli. Seth looks loving huge here and I am really impressed he lost so much weight later in his career. Also they mispronounced his name which is funny. Gan is still monstrously big.

Rd1, Seth comes out confident and throws some hard legkicks. McGee goes for a take down which given the size difference is certainly a choice. He fails but shoots again and gets a single leg before getting into Seth's open guard. Seth throws some upkicks while Gan grabs Seth's other ankle and sits back for a belly down ankle lock and gets the tap.

McGee wins via Submission, Rd 1

A quick fight, Seth actually showed some decent fighting versus a more veteran fighter and knowing Seth's future as a fighter not a bad debut all things considered.








Main Event time Dan Severn vs Travis Fulton AKA battle of the journeymen. Fulton is fighting in a wrestling singlet while Severn is in his black undies.

Rd 1, Severn shoots for an early take down and gets it. A lot of time is spent jockeying for position before Fulton attempts an armbar which forces Severn to take a step back and they go back to standing. Severn shoots for another take down but Fulton is on top before they scramble to a standing clinch. Severn does a great belly to belly sort of toss which leads to Fulton doing another sorta toss and ends up in top full mount on Dan. Dan then bumps and reverses and ends up in Fulton's guard. A lot of back & forth when it comes to grappling with some decent knees and elbows to end the round.

10-9 for Severn as he got more take downs and better position.


Rd 2, Second round and it starts slower. Fulton seems a bit more timid/gassed I would argue. Dan clinches and gets another take down but Fulton stands so Dan gets his back standing and does basically a German suplex. Dan end sup in top open guard. They're stood up a few times but Dan gets the take downs and ends up in Fulton's guard and just does his work. Round ends with a small scramble

10-9 for Severn again for the take downs and position.

Rd 3, Third round is literally the same as the second and Fulton very clearly is getting out-wrestled by Dan Severn. Fight ends with Severn still in top position. Fulton knows he clearly lost.

10-9 for Severn same as for Rd 1 & 2.


30-28 for Severn in my book.


Judges saw it the same way, Dan Severn wins via Unanimous Decision.

Honestly the only stinker of a fight was this last one and even then its not awful but it was very much a Dan Severn style of fight so whatever.

Overall, card was really solid for a regional show of sorts as well as for being a first event for WEC. I would rewatch this than watching a Bellator card from 2022, let's just say that.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Jun 21, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
yeah i figured the less said about fulton the better since we all know he's a piece of poo poo human whose sole accolade in life is being a bum journeyman fighter who was the first to reach 100 fights mostly against cans for a few bucks

like in all his career his sole notable championships/accomplishments in the sport were an M-1 super heavyweight title and winning world vale tudo championship 6

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Boco_T posted:

I'm watching the fights from the first show and the ring announcer is dressed up like Furio from Sopranos


i really want someone would do a furio gimmick for an mma event on/near halloween

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
im honestly not shocked at all that dan severn & travis fulton threw a fight given they did that a few times each iirc

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Boco_T posted:

- It does appear that there was an entire series of shows in New Zealand called "Princesses of Pain" https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/35055-princesses-of-pain-45

mods???

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
OK so now I am watching WEC 2: Clash of the Titans and yeah, it was a bit less crazy than WEC 1 but still pretty good as a sophomore show and event.

The card is as follows and there are some familiar names on it..

Terry Dull vs Cole Escovedo
Ryan Ackerman vs Rob Cole
Kory Hangas vs Eric Duus
Benji Radach vs Royden Demotta
Nick Agallar vs Charlie Pearson
Anthony Hamlett vs Jimmy Terrel
Marcus Blood vs Leandro Nyza
Cruz Gomez vs David Bancroft
Aaron Steed vs Josh Houlgate
Rob McCullough vs Jesse Heck
Bruce Nelson vs Eric Schwartz
Philip Perez vs Justin Jones
Gan McGee vs Ron Faircloth

So off the bat I personally recognize Escovdeo, Radach, McCullough as names on top of Gomez, McGee, and our boy Bruce Nelson who were all on WEC 1. Didn't realize this was both Radach & McCullough's pro-debuts though! That's kinda cool to see since all I remember of both of them was that by the time I got into MMA they were kinda past their prime/hype factor.

If I remember correctly, McCullough started one of those cringe early 2000s fighter wear t-shirt companies or something and mostly used his wife/gf who was a pornstar I think as the model.

WEC 2 also took place about 2 to 3 weeks after 9/11 which is another tidbit of history/trivia and they spent some time doing the national anthem etc.

Anyway on to the fights...

Terry Dull vs Cole Excovedo, comically the announcer calls him EscoTITO which...yeah lol.

Rd 1, Cole comes out and goes for a quick takedown but basically as a result pulls guard with Dull in his guard on top. Dull stays in Cole's guard for a good portion until a triangle/armbar combo is thrown by Cole and its tight, Dull struggles to get free but fails and has to tap.

Cole Escovedo wins via Submission, Rd 1 after the fight Dull his writhing around on the floor in pain or something. Probably from the rollover attempt he tried to do to get out of the triangle, which seemed to have hurt his neck or so. He had to get taken out on a stretcher which, yeah you don't ever wanna see that. This was his last pro-fight as well. On-air they mentioned the doctors said it could be a pinched nerve/slipped disc. :ohdear:





Ryan Ackerman vs Rob Cole, Cole is a member from Frank Shamrock's gym and making his debut, Ackerman is 2-0 going into the fight.

Rd 1, Cole shoots for a takedown, misses and goes for a quick guillotine choke. Ackerman gets out and works from inside the guard of Cole. There's a scramble up and a reversal with another takedown where Cole is now in Ackerman's guard. They break apart again and Cole gets a good hip toss takedown on Ackerman and gets on top in Ackerman's guard again. Cole is, in essence, dominating the fight with a lot of takedown/throws, grappling positioning etc. After a standing guillotine attempt by Cole, Ackerman takes him down and gets his back, but Cole reverses and the round finishes with a lot of back and forth positional grappling. Comically at one point the lights go out and since its dark out you can't see anything, all while Cole and Ackerman are in a clinch throwing punches at each other. Lights come back on briefly later and the fight continues. Cole hits a big right which forces a desperation takedown by Ackerman which again sees Cole go for a guillotine as the bell rings. 10-9 for Cole

Rd 2, They continue off with more takedowns and grappling for position. Cole seems less explosive and energetic when compared to Ackerman who is doing more of the grappling this round. Ackerman dominates and finishes the round in top back mount throwing hard punches. 10-9 for Ackerman

Rd 3, During the break between Rounds 2 & 3 you can hear Cole saying to his corner he wants to retire and he doesn't answer the bell thus ending the fight.


Ryan Ackerman wins via TKO/Retirement, Rd 1, Ackerman would actually go on to fight some notable names in Miguel Torres a few times (winning one of their fights) as well as Jeff Curran. Cole seems to have never fought after this match.





Kory Hangas vs Eric Duus, another pair of pro debuts

Rd 1, Duus gets Hangas on the ground and sits in his guard while throwing some strong punches and working show elbows. That is basically how the whole round goes. 10-8 for Duus

Rd 2, Duus & Hangas stay standing, Hangas throwing wild and sloppy comparatively to Duus. Duus goes for a takedown but Hangas sprawls, but Duus works it so that he is in Hangas' guard again. After some time, a good portion of the round, Rosenthal stands them up and Duus gets another takedown to get into Hangas' guard again just as the round ends. 10-8 for Duus.

Rd 3, Again Duus gets another takedown, is on top and just controls the position throwing punches and elbows being active so the fight doesn't get stood up. They eventually do get stood up, which sees Duus, you guessed it, score another takedown and they're on the ground again for the remainder of the fight. 10-9 for Duus.


Eric Duus wins via Unanimous Decision, neither guys will go on to have anything considerable of a career both calling it quits under 5 fights into their respective careers.





:alert: we get a promo break and (at the time) IFC Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth shows up to do a hype up promo for the main event, Southworth falls very flat and disinterested.:alert:







Benji Radach vs Royden Demotta, this is both Radach & Demotta's pro debuts.

Rd 1, A lot is made of Demotta with some praises mentioned by the commentary team by Tony DeSouza from the UFC. Radach eats a hard punch that stuns him a little. Demotta swings for a punch which Radach counters rocking Demotta, and follows up with more punches. Radach throws two knees to Demotta, who is on his knees when they land, and falls face first to the mat both times. The second time is what prompts the referee to step in and stop the fight.

https://i.imgur.com/aDym43Y.mp4

Benji Radach wins via TKO, Rd 1. Radach would go on to have a somewhat notable career with some big wins, towards the end he even beat Murilo Rua in Strikeforce in those horribly dark times.




Nick Agallar vs Charlie Pearson

Rd 1, Agallar gets a clinch on Pearson against the cage and the two work it hard. Its a lot of clinch work in this round, but active so not bad and the round ends with mostly Pearson in control of the clinch. 10-9 for Pearson.

Rd 2, Agallar gets a takedown and is in Pearson's guard and works the position a lot. Pearson eventually goes for a guillotine, uses it to sweep and ends up standing against Agallar who is on his back. Time passes and they're stood up. 10-9 Agallar, Pearson did score something with that sweep at the end but he didn't really do much to stop Agallar's takedown.

