WEC 44 Results: Jose Aldo Stuns Mike Brown To Win Featherweight Title

Josh Nason

Jose Aldo made it look easy in dispatching of WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown at WEC 44 Wednesday night, winning the title via second round TKO after getting Brown's back and unloading punches until the referee stopped the fight.

Simply put, Aldo was dominant and didn't let the champion get comfortable in the first round, aggressively striking and throwing his signature flying knee. There was no controversy in the stop as Brown looked overmatched.

Jose Aldo has officially arrived, and I am looking forward to his first defense of the gold, which I assume to be against Urijah Faber in the spring. 

Here's how the whole card broke down:

Jose Aldo def. Mike Brown by second round TKO (1:20) to win WEC Featherweight Title

Maybe the key is to make no eye contact before the fight as Aldo stared at the ground during the mid-ring touch-up. He pressed the action early with leg kicks and punches. I guess it was a bad sign early that Brown—a wrestling stud—couldn't take Aldo down.

Brown began to look more comfortable near the end of the round and threw some straight kicks to the gut, but Aldo still won the round, 10-9.

In the second round, Aldo grounded Brown and eventually mounted him. Brown uncharacteristically gave Aldo his back and it was game over. Aldo started throwing hard punches to the side of Brown's head while sneaking in some to the face with no response or real defense.

Shocking? Yes. But Aldo is good...really good. Post-fight, Brown looked beaten, swollen with some blood from his nose.

The crowd just sat on their hands when Aldo won. I don't know if the Vegas crowd at the Palms was just that bad or big Mike Brown fans, but they couldn't have cared less about the Aldo victory.  

Manny Gamburyan def. Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision

Good fight, but how did one judge give all three rounds to Gamburyan? Two judges had it 29-28 for Manny.

First: MG seems perfect for the WEC...both guys looks in great shape. A low blow got Garcia a bit pissed, but the announcers made a good point that MG is 5'5"so knee strikes are risky for him. Garcia's height and reach advantage is definitely working in his advantage. He seems calm and confident.

Second: MG got Garcia down late in the round and landed some punches and attempted a guillotine. Garcia got up but I think MG stole the round with another takedown and some standing punches to end the round.

Third: At one point, Garcia stood with his arms down and was looking for Manny to hit him, which he did but didn't tag him that hard. Man, Garcia is intense. MG got the takedown around the 2:25 mark and capitalized. Manny's ground game is taking over as Garcia is trapped. Nice win. 

Karen Darabedyan def. Rob McCullough by split decision

This was a great fight that featured a second round that was outstanding. McCullough was hyper-active in the first round and Darabedyan was content to just wait and then strike with precision the last 90 seconds, opening up a cut on McCullough's nose, winning the round.

The second round was just plain awesome. Darabedyan landed some nasty elbows in one of the few times the fight went to the ground, but McCullough was able to open a cut under his right eye. Most of the round was both guys trading and connecting with hard punches that kept finding their mark. Just awesome!

In the third, there was action but no real damage done. Both guys seemed content to keep it a stand-up war with 90 percent punches and 10 percent kicks. The third seemed like each guy was afraid to make THE one big mistake.

KD earned the split decision, but it could have gone either way. Scores were 30-27 KD, 30-27 RM and 29-28 KD. 

Shane Roller defeated Danny Castillo via third round submission (1:26)

Decent fight that was very competitive. Roller got the mount in the second round and was laying in punches but Castillo survived with good defense, not giving Roller his face or ears. Roller got Castillo's back in the third and sunk in a guillotine choke. Castillo held on for a while, but eventually had to tap. 

Kamal Shalorus def. Will Kerr via first round TKO (1:26)

Shalorus was dominant in his beatdown of Kerr, opening up a nasty gash under his right eye. The end came when Shalorus connected with an overhand right and landed a left hook that was enough for ref Steve Mazzagatti to end the fight. Both men were making their WEC debut. 

Josh Nason has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He is a contributor to Fight Magazine and Bleacher Report and appears regularly on Fight Network Radio. Follow him on Twitter.

   

Read 0 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)