Even if you didn't get the day off work, Veterans Day brought something for all MMA fans to celebrate--WEC 52. The action was broadcast live, as usual, on Versus. And, as usual, it was some of the fastest, most action-packed fighting you'll see. In addition to Urijah Faber's debut at Bantamweight, there were several top contenders on the card who were eager to earn title shots. Keep reading for a full re-cap of the action.
Demetrious Johnson submitted Damacio Page via guillotine in the third round. This was an interesting match-up of styles. Page had a size advantage and just about everyone would agree that his striking power was his biggest asset. Johnson is quick, though, and slipped out of Page's top control in the later stages of the first round. Page took him right back down, though, and took the lead into the second round. Johnson opened by landing a high kick, but got manhandled in the clinch and back down to the ground. Back on his feet, Johnson landed several leg kicks, then got a take down of his own. He controlled the rest of the round from the top, evening things up as they headed into the final round. Johnson threw some fast combinations to start the third round and put Page on his back yet again. He threw elbows to the head, knees to the body and finally locked up a guillotine from the top that Page was just too tired to escape.
Joseph Benavidez submitted Wagney Fabiano with a second-round guillotine choke. I didn't write a pre-fight prediction article for this event, but I was still picking Benavidez going into the fight. His wrestling and striking power were, in my opinion, the perfect combination to defeat a submission guy like Fabiano. That's not to say that Fabiano is one-dimensional, though, because he's been very successful on his feet as well. Benavidez was definitely the aggressor in the first round, landing frequently with his quick combinations. Fabiano threw fewer strikes, but landed some solid ones. Fabiano ended up on his back after an early slip in the second round. Benavidez pounced and almost ended the fight with a guillotine. He narowly escaped that, then another, before getting on top of Benavidez. The third time was the charm, though, as Benavidez scrambled out from under Fabiano, then grabbed another guillotine, yanked back and forced the tap.
Chad Mendes defeated Javier Vasquez by unanimous decision. With Faber moving down to Bantamweight, Mendes is now carrying the Featherweight torch for Team Alpha Male. His wrestling is superb and his striking improves dramatically with each fight. That's pretty much the perfect skill set for facing a submission fighter like Vasquez, but Mendes had to be sharp against the veteran. Vasquez was Mendes' most notable opponent to date, so there was a lot on the line. Mendes came forward quickly from the start and Vasquez tried to pull him down into his guard. Mendes caught a low kick and put Vasquez on his back again. Vasquez was pretty good at nullifying Mendes with his rubber guard, but he wasn't going to win the fight by spending three rounds on his back. The second round started with another knee and punch combo from Mendes, followed by Vasquez pulling him down into his ground. Back on his feet, with Vasquez still on his back, Mendes attempted an incredible flip over the guard. It didn't work and he almost ended up in a bad position, but he sommersaulted his way back into top position. Mendes was again the aggressor on his feet in the third. He landed a beautiful high kick to Vasquez's chin, then took him down once again. They were stood up by the ref and Mendes landed a big punch that cut Vasquez under his right eye. He finished the fight with more ground and pound to take the decision.
Urijah Faber defeated Takeya Mizugaki with a rear naked choke in the first round. Obviously, Faber was the popular pick in this fight, but Mizugaki is the kind of guy that cannot be looked past. He's a grinder. He took Miguel Torres to a five round decision when Torres was at the top of his game. Given the fact that Faber has a tendency to go late into fights, I was kind of expecting this one to go the distance with Faber taking a decision on the strength of his pace. The early stages