Rd 3, the round starts with Agallar swarming Pearson and getting a takedown into butterfly then full guard. Pearson cagewalks up to standing clinch with Agallar doing a lot of grappling on him working for a takedown. Eventually Pearson reverses the position and scores a really slick foot stomp/foot sweep combo that you gotta see.

https://i.imgur.com/1LrvsfA.mp4

They get standing after that and Agallar scores a takedown again, they get stood up after a while and the fight basically ends with them staring at each other. 10-9 Agallar I think its just due to his takedowns but I could see the round going to Pearson.

Charlie Pears wins via Unanimous Decision which I think is bullshit. That was not a UD. Pearson wouldn't do much in his career, but Agallar would go on to fight names like Matt Wiman, Yves Edwards, and Jorge Masvidal on the first Bellator card of all things.





Anthony Hamlett vs Jimmy Terrel

Rd 1, Much is made of Hamlett's ADCC performance where he placed 4th. He takes Terrel down down and is in his guard and throws a lot to work open Terrel to get better position. Terrel works his way to standing in the clinch and gets double underhooks which lets him use his height advantage to press Hamlett against the cage. Mostly that's how the round ends, Terrel holding Hamlett against the cage. 10-9 for Hamlett getting the takedown and the work there was more effort than holding Hamlett against the cage in my view.

Rd 2, Hamlett starts the round with a nice headkick but slips on the mat. He stands up and then is able to shoot for a takedown but Terrel gets a good sprawl and throws a kneed to the head. Hamlett gets his guard and Terrel is now on top. Terrel works Hamlett to the cage, is able to break away and stand up and lets Hamlett stand up. Hamlett gets another takedown, this time on top in Terrel's guard. A lot of work is done here but they're stood up after a lull in the action. Hamlett again gets a takedown and ends the round in Terrel's guard. 10-9 for Hamlett again for the takedowns.

Rd 3, Both guys seem a bit winded. Hamlett gets another takedown and is on top. Terrel works his way up, Hamlett goes for a guillotine but doesn't really get it and now Terrel is in top open guard. They're stood up again. Hamlett goes for a takedown and Terrel is able to stuff it and then lets Hamlett stand up. Terrel lands an elbow just as Hamlett throws a kick and Hamlett falls and is clearly spent but is still stood up by Terrel giving the space. The bell rings just as Terrel tries a spinning heel hick on Hamlett as Hamlett awkwardly falls back in his defense and upkicks Terrel near the bell. 10-9 for Terrel, Hamlett was spent but Terrel did a lot of defensive grappling and good striking towards the end.

Jimmy Terrel wins via Unanimous Decision. Again, not sure how that is a UD when Terrel didn't really get much off other than defensive grappling? I could see it as a Split Decision, but Unanimous seems generous.





Marcus Blood vs Leandro Nyza

Rd 1, Nyza is a Nova Uniao guy and immediately ties up against Blood. Nyza gets the takedown and passes to half guard. Blood turns his hips and lets Nyza get his back and just throws tons of punches until the referee takes him off.

Leandro Nyza wins via TKO, Rd 1





Cruz Gomez vs David Bancroft

Rd 1, Bancroft is wearing gi pants (or possibly sweat pants) so we are definitely in the early 2000s of MMA. Cruz ends up in top guard with Bancroft going for an armbar setup but Cruz stops it. Bancroft works a lot of rubber guard to setup a submission and Cruz is just throwing what he can onto Bancroft. A triangle gets locked on and is very tight with Cruz throwing more and more strikes to loosen/stop Bancroft. From inside the triangle, Cruz throws a knee and it lands on Bancroft's head rocking him. Cruz then starts to unload more and more as Bancroft's head is more or less wedged against the corner. Bancroft then just taps and seems to be really hurt and unable to stand possibly from an injured leg.

Cruz Gomes wins via TKO, Rd 1. Very weird way to end the fight but very interesting.





Aaron Steed vs Josh Houlgate

Rd 1, Immediately Steed shoots and gets a takedown and just throws so much at Houlgate. Literally everything you can think of from a top side position in terms of striking is thrown. Steed gets on the back of Houlgate after a short scramble and throws an ungodly amount of elbows at the back of Houlgate's head that leads to a TKO but really should be a DQ.

Aaron Steed wins via TKO, Rd 1. Steed very much an early 2000s musclehead MMA guy with his demeanor and style lol.





Rob McCullough vs Jesse Heck

Rd 1, Heck looks super scrawny and very much not an athlete compared to McCullough. A short exchange and Heck goes down and is out. McCullough threw 5 strikes and the punch/headkick combo at the end just ended Heck.

Rob McCullough wins via TKO/KO, Rd 1. This was a big mismatch. Heck barely looked like he knew what he was doing in there.





:alert: we get another promo but this time is UFC's own Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell! Both had recently fought at UFC 33, widely regarded as the worst UFC event ever. Tito is...coherent? He's actually making sense and not fumbling over his words. Tito poo poo talks Frank Shamrock for some crowd response. Chuck is then asked if Tito/Chuck will happen, Chuck says its possible if there's enough money. Says he'd want to fight Wanderlei Silva next. "We're gonna pound on each other" is Chuck's quote of the promo. Chuck and Tito clasp hands like buddies.:alert:





Bruce Nelson vs Eric Schwartz. Our boy Bruce is back!

Rd 1, Schwartz is a teammate of Chuck and is said to have heavy hands than Chuck. We'll see. The fight starts and Nelson tries to get a takedown but Schwartz stops it. Schwartz breaks from the clinch and...


Wait we need to talk about this. Schwartz has the same loving The Pit/Kempo tattoo as Chuck.



Back to the action...


Nelson goes for another takedown. Schwartz is standing and throwing elbows and punches to Nelson's side/ribes and Nelcon just taps. Our boy Bruce is done! :ohdear:

Eric Schwartz wins via TKO, Rd 1. Also holy poo poo we need to find WEC 3 because Schwartz fights a debuting Glover Texeira, then retires from MMA for good.






This is just for good measure because I can





Philip Perez vs Justin Jones

Rd 1, Perez goes for a takedown on Jones and gets him against the fence. Perez is on top working hard to throw and also advance position but Jones isn't making it easy throwing punches back at him. Perez and Jones do a lot of grappling back and forth but Perez eventually gets top mount and throws punches until Jones taps.

Philip Perez wins via Submission (Strikes), Rd 1





Gan McGee vs Ron Faircloth

Rd 1, Faircloth and McGee are more or less equally skilled. That is until McGee throws his first punch, a counter left, which lands and rocks Faircloth who goes for a desperation takedown. Gan of course being a giant just sprawls and is able to throw tons of punches and elbows to Faircloth's head which makes the referee step in.

Gan McGee wins via TKO, Rd 1




Gotta say, I am still in this "I love WEC" mindset and even with some hilarious mismatches, the card overall went pretty smooth and was enjoyable to watch.

UFC Fight Pass doesn't have WEC 3 at all, nor does it exist on ~other locations~ so I think I may have to skip that one. :smith:

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Oh my god that's amazing

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
OK so WEC 3: All Or Nothing does not exist anywhere in video form from what I find, so I'm moving on to WEC 4: Rumble Under The Sun as that's actually available.

The card is as follows


WEC 4

Jeremy Horn vs. Aaron Brink
Luciano Oliveira vs. Rich Crunkilton
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Mac Danzig
Zach Light vs. Tony Fryklund
Jay White vs. Christian Wellisch
John Rallo vs. Erik Mainiai
Randy Rowe vs. Jason Jones
Mike Swick vs. James Gabert
Jeff Curran vs. Bao Quach


Hey look its some more notable names! Horn, Pellegrino, Danzig, Fryklund, Real Quick Mike Swick, Jeff Curran and Bao Quach!

Should be fun.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Nova Uniao had links to BJ Penn who, if memory serves was doing BJJ with them around this time so maybe that's a possible link into the US plus with any of the Gracies.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I know I said I'd do this weekly and I'm sorry! I got sidetracked by dumb stuff and being sorta "meh" about things for a while but I watched WEC 4 today.


WEC 4: Rumble under the Sun!

We have a preview that this PPV is going to be East Coast vs West Coast at the Mohegun Sun Casino!

So first up, the show seems much better at this venue as compared to the parking lot style venue they were at Tachi Palace, so that's a good sign!

The show began with a warrior shield dance done by a native american tribe (I assume its the host tribe of the Mohegun Sun Casino). This sort of beginning for a show is very early 2000s but also works really well given the venue and general history of the WEC's shows in Tachi Palace. I dug it.

After the national anthem we get the show start with the ring girls making the walk down the ramp after a build up using...."Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock which honestly as an opening song rules still and I'll defend that opinion until I die.

Pat Miletich is also on the commentary team but the least said about him the better.

Bao Quach vs Jeff Curran

Ooh boy this is an old school matchup. Bao wouldn't have as notable of a career but I know his name thanks to World of MMA's mod and always picked him up in the early days of MMA mod because there wasn't ever any lightweights around that had some good records. I once got him to be the innaugural PRIDE FC lightweight champ. Anyway one thing I found out, he would go on shortly after this fight to face Kid Yamamoto. Coincidentally so did Jeff Curran (who lost to a young 3-1 Kid), so I think maybe Bao didn't fight on that card?

Rd 1, First off, the referee is wearing a T-shirt and track pants so that's hilarious. Quach goes for a takedown and gets kneed hard in the chest but scores it and ends up in Curran's guard. Curran gets Quach off him and stands up, with Quach going straight for a takedown but ends up clinching up against the cage. Eventually Quach gets another takedown. They stay in that position without much happening.

10-9 Quach, for the takedowns


Rd 2, Quach shoots for another takedown but Curran defends and keeps it standing. After a good length of time standing and trading, Curran gets a hip toss and ends up in Quach's guard. Unlike the last round, Curran seems more active from the top and stands up and then gets two throws/takedowns on Quach. Curran tries a takedown, that sets up a guillotine, and spikes his own head down on the mat in the process. Then in the ensuing scramble ends up in bottom guard to end the round.

10-9 Curran, for the takedowns


Rd 3, Quach gets another takedown and Curran can't stop it. Quach then breaks away, and then passes to side control. Eventually Curran stifles Quach to the point that Quach stands up and wants to strike rather than grapple. Curran then lands a series of decent combinations with Quach being more stiff with his striking. Quach eventually goes for a takedown but ends up in a guillotine as the round ends.

10-9 Curran, more striking/damage done



Jeff Curran def. Bao Quach, Majority Decision





Mike Swich vs James Gabert

Swick is back! Also Jens Pulver is on commentary now for some reason.

Rd 1, Swick lands a really loud body kick early on. Think the 10 second clapper sound, it was like that. Swick goes for another kick but Gabert grabs it and tries to clinch but Swick throws a bunch of knees, most of which are glancing at best. Swick is pressed against one of the corners as Gabert disengages. Another kick by Swick is caught by Gabert and again is pressed against the cage. This happens for a while and Swick lands a great elbow on the break to the side of Gaberts head cutting him open immediately. They continue to exchange with Swick getting the better as teh round ends.

10-9 Swick, better striking and damage overall

Between rounds we see the cut and it is a deep one for an elbow on the side of the head.


Rd 2, Gabert tries to clinch again and forces Swick against the fence but eats a good number of knees before disengaging. They break and start to exchange, with Gabert having some success with boxing combinations while Swick is throwing more kicks and using his range a bit more effectively. The round ends with a light amount of striking.

10-9 Swick, better striking again


Rd 3, Gabert clinches again and tries really hard to get Swick down but eats knees to the side of the body more than anything. Eventually they break and we're back to a good amount of striking, mostly Swick landing easily at range and only getting clipped as he comes into Gabert's range. This was the tale of the whole round, if not the whole fight.

10-9 Swick, striking



Mike Swick def. James Gabert, Unanimous Decision





Jason Jones vs. Randall Rowe


So this is an intersting one for what you'll see in a moment. One factor is Rowe actually fought Tim Sylvia in the amateur league, and Jones fought Gan McGee as his pro-debut. Heavyweights, huh.

Rd 1, Jones is the much larger of the two, with Rowe being more compact. Jones goes into distance and eats a hard right by Rowe but then presses him against the fence. Rowe just does tons of footstomps on Jones which is funny because it was like 20 nonstop. Rowe gets the position and gets a scoop up double leg off the fence on Jones (with Jones fence grabbing lol). Rowe ends up from side position into Jones' guard and they work from that position. Eventually Jones locks on a triangle as Rowe stands and it is very tight. Eventually the referee, Josh Rosenthal, stops the fight as Rowe was, seemingly out, and after they break Rowe is being checked on.

Jason Jones def...

Oh wait, for some stupid as hell reason Jones starts punching Rowe while the referee is checking on him and waved off the fight and as the commission folks are coming into the cage. We got a mini-brawl between the two of them then as the corners break them apart and bring order back to this situation.

Randall Rowe def. Jason Jones, Disqualification

This was 1 of 3 professional wins in Rowe's career. Jason Jones never won a fight in his pro-career. He could've at least won this one had he not been a stupid idiot. :psyduck:

There has to be a reason, probably pre-fight poo poo talk.





Eric Mainiai vs. John Rallo

Rd 1, fight starts and Rallo rocks the hell out of Mainiai and then takes him down. Eventually he is in top position and tries for a North-South Choke. Rallo then transitions and Mainiai gets up on his knees, then Rallo goes for an armbar from back control. He slips off and Mainiai is on top throwing elbows from top half. Rallo gets up and out and off of like three punches from Rallo, Mainiai covers up and turns his back. So when Rosenthal steps in to stop the fight Mainiai then goes "no no, keep going I'm good!" which very clearly was not what he was conveying.

John Rallo def. Eric Mainiai, TKO (Strikes)





Chris Wellisch vs. Jay White

Rd 1, Jay White throws a lot of smooth strikes in the opening minute or two of the fight. Wellisch goes for a single leg but can't get it at first but does secure it. Eventually though Wellisch stands and the referee resets. White trikes up Chris some more before another takedown and then Chris avoids White on the ground after a triangle attempt before the referee again steps in to reset. White gets a knockdown, and the referee steps in for a reason but apparently it wasn't to stop the fight but to tell White to not hit the back of the head. There was some confusion at first as it seemed the fight was over.

10-9 White, striking mostly but the takedowns by Wellisch were good.


Rd 2, we start again with White looking to strike and Chris goes for the takedown again. White is slowing down but picking his shots on Chris and landing easily. Chris looks worse for wear and really afraid to exchange. White slows more and more as the round continues and looks exhausted and falls to his but in his corner.

10-9 White, strikes did a lot but he was sluggish.


Rd 3, White looks way different than at the start of the fight. Slow, barely moving in his stance and letting Wellisch walk circles around him. Wellisch goes for another takedown and forces White to the fence. On the break they exchange a bit but White answers back. White's hands are at his hips and barely walking. Wellisch starts to open up with his striking more though. Wellisch gets a takedown and ends up in top side control and lays in hard punches to White's midsection. He then gets to top mount and lays down punches which White can't really answer and taps to the strikes.

Chris Wellisch def. Jay White, TKO (Strikes)

White has to be carried out on a stretcher apparently.


During the break we get a random Chuck Liddell cameo to hype up his next fight versus Renato "Babalu" Sobral with the assumption he'll get the winner of Tito/Ken Shamrock for the UFC title.





Zack Light vs. Tony Fryklund

Rd 1, Light scores an early double-leg and has Fryklund defending in guard. They then disengage pretty quickly and Tony exchanges punches with Light before another shoot double-leg. They disengage again but then Light gets another double-leg takedown. However as he's working to pass Fryklund locks a tight kimura on and twists it to the point the referee stops the fight despite Light not tapping, who seemed to be upset.

Tony Fryklund def. Zack Light, Submission (Kimura)




I'd argue that's tight and in a position where the referee should probably step in if he's not tapping. Apparently it was a verbal submission per the announcer, but possibly he was mad because it took Fryklund a bit of time to let go.

Matt Hughes shows up to hype his fight versus Gil Castillo. Moving on from this guy.

Also Frank Shamrock comes out to hype up a fight he will have in WEC in January/February of the next year.



Mac Danzig vs. Kurt Pelligreno for the Vacant WEC Lightweight Championship

So on the broadcast they say this was a Lightweight Championship fight, however if you go to Wikipedia or any other source they say that Gilbert Melendez was the innaugural WEC Lightweight Champion having won the belt at WEC 10.

Tito joins the commentary team and he's very lucid and clear in his thoughts so his more comical recent ramblings are clearly an effect from the beatings his giant head has taken.

Rd 1, the fight starts with a series of punches where Kurt clearly wants the takedown which he gets rather easily. He forces Mac's head up against the fence and works some strikes to get positional changes going. Kurt stays in top position for a lot of the round with Mac on the defense.

10-9 Pellegrino, takedown and positional control.


Rd 2, things start the same as the first round. Kurt goes in striking but now Mac gets the takedown but Kurt is able to secure half-guard and keep Mac from getting much going at first. Kurt then creates a scramble and gets to his knees and eventually standing. Kurt lands a stiff cross and then takes Mac down but almost gets caught in a kneebar but takes top half-guard. From here he gets stifled and eventually they're stood up and then they exchange. Mac lands a hard punch so Kurt takes it to the mat again and Mac tries for an inverted triangle but Kurt escapes and ends up in top again.

10-9, Pellegrino, takedown and positional control again.


Rd 3,Kurt gets another takedown from the start with Mac going for rubber guard. Kurt eventually passes to half-guard and then is stuck there before they're stood up. Kurt and Mac exchange until Kurt goes for a takedown again with Mac more or less stuck on bottom. All of Mac's work is being countered or stuffed by Kurt with relative easy.

10-9, Pellegrino, takedown and positional control.

The NEW WEC Lightweight Champion: Kurt Pellegrino (def. Mac Danzig, Unanimous Decision)

My best theory as to why they don't count this fight as the real first title fight is that Pellegrino wound up not fighting for WEC ever again despite being their champion. Given he was also 1-0 and the divisional champion, that was also kind of intersting and comical.





Richard Crunkilton vs. Luciano Oliveira, Lightweight Superfight (there's even a championship belt!)

Chuck Liddell is on commentary for this one.

Rd 1, Crunkilton goes for a kick but Luciano counters into a takedown attempt but can't get it so they clinch against the cage. Luciano then is able to slip under and go for the back of Crunkilton but can't get anything going off of it. Luciano tries a trip but Crunkilton counters it into a belly-to-belly and then ends up in top mount with a guillotine which Luciano rolls to counter. From there Crunkilton slaps on a triangle and then secures the win with an armbar.

Richard Crunkilton def. Luciano Oliveira, Submission (armbar).





Aaron Brink vs. Jeremy Horn. Light Heavyweight Superfight (there's even a championship belt!)

Frank Shamrock pops onto the broadcast now.

Rd 1, Horn immediately shoots for a takedown but Brink is able to defend it a good deal until Horn forces him against the cage. From there he finally gets his takedown and Brink gives up his back which Horn takes gladly and locks in an RNC and gets a really fast and quick tap early.

Jeremy Horn def. Aaron Brink, Submission (rear naked choke).






Overall Impressions: I think this was probably the best card so far of the three. Best production value, best fights in terms of pairings of skill and overall was pretty good. Plenty of decent names popping on for color commentary and they had, at times, pretty good things to say and comment on.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Aug 1, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Boco_T posted:

Notes and Research, WEC 4:

- They put belts on Pellegrino, Crunkilton, and Horn after they won. It's possible that those belts were simply the equivalent of the trophies given out for the winners of the earlier fights. Though I agree they definitely made it seem like the Danzig/Pellegrino match was a title match. But weirder still because the Crunkilton/Oliveira fight was also at lightweight.


Horn/Crunkilton were the Superfight winners.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I'm gonna move on and do WEC 5: Halloween Havoc this week as well to catch up for missed time.

Honestly the idea of a Halloween themed show done in October is totally good and cool and I wish someone would adopt it. UFC definitely won't but this was a cool and fun pro-wrestling kinda thing that just works.

On the card we have (not sure the exact order as I'm phone posting:

Cole Escovedo vs Philip Perez (For the Inaugural WEC Featherweight Championship)
Antonio Banuelos vs Jeff Bedard
Victor Estrada vs Rich Crunkilton
Tim Kennedy vs Mack Brewer
Chris Mooney vs Diallo Baza
Gilbert Melendez vs Gary Quan
Alex Khanbabian vs Alex Chu Kung
Samm Wells vs Gabe Ruediger
Justin Wieman vs Daniel Camarillo


Coincidentally this also is the lightest card in terms of weight classes with only one fight being a LHW and the vast majority being Featherweight bouts, followed by Lightweight fights with a handful of Welterweight and Middleweight bouts thrown in.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Aug 2, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Gabe passed out naked on the back deck from cutting weight was also in that season.

As was the Andy Wang battle cry.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
WEC 5: Halloween Havoc is definitely a card worth checking out if only for the awesomely done premise of merging Halloween themed announcers/card girls and MMA. Granted this was held on October 18th and not actually Halloween it still counts..

As noted in WEC 4, this was a step up in the normal production we've seen. We get an intro graphic, which says "Halloween Havoc" but on Tapology its called "Halloween Fury" as well as there being a full YouTube video of the card if you search for it there.

Anyway the show kicks off with a spooooooky red color surrounding the arena and the said graphic overlay, and the Halloween theme only marginally ripped off/remixed to avoid copyright issues (with actual dialogue from the movie tossed in) which then kicks into metal music because its early 2000s mma and metal is all you get.

The ring girls are in the cage with a cloaked figure in all black. Who could it be?



Also the commentating team are talking about the show and the main anchor says "the show is going by the name Halloween Havoc" and his co-host very blandly says "Oh...I didn't realize that" all while this hooded figure is in the middle of the ring and the Halloween theme/Bodies Hit The Floor remix is playing.

:cripes:

The hooded figure eventually reveals themselves and its Jeff Weller, WEC's in-ring announcer, dressed up like Gene Simmons from KISS. By the way, he keeps the make up on the whole event.



The crowd is so loud on the audio mixing, you can't hear him at all :rofl:.


We move, for some reason, to the second match as the first one wasn't on the broadcast I have. :shrug:

Just for the sake of results, in the Justin Wieman vs Daniel Camarillo match, Wieman def. Camarillo, Decision.







Samm Wells vs Gabe Ruediger

Rd 1, the fight starts with Gabe going right for a takedown but can't get it and gets the over/under against the cage before getting the takedown and ends up in top halfguard. Wells gets up easy, but Gabe ends up going for a guillotine and Wells slams Gabe onto his back but doesn't escape the submission. Gabe gives up after a bit and just holds guard. Wells doesn't seem to work much from the guard and after some time they're stood up. Gabe throws a weak kick and eats a counter punch down the middle, then follows up with his own right but also eats a punch, then finally throws another low telegraphed kick and eats a third punch down the middle and it drops him. As soon as he hits the ground, Gabe looks at the referee and the fight is called.


Samm Wells def. Gabe Ruediger, KO




So, again for reasons that I can't really figure out we are missing another fight from this broadcast I'm watching. We're missing the Gilbert Melendez vs Gary Quan and the Alex Khanbabian vs Alex Chu Kung fights. They were, supposedly, on after the Wells/Ruediger fight. This was the professional debut for Melendez too. Melendez def. Quan, KO/TKO (Rd 1) and Alex Khanbabian def Alex Chu Kung, KO/TKO (Rd 1).




Chris Mooney vs Diallo Baza

OK so here's a bit of a weird thing. Either the guy's name is Mooney like Tapology & Wikipedia say, or its Moody like the graphic on the broadcast says. :shrug:

Rd 1, Mooney gets an immediate takedown and slams Baza into the fence (which looks like it was about to give way). Baza plays open guard while he is being pushed up against the fence but wall walks up and transitions to a double underhook into his own takedown. Mooney stands up and gets his own double leg takedown into Baza's open guard. Baza works his way up and gets defense against Mooney's takedown attempts. Eventually Mooney does get another takedown and ends up in guard again. This leads to a bit of a stall (Mooney seems unsure how to pass the guard, or is at least unwilling). Mooney then immediately goes for a takedown again with Baza sprawling. Mooney is, seemingly, more fatigued/slower moving than Baza. The round ends with the two in a sprawled position.


10-9 Mooney, solely for the takedowns because that's all that happened
Between rounds the commentator says "I don't know the records of these two guys" which made me laugh for some reason. Like the dude is being paid to commentate the fights, why can't you just ask around?


Rd 2, Mooney seems much slower as Baza gets double underhooks and gets his own takedown to straight full mount. From there Baza throws punches to which Mooney gives up his back and Baza takes the back and locks in a rear naked choke. Mooney seems to not be doing much to prevent it. After some time, Mooney rolls to his belly, so Baza sits up from top back mount and throws punches leading to the stoppage.


Diallo Baza def. Chris Mooney, TKO





Tim Kennedy vs Mack Brewer


Rd 1, Mack Brewer is the much pudgier fighter of the two. The fight starts off with Brewer going for a swinging hook which Kennedy ducks under and gets a body lock which leads to a slam. Upon landing Kenney finds himself in a guillotine but its not a tight one nor that dangerous. Kennedy is able to get out and ends up in top side mount and throws elboes and punches forcing Mack to his belly and Kennedy wins throwing punches from the top back.


Tim Kennedy def. Mack Brewer, TKO


On the commentary there was some discussion about how they saw Brewer drinking a beer or two a few hours before the fight or so. Which...yeah that's early 2000s MMA for you.




Victor Estrada vs Rich Crunkilton

Rd 1, Rich gets dropped right away by Estrada. As soon as he stands up Estrada gets a guillotine and Rich slams him. Then rich stands up, walks to the fence and grabs it for balance lest me fall backwards in plain sight of the referee who stops him.



Rich then slams Estrada down again. Estrada then transitions to an armbar. Keep in mind Estrada is 1-6 going into this fight, and Rich is 10-0. If Estrada wins, this is a huge upset. Rich escapes and the two end up standing with Estrada initiating a clinch which leads to Rich getting a hip throw. Estrada immediately screams and rolls over which leads to the referee to step in and stop the fight.


Rich Crunkilton def. Victor Estrada, TKO


Later it turns out that Estrada was tapping due to an ankle injury of some sort that he got. I can't quite tell where but it probably was from the hip throw though maybe it started with the guard he had while going with the guillotine. Imagine him getting that KO win over Rich Crunkilton from the start. That would've been wild.


Antonio Banuelos vs Jeff Bedard

This is Jeff Bedard's debut and he is also nicknamed "Lil Popeye" so you just keep that in mind for future usage. This is also a Featherweight fight which is also the co-main.

Comically one of the commentators goes "Have you ever noticed how many guys have their names tattooed on themselves?"


Rd 1, The fight starts with Bedard going for a takedown and getting it ending up in top halfguard. Antonio works his way up to his knees but Bedard gets a tightfront headlock/guillotine choke and instantly makes Antonio tap. Antonio then runs out of the cage for some reason before the result is read.


Jeff Bedard def. Antonion Banuelos, Submission



Before we get to the main event we get a weird green screen promo by a ring girl in front of a graphic that reads BadBreed.TV (which is now a dead website).

What is BadBreedTV? Well their website has this to day.

Bad Breed TV is a new breed of interactive television and DVD entertainment. Bad Breed TV is a radical departure from the usual homogenized garbage found on Television - Bad Breed TV is RAW and REAL.

Bad Breed TV is an interactive DVD magazine, with creative contributors from around the world. Every issue of Bad Breed TV is packed full of hard hitting extreme lifestyles, hardcore sports, hardcore music, hot women, horsepower and bad attitude.



AKA its WorldStarHipHop/BumFights/StreetBeefs in the early 2000s.


Let's move on to the main event.


Cole Escovedo vs Philip Perez (For the Inaugural WEC Featherweight Championship)

There is a lot of talk/build up about a lot of bad blood between the two of them. Escovedo comes out wearing in his BJJ gi repping a blue belt (early 2000s!). Philip Perez comes out with one of his MMA title belts (not sure which one as he doesn't have any title belts on his Tapology page so I assume its a regional organization belt).

Also during his introductions, Jeff Weller (the in-ring announcers dressed as Gene Simmons) has fake blood coming out of his mouth.



Rd 1, The fight starts with Cole throwing a jab and dropping Perez. Perez then goes for a takedown and gets into Cole's guard. Cole shoots for a triangle but gets stopped. So from there Perez starts to try and ground and point while Cole is working for better positioning. Cole gets an armbar attempt but it is defended with Perez ending back in guard. A scramble happens with Cole getting on top and is in top side mount. Perez tries for an armbar but Cole gets out and they are back to standing. Cole throws a big headkick and dazes Perez. Perez shoots straight for a takedown which Cole gets a guard defense going. Cole then works in a triangle choke and makes Perez tap quickly.


Cole Escovedo def. Philip Perez, Submission

The first ever WEC Featherweight Champion is crowned!


This was a really good card. Production stepped up, the fights were good and engaging and weren't weird (except for Kennedy/Brewer).


As this was the last event of 2002, let's look at the reigning champions after 18 months or so of WEC action across 5 events.


Lightweight - Kurt Pellegrino
Featherweight - Cole Escovedo

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Aug 7, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Moving right along to WEC 6: Return of a Legend (held on March 27, 2003) we finally get a promotional poster to look at!




Plus there are two title fights. One featuring Frank Shamrock making his WEC debut, and one featuring a young Nick Diaz. Also on the card is Shonie Carter, Jeremy Jackson, Mike Swick, Gilbert Melendez, and that's about it for notable names that I recognize.

Frank Shamrock vs. Bryan Pardoe for the Vacant WEC Light Heavyweight Championship
Chris Williams vs Gil Castillo
Jeremy Jackson vs. Shonie Carter
Levi Thornbrue vs. Brian Stromberg
Nick Diaz vs. Joe Hurley for the Vacant WEC Welterweight Championship
Gilbert Melendez vs. Jeff Hougland
Kengo Ura vs. Mike Swick
Bret Bergmark vs. Brodie Farber
Brandon Wolff vs. Hannibal Adofo
Tim McKenzie vs. John Appleby
Doug Evans vs. Ed Wedding
Chris Sanford vs. Jack Cardenas
Poppies Martinez vs. Erick Husbands
Carlos Cordero vs. Steve Cutler

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Boco_T posted:

Commentary was clearly recorded in a studio after the show was edited to tape, and per the Youtube comments the lead commentator Mike Popp was operating one of the cameras so you can see him on screen while he's doing commentary.

Yeah it seemed very weird with the audio mixing but wasn't 100% sure.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
It's been a while and I apologize. I'm going to try and catch up on the 4 to 5 weeks of events I was meant to have posted about in a shorter period of time. Let's get started with WEC 6: A Legend Returns.

WEC has been slowly building up its production and match value and its way less awkward and clunky as compared to the early UFC's though it is also like 10 years after UFC started so there's that to consider.

The opening montage/hype up is basically on par with UFC's gladiator montage bit and was clearly done in post-production after the event (probably for TV or for DVD sales). It works and helps make the show seem improved from the parking lot days of WEC 1. They even throw in interviews after the event with the fighters between the bouts so that's neat as well.

Commentators are back actually at the event with Jeff Blatnick talking up the card. I think he is really good as a commentator if a bit dry in personality.


The broadcast skips the Carlos Cordero vs Steve Cutler fight, but to add some context for any later usage, Cordero wins in about half a round with an armbar.



Poppies Martinez vs Erick Husbands (Lightweight)

First off, Poppies Martinez is a stupidly great name. Both guys are making professional debuts with Husbands being an active duty military guy.

Rd 1, The round starts and quickly get into a boxing exchange and Husbands goes down off a short little flurry of punches with zero defense by Husbands.


Poppies Martinez def. Erick Husbands, KO Rd1



Chris Sanford vs Jack Cardenas (Middleweight)

We all remember Sanford from WEC 1 who won with that sorta weak looking punch right? Well he's back and is facing Cardenas who was at WEC 3.

Rd 1, Cardenas has a huge reach advantage and clipss and rocks Sanford early and takes him down. Sanford sits up and gets caught in a guillotine but Cardenas lets it go and they both get up and scramble with Sanford ending in full mount and rains down punches. Cardenas gets up and out but immediately is in a guillotine that turns into a sweep and Sanford is back on top. Cardenas pushes up with his arms and finally sweeps so that he is in Sanfords guard but loses the position and ends up in bottom mount again. Cardenas gets beaten up before Sanford switches to an armbar and gets the submission win. This was a fun lower skilled MMA fight.

Chris Sanford def. Jack Cardenas, Submission Rd1



Doug Evans vs Ed Wedding (Lightweight)

Rd 1, Wedding starts off with some good leg kicks but Evans catches it and takes him down. Wedding escapes and gets back to standing with the two clinched against the cage. From the clinch Evans gets another take down into side mount but Wedding works back to butterfly guard. Evan disengages and the two are back to standing. Evans eats more kicks and then gets a take down into top half guard. Weddings gets guard but Evans tries to do a big slam but nothing really happens off of it. Evans is tied up by Wedding but when Evans explodes to stand up, Wedding trips him and gets top side mount. Wedding eventually spins around to an armbar with Evans tapping very quickly.


Ed Wedding def. Doug Evans, Submission Rd 1



Bret Bergmark vs Brodie Farber (Middleweight)
We skipped ahead to this fight for some reason but probably because of pacing on the DVD? Who knows.

Rd 1, Bergmark takes Farber down rather quickly and works to mount. Farber is able to sweep and get into guard but is pushed off by Bergmark. Farber gets Bergmark caught in a guillotine but its not tight so Bergmark works out of it and gets mount. Bergmark sits up and traps an arm with his leg and just throws tons of punches down leading to the stoppage.


Bret Bergmark def. Brodie Farber, KO/TKO Rd 1



Kengo Ura vs Mike Swick (Middleweight)

We have the first of the truly international fights so far with Kongo Ura coming over from Japan for his pro MMA debut. Ura seems to fight a lot of his early career in the US so maybe its just more of a marketing thing.

Rd 1, Swick looks slick on his feet despite the reported knee injury he had going into this. Ura throwing more boxing combinations in response to Swick's kicks. Ura catches a kick and gets the take down. Swick swings into a pretty tight looking armbar that Ura slips out of and gets top side mount before trying for a kimura of his own. Swick works up off his back and gets top side mount position with Ura still holding onto the arm. The round ends as Swick escapes the hold and stands up throwing leg kicks on a seated Ura.

10-9 Ura, take downs did it for him.

Rd 2, A solid combination from Ura to start the round. Ura catches a low kick by Swick and rocks him a bit before pushing him up against the fence. Ura lets himself get caught in a guillotine position while tring to get a take down which he gets and pops his head out of the hold. Swick very clearly grabbed the fence on that one which is always comical. Ura starts to throw punches from top mount but Swick kicks off the cage and gets up and the two end up clinching again. Ura tries for another take down but ends up in bottom mount with Swick laying into him. He gets a top triangle position and throws punches but Ura slithers out and gets into Swick's guard while laying in punches to end the round.

10-9 Ura, take downs did it again.

Rd 3, Swick looks a bit slower than he did at the start. Ura comes in to clinch/shoot for a take down but eats a knee from Swick and it knocks Ura out cold.



That is a pretty nice knee.

Mike Swick def. Kengo Ura, KO/TKO Rd 3



We get a Bill Goldberg appearance! He talks up the main event and about how he loves MMA. Goldberg is asked how he'd do against Tito Ortiz if they were to have a fight, which Goldberg answers nicely but what's that hopping over the fence?!?!?!?



A WILD TITO HAS APPEARED! This was when Tito was the UFC LHW Champion and was angling for a rematch against Frank, but never got it. Goldberg & Tito are chatting nicely about each other, but Tito is demanding more money for his fights and it is comical that in 2003 this was a point of contention between fighters and the UFC. Tito is actually speaking well here, so I have to say his overall decline in ability to speak is head trauma related :smith:


Gilbert Melendez vs Jeff Hougland (Lightweight)

Gilbert is, in all honesty, fighting in what looks to be swim trunks.



Rd 1, The fight starts off with Gilbert landing a night right. He then scores a quick and easy takedown on Jeff but ends up in guard. The majority of the round is Gilbert on top in mount or half guard working hard.

10-9 Melendez, he did more work and had the better positioning

Rd 2, The round starts and Hougland gets a take down and ends up in Melendez's guard. Gilbert escapes and gets his own takedown and just rains down punches on Hougland to end the fight.


Gilbert Melendez def. Jeff Hougland, KO/TKO



Nick Diaz vs Joe Hurley for the Vacant WEC Welterweight Championship (also called the IFC US Welterweight Championship)

Hurley's hair is very much in the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine style. Except he can't pull it off as well as Jackman.



Rd 1, Diaz clips Hurley early and drops him. Hurley gets up and Diaz clinches and very clearly is grabbing the fence to stop Hurley from getting a better position. Diaz gets the takedown and ends up on top. Diaz passes to side control and locks in a kimura and gets a quick tap. You can see the arm pop/snap and immediately afterwards Diaz looks visibly concerned/worried for hurting Hurley.



Nick Diaz def. Joe Hurley, Submission Rd 1 and NEW WEC Welterweight Champion





Levi Thornbrue vs Brian Stromberg (Heavyweight)

Randy Couture is cornering Stromberg in this fight. So that's kinda cool.

Rd 1, The fight starts with the two throwing really sloppy kicks and punches. Of the two Thornbrue looks the more awkward but even Stromberg looks not comfortable throwing punches himself. Stromberg gets the takedown and from half guard is working for position while throwing strong punches from the top. After trapping an arm, Stromberg throws some punches and just makes Thornbrue tap.


Brian Stromberg def. Levi Thornbrue, KO/TKO Rd 1



Jeremy Jackson vs Shonie Carter (Welterweight)

Jackson comes out with his own IFC looking title, which one they don't necessarily clarify which it is, but do mention he had a win over Nick Diaz a few months prior.

Rd 1, The fight starts standing and the two seem a bit tentative to engage fully with more peppering shots coming in from time to time. Jackson seems to use his reach a bit better and the first round ends with the two not overly engaged.

10-9 Jackson, it's hard to really give it to either guy.

Rd 2, The first half of the round is much of the same. However off a spinning heel kick into spinning backfist by Carter, Jackson chases him down and gets taken down by Carter. Jackson breaks away and scores a lot of punches from the clinch. Shonie goes for two back to back spinning backfists and doesn't quite connect and does a desperation take down to avoid more damage.

10-9 Jackson, more action and damage landed by Jackson.

Rd 3, Back to a more tentative pace. Carter gets a takedown and Jackson does a lot to avoid his progression and keeps him in guard. Jackson gets up and the two exchange more with Carter trying what he can to get a take down and eating punches for it. Jackson is getting the better of Carter in these exchanges but Carter gets the clinch and a takedown.

10-9 Jackson, more damage landed and clearly had Carter hurt.


Jeremy Jackson def. Shonie Carter, Unanimous Decision



Chris Williams vs Gil Castillo (Middleweight)

Rd 1, After a bit of a feeling out, Castillo gets a take down and sits in Williams' guard and lands some hard punches opening Williams up. Herb Dean starts the fight to have the doctor look at it before resuming the fight. Williams eats a hard left by Castillo and shoots for a take down in desperation. Castillo stops it and lands more punches rocking Williams more. Castillo gets Williams up against the fence and takes him down. Castillo gets mount and just finishes the round landing hard punches.

10-8 Castillo, easily smothered and overwhelmed Williams

Between rounds Williams' corner tells the referee he's done and the fight is over.

Gil Castillo def. Chris Williams, KO/TKO (Corner Stoppage) Rd1



Frank Shamrock vs Bryan Pardoe for the Vacant WEC Light Heavyweight Championship

Rd 1, Pardoe gets a solid punch in on Shamrock but clearly doesn't have much in the way of striking skills. He trips and tries to turn that into a take down on Frank who defends it. However, Pardoe gets it eventually and ends up in top half guard. Shamrock gets to guard and then controls Pardoe's ability to posturel and land punches. Shamrock gets in an armbar from bottom guard and submits Pardoe quickly.


Frank Shamrock def. Bryan Paroe, Submission Rd 1 NEW WEC Light Heavyweight Champion

This was a really good card in general. Production stepped up, the fights were good entertaining. However at the upper end of the card there was some notable mismatches with the main event being the most notable. Having a guy who is 20-7 take on a guy who is 5-2 is a huge red flag. I know Frank left UFC in favor of "finding better competition" but this was not that.







Here are, at the time, the WEC Champions:

Light Heavyweight - Frank Shamrock
Welterweight - Nick Diaz
Lightweight - Kurt Pellegrino
Featherweight - Cole Escovedo

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 11:55 on Sep 6, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

algebra testes posted:

"I thought that was a "Smackdown was good, but this fake fight was better" but looking at that card it's probably that Smackdown was very bad and even the crappy worked shoot was better than all but Eddie Guerrero v Charlie Haas.

Any reason why Nick Diaz never came back that we know of?

Also as usual the Pride show a week earlier was completely loving stacked lol.

He signed a contract with UFC after this fight and left WEC as UFC has exclusivity clauses in their fighter contracts.

This fight was in March, he had a fight in the IFC in July and by September he was in the UFC.

Comically both his next two fights were against Jeremy Jackson who he had lost to and he walloped him.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Sep 6, 2022

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I'm going to try and get WEC 7: This Time It's Personal written up by Friday and then WEC 8: Halloween Fury 2 by Sunday because of how bad the MMA cards look.

Here's a quick preview of the WEC 7 card

Ron Waterman vs James Nevarez - For the WEC Super Heavyweight Championship
Don Rugebreght vs Tony Alanis - Welterweight
Wander Braga vs Nick Ertl - (who knows what weight it is)
Shonie Carter vs Dax Bruce - For the vacant WEC Welterweight Championship
Boyd Ballard vs Abraham Baxter - Light Heavyweight
Olaf Alfonso vs Randy Spence - Lightweight
J.T. Taylor vs Ryan Schultz - Welterweight
Jason Von Flue vs Nick Gilardi - Welterweight
Anthony Arria vs Levi Thornbrue - Heavyweight
Poppies Martinez vs Johnny Fadella - Middleweight
Jorge Evangelista vs Gary Quan - Featherweight
Gabe Ruediger vs Carlos Cordero - Lightweight
Michael Brown vs John Letters - Middleweight

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
For WEC 7: This Time It's Personal we see a marked drop in the production value of the event. I assume this is because Shamrock and people he knows aren't involved with the production. Oh well let's watch this event!



Before each fight there's a mini pre-fight interview/hype up that was done in post.


Michael Brown vs John Letters (Middleweight)

Rd 1, The round starts and Brown is very bouncy and goes for a swinging overhand with Letters shooting immediately. Brown gets a big knee off the sprawl, which leads to a wild punch that clips Letters and drops him. Brown seems to think the fight is over off that but Josh Rosenthal doesn't call it. So Brown goes back but Letters recovers and stands up. Brown gets double underhooks and suplexes Letters back to the mat. Brown ends up in a headlock and struggles to get out of it while Letters is leaking blood all over the mat. Brown getrs out of the headlock and sinks in a rear naked choke for the tap. Letters notes is busted wide open and gushing blood as he stands and Brown is just bouncing around.


Michael Brown def. John Letters, Submission Rd 1




Gabe Ruediger vs Carlos Cordero (Lightweight)

Ruediger's pre-fight hype up interview is of him wearing a luchador mask, which he also wears as part of his walkout.




Rd 1, The two clinch immediately and Cordero pulls guard. Ruediger passes easily and gets north south position before going to side. Cordero gets guard but Ruediger tries for an arm triangle choke from inside guard. Ruediger walks him and pins him against the cage before posturing up and pasing the guard and getting full mount landing punches from the top. Cordero mounts zero defense and Josh Rosenthal calls the fight.


Gabe Ruediger def. Carlos Cordero, KO/TKO Rd 1




Jorge Evangelista vs Gary Quan (Featherweight)

Rd 1, The two kick off the fight with a fast flurry before Jorge clinches and pushes Quan against the fence. Jorge gets the take down and Quan gets a desperation headlock while Jorge works to halfguard. After a lack of action Herb Dean stands them up and they slug it out with Jorge then clinching Quan against the fence. Quan then goes for a rolling kneebar but Jorge defends it well and lands punches from the top. Quan then works in a heel hook but Jorge escapes it without much fuss. Quan lets Jorge get past his guard and into side control landing plunches all over Quan. Quan gets half guar dbut takes a bunch of punches before Herb pulls them apart and you can see Quan in serious pain. The video cuts to the post-fight announcement. There was a doctor's stoppage for Quan getting an injured shoulder it seems.


Jorge Evangelista def. Gary Quan, TKO (Dr.'s Stoppage) Rd 1




Poppies Martinez vs Johnny Fadella (Middleweight)

Rd 1, The two immediately clinch and Fadella tries to pick up and slam Martinez but Martinez recovers and gets a neck crank before getting a front headlock and lands a bunch of unanswered knees and Herb Dean sees enough and stops the fight. Fadella is very upset and the commentators claim he tapped but I didn't catch it. On a replay it doesn't really look like a tap and more him rubbing a side of his head? It's weird.


Poppies Martinez def. Johnny Fadella, KO/TKO Rd 1



Anthony Arria vs Levi Thornbrue (Heavyweight)

Rd 1, Trashweight fight stars with the two running right at each other swinging. Immediagely Thornbrue clips Arria, but Arria recovers and picks up and slams Thornbrue. Arria then, to pass Thornbrue's guard, tries to do a cartwheel of sorts and just fails horrible. This is a photo of Arria, who is a Heavyweight remember, flying in the air.



He jumped so that his body would twist/land in that way! Thornbrue gets up and Arria then goes for a diving chop block style tackle and takes Thornbrue down again. Thornbrue locks in a guillotine choke attempt but Arria gets out of it and off of another exchange Arria gets a double leg takedown. Arria again gets caught in a guillotine attempt but its not tight and Arria gets out of it. Thornbrue takes a bunch of heavy punches and opens his guard up and Arria passes easily. Arria gets to side control and just beats Thornbrue up making Herb Dean stop the fight.

Anthony Arria def. Levi Thornbrue, KO/TKO Rd 1




Jason Von Flue vs Nick Gilardi (Welterweight)

Ayyyyy. It's Von Flue!

Rd 1, Nick starts off with a kick while Von Flue seems a bit more technical with his boxing. Gilardi goes straight for a take down and in the process picks up Von Flue and nearly gets caught in an inverted triangle. Von Flue works his way to his knees and breaks away. Gilardi closes in again and gets a take down of his own and gets into Von Flue's guard. Von Flue works defense and threatens an armbar off the wall walk. There's a slight hype remark for Chuck Liddell, who is a teammate of Von Flue, being in Japan for the Pride Grand Prix. Gilardi passes to side control and gets mount but Von Flue bridges and gets out and is in top half guard and guess what Von Flue does from here? You guessed it, he does a Von Flue choke and Gilardi goes out as a result in maybe 10 seconds. Josh Rosenthal stops the fight and Gilardi is really out of it.


Jason Von Flue def. Nick Gilardi, Submission Rd 1



J.T. Taylor vs Ryan Schultz (Welterweight)

Rd 1, To start off Taylor throws a head kick to start off and keeps going with it a series of kicks. Schultz charges in with punches but gets clinched by Taylor and the two exchange knees and punches from the clinch. Schultz breaks out and they reset. There's a quick pause due to a glove issue for Schultz. On the restart they continue to exchange before Taylor gets double underhooks and presses Schultz against the cage. From there he tries a trip takedown but Schultz recovers pretty quickly. A few more attempts before the two decide to just foot stomp each other. After some of this Schultz gets out again and Taylor's kicks keep Schultz at range and Schultz tries to respond by charging in with punches but Taylor evades it. Taylor is doing a great job getting the better of the striking between the two. Schultz gets clipped by Taylor and gets clinched but breaks off. On the break away exchange Schultz clips Taylor and the two go at it with Taylor getting clipped again just as the round ends.

10-9 Taylor, though I could see the argument for Schultz but Taylor did better at controlling the fight in a general sense.

Rd 2, Taylor comes in with a swinging right and Schultz decides to exchange himself before Taylor decides that sucks and clinches. Taylor lets Schultz go from the clinch and clips him with a right. Taylor keeps Schultz at bay with his jab and kicks but Schultz rushes in and gets the clinch. Taylor is able to break away. Schultz decides to bull rush in with his own punches but doesn't keep his hands up and Taylor clips him and visibly hurts Schultz. Taylor corners him against the cage and lands two to three unanswered straight rights to Schultz's head and drops him. Rosenthal calls the fight as soon as it happens.

J.T. Taylor def. Ryan Schultz, KO/TKO Rd 2




Olaf Alfonso vs Randy Spence (Lightweight)

Olaf looks like a very angry hobo with the Justin Bieber hair flop.



Rd 1, Randy eats a quick knee by Olaf which almost becomes a takedown but Olaf stays with the clinch and throws knees. The two clinch and Randy tries his own knee but falls down and Olaf lets him back up. Olaf has a much smoother striking style but then takes a solid right from Randy and drops Olaf. Randy takes top mount but gets swept and Olaf is then on top in Randy's guard. Randy is more of a grappler and goes for an armbar then switches to a kimura and Olaf escapes them but throws punches down in response. Eventually Olaf gets up and the two square off. Randy tries for a takedown but Olaf sprawls and tries to take the back but gets into Randy's half guard. Randy reverses and gets on top in half guard himself. Eventually working to side control, Randy then gets swept with the oopa (briding from bottom side) sweep and Olaf is back on top as the round ends.

10-9 for Olaf, stronger ability to control the fight.

Rd 2, The round starts and Randy looks very tired and awkward but keeps catching Olaf as he comes in. Olaf clinches and pushes Randy against the cage. Randy tries to pull guard but Olaf stops it and then tosses Randy down. Olaf then just feeds his leg in so Randy could get single x-guard while Olaf throws punches down. Olaf got cut and is bleeding a good deal. He spins out and ends up in top half guard on top of Randy. Randy tries to stand up but gets stopped and Olaf pushes Randy against the cage and throws punches. Josh Rosenthal stops the action to have Olaf's nose, which is likely broken, checked on. You tell me if this is a broken nose or not.



The fight continues from standing and Randy tries for a takedown but Olaf stops it. Randy is very spent and Olaf drops a elbows from top side control before taking full mount. From here Olaf throws more elbows and Randy doesn't do much to stop it so Rosenthal calls the fight.

Olaf Alfonso def. Randy Spence, KO/TKO Rd 2



Boyd Ballard vs Abraham Baxter (Middleweight, but guys are at 205 lbs so its actually LHW)

Rd 1, Ballard shoots for a take down but gets sprawled on and Baxter is able to avoid it and break away. The punching exchanges are awkward for both despite Baxter being touted as a kickboxer. Its not even halfway through the first round and Baxter is breathing very heavy and looks very overly excited/anxious. Ballard works his way in and gets a takedown and ends up in top mount. Baxter tries to push off the cage with his feet and gets out of bottom half and secures bottom guard but Ballard guard passes quickly. Ballard looks for an americana but loses it and drops off of Baxter. The two stand up and exchange more with Ballard shooting in but eating a left hook. Ballard stands up and throws leather but eats another punch and Ballard is hurt. Baxter also looks rough and out of breath. Ballard is able to get another take down and throws short punches but Baxter does well to defend.

10-9 Ballard, both guys had good moments but Ballard's takedowns seemed more impactful to the fight's progression.

Rd 2, Both guys are spent and they just decide, despite Ballard being more of a wrestler, to have a kickboxing match. Off of some very sloppy striking, Ballard does try a take down but is easily shrugged off by Baxter. Everytime he clinches with Baxter or grabs a leg, Baxter just breaks out but that seems to make Baxter breath heavier and heavier. Once Ballard gets a clinch against the cage, as Baxter is trying to break away Ballard throws a very off balanced knee and eats a punch making him drop to his butt. Baxter immediately gets on top but Ballard turtles up just fine and the round ends.

10-9 Baxter, again nothing really remarkable by either guy but since it was a striking round it goes to Baxter because Ballard ate more hard punches it seems.

Rd 3, Ballard and Baxter clinch early on and both work knees to the body before breaking away. Baxter then decides now is the time to throw punches but each volley makes him want to reset and he continues to breath heavier and heavier. Baxter's striking is much crisper and harder than Ballard's but he keeps pausing and doesn't really seem to capitalize on any of the exchanges that clearly hurt Ballard. Ballard gets a single leg and ends up in full guard. The two are here until Herb Dean decides to stop and reset them. Baxter shoots for another take down but it is stuffed and Baxter pressures Ballard against the fence. A left hook rocks Ballard but the round ends.

10-9 Baxter, more meaningful punches landed and he did better at stopping Ballard's attempts for a take down

Boyd Ballard and Abraham Baxter fight to a Draw

That was a very sloppy and boring/uninteresting fight. First stinker of WEC so far in my opinion.




Shonie Carter vs Dax Bruce (Welterweight) For the Vacant WEC Welterweight Championship

Rd 1, Carter & Bruce clinch early and Bruce is able to push Carter against the fence. Carter works himself away and then gets a beautiful hip toss on Bruce to end up in top side control. Carter is working for a kimura and very nearly gets it but Bruce does a decent job making it hard for Carter to get in fully. Carter then swaps to a full mount position and throws punches. Bruce gives up his back as a result and Carter is able to work in the arm under the neck and sinks in a rear naked choke to cause the tap.

Shonie Carter def. Dax Bruce, Submission Rd 1 and NEW WEC Welterweight Champion

No belt is awarded for him, but Carter is (per Tapology, Wikipedia, etc.) declared the WEC Welterweight Champion as a result of this fight.


Don Rugebreght vs Tony Alanis (Welterweight)

Rd 1, Don looks very anxious with his movement and stance as the fight starts while Alanis looks very calm and relaxed. Don throws a sloppy kick but Alanis catches him as he steps in and drops him and takes him down with Alanis on top in guard. Don gets stacked up against the cage with Alani throwing punches from top position. This goes for a while with Don very visibly concerned with this position and after a few more punches Don taps to strikes claiming he can't see out of his eye. From my view, it may have been an errant eye poke rather than a punch that landed right on the eye.


Tony Alanis def. Don Rugebregth, Submission (Punches) Rd 1




Ron Waterman vs James Nevarez (Superheavyweight) For the WEC Super Heavyweight Championship

This is the first Super Heavyweight fight I've ever seen aside from Openweight fights in PRIDE & DREAM. Waterman previously fought in UFC & PRIDE prior to this fight. He was also doing pro wrestling as mentioned in the WEC 6 notes that were found from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This is pretty much a squash match since Nevarez is on his second fight as a pro.

Rd 1, Waterman clinches right away and Nevarez tries to drop to get a takedown but Waterman ends up on top in half guard with Nevarez's head right next to the cage. Rosenthal stops the action for a reason that isn't exactly clear. The commentators say it was due to an illegal knee but I didn't catch that. Waterman loses a point as a result. If only that was the level of enforcement of fouls in MMA in general. Waterman again clinches with Nevarez and gets top mount off a takedown. Nevarez quickly gets half guard and defends himself. Waterman tries for kimuras and americas while beating Nevarez up with hammerfists. Nevarez gives up his back but the round ends with Waterman not able to capitalize it.

9-9, Waterman would have won that round were it not for the foul.

Rd 2, We somehow lose this round on the video and it skips to Round 3. *shrug*

10-9 Waterman, this is just a pure guess though.

Rd 3, We abruptly go to round three and Nevarez is apparently trying to land a hard right. Waterman looks a little more flat footed but still goes for the clinch and pushes Nevarez against the fence and throws a knee at his head and connects. Off of that Waterman gets the takedown and ends up in top turtle. Nevarez tries a roll through kneebar attempt but Waterman avoids it. Waterman just slowly beats more and more on Nevarez with punches. Waterman is very tired as is Nevarez and it seems that Rosenthal suddenly stops the fight due to Nevarez not defending himself. Nevarez wasn't really rocked or stunned, but it was very clear he had no defense.

Ron Waterman def. James Nevarez, KO/TKO Rd 3 and NEW WEC Super Heavyweight Champion.



Here are, at the time, the WEC Champions:

Super Heavyweight - Ron Waterman
Light Heavyweight - Frank Shamrock
Welterweight - Shonie Carter
Lightweight - Kurt Pellegrino
Featherweight - Cole Escovedo

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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
So hi. It's been a LONG while since I updated this thread and apologize.

I still want to do these rewatches but real life has caught me up in a loop for stuff.

So, to help with the write ups, my viewing, and also to avoid burn out (which I honestly got) I'm going to do these not every week because even back then it felt difficult to do. I'm also changing the write ups a bit. I'm likely gonna skip writing in depth about most of the fights and not do a round by round analysis, but just an overall "here's some cool poo poo from this fight" and provide links/gifs/etc.

WEC 8: Halloween Fury II



You may note that WEC 8, which was taking place in October of 2003, is a Halloween themed show. However, the WEC 5 name of Halloween Havoc was dropped and replaced with Halloween Fury because, if you didn't know, pro-wrestling companies WCW/WWE own the name Halloween Havoc.

Anyway there was plenty of shenanigans related to halloween but not a fun or cool intro like in WEC 5.

We did get a costume from Jeff Weller, and one of the referees for the night is the always amazing Cecil Peeples.



Chris Irvin vs Jason Von Flue (Welterweight)

The match went to the ground pretty quickly but there was no timer on the broadcast I had so I can't tell how soon it went.

Von Flue eventually gets to top half guard and then, as Irvin's head is more or less wedged against the cage, secures a Von Flue choke in the same manner he got his last time out in WEC.


Jason Von Flue def. Chris Irvin, Submission Rd 1




Randy Bowers vs Olaf Alfonso (Lightweight)

Ol' brokenose vs Randy "I'm also from Huntington Beach, CA" Bowers.

Olaf continues to look like he is a murderous hobo they picked up off the freeway to fight in the event. Bowers gets an early takedown with Olaf against the cage and gets to side control. Olaf eventually gets out from bottom, but Bowers gets another take down and ends up in top guard. From there Olaf sets up the armbar and locks it in and gets the tap.

Olaf Alfonso def. Randy Bowers, Submission Rd 1




Ryan Schultz vs Hannibal Adofo (Welterweight)

Team Quest vs American Kickboxing Academy prospects is what this fight is about. Matt Lindland and Dennis Hallman are in Schultz corner, with Bob Cook & Josh Thompson cornering Adofo. Adofo is billed as the submission expert in the fight.

After a few moments of circling and jabbing we get this punch from Schultz

https://i.imgur.com/4TggQso.mp4

and its all over.

Ryan Schultz def. Hannibal Adofo, KO Rd 1




AJ Wieman vs Poppies Martinez (Lightweight)

AJ came out dressed as a prisoner and the ring girls, for some reason, had a dog collar and chain on one of them because gently caress it why not its early 2000s MMA.



Early on, Wieman drops Martinez with a right with Cecil stepping in despite Martinez immediately getting up and then in very Cecil fashion says the fight can continue. So the whole stepping in by him was him loving up as usual.

https://i.imgur.com/gTGNs7N.mp4

Martinez then gets an immediate takedown, with Wieman pushing him off and getting to his knees where Poppies eventually gets top half guard, which sees Wieman try to turtle up and Martinez locks in a rear naked choke and the fight is over as Wieman taps.

Poppies Martinez def. AJ Wieman, Submission Rd 1




Chris Leben vs Brian Sleeman (Middleweight)

It's Leben! This fight would eventually be what sets up his match with Mike Swick which would lead to discussions/debates in TUF Season 1.

Leben is 5-0 and is fighting a nobody who is 7-6. During the first part of the fight there was loud nutshot by Leben that caused Sleeman to collapse into the corner once Herb Dean paused the fight. Sleeman actually rocked Leben and then tried to guillotine him but would up getting out of it before getting the fight to the ground again with Leben pulling guard and then locking on an armbar.

Chris Leben def. Brian Sleeman, Submission Rd 1




Anthony Fuller vs Doug Marshall (Heavyweight)

Fuller decides to fight in a white t-shirt for this one. Immediately as the fight starts, Fuller stands still near his corner as Marshall just power walks across the cage. Immediately its clear that Fully both A) doesn't want to fight and B) doesn't know how to fight. Marshall gets the fight to ground and just beats on Fuller before the fight is called.

Choice quote from commentary: "Marshall got the better end of the banging right there."

Doug Marshall def. Jeff Fuller, TKO Rd 1


Next there was a thai kickboxing fight in the cage which actually was decent but this is MMA we wanna talk about!


Mike Kyle vs Jerry Vrbanovic (Heavyweight)

Trashweight Kyle! The nickname for Jerry was "Scary" Jerry Vrbanovic and when he walked hin he intentionally checked his shoulder into Kyle. Also Jerry is rocking a pair of very loud Croatian flag pants.

So...anyway here's how the fight went.

https://i.imgur.com/S0sHLlu.mp4

Herb had to restrain Kyle for a good while after the KO. Vrbanovic was incredibly out of it when he stood back up.

Mike Kyle def. Jerry Vrbanovic, KO Rd 1




Shonie Carter vs J.T. Taylor (WEC Welterweight Championship)

This is for the vacant WEC Welterweight belt that Nick Diaz won at WEC 6 before giving it up in order to go fight in the UFC for more money. Shonie comes out with like...so many belts from different martial arts organizations its kind of comical in a way that only Shonie can pull off and still be serious about.

The fight goes the full distance and realistically speaking, it was a rough going early for Taylor who got the takedown but Shonie's extensive experience and weird/funky style just worked. After the 15 (yes 15) minutes, Shonie got handed the Unanimous Decision and took the title.

Shonie Carter def. J.T. Taylor, Decision




Anthony Hamlett vs Cole Escovedo (c) (WEC Featherweight Championship)

The main event and for the only, at the moment, actually active WEC championship belt that they say is for the WEC Lightweight belt, but historically and in terms of weight its actually the WEC Featherweight belt. It seems there's been some heated backstory between Escovedo and Hamlett up to this point but the details were a bit light. Just that they were not fans/friendly towards each other. We also have the second "it's halloween and i'm a scary prisoner" entrance of the night, but Hamlett got two cops to handcuff him and escort him to the ring for the fight.



Escovedo set the standard for entering to Enter Sandman like a decade before Brock ever did.

Early on, Hamlett puts pressure on Escovedo and gets into Escovedo's guard. A long portion of the first round is spent in that position before they were stood up. Hamlett gets the takedown but again is stuck within Escovedo's guard for the remainder of the round.

After an early exchange, Escovdeo tries for some knees from the clinch and you get a precursor to Josh Koschek's faking being injured to get time to rest.

https://i.imgur.com/UpqmUOt.mp4

After time was given the fight continues and....

https://i.imgur.com/eQRKEoy.mp4

Cole Escovedo (c) def. Anthony Hamlett, TKO Rd 2


That was WEC 8: Halloween Fury II and overall, not a bad card. Total run time for the PPV was under two hours and that included a non-MMA fight as well as an MMA fight I found really boring and didn't want to comment on in this write up.



Verdict:

4/5 Faking A Low Blows Only to get TKO'd Later

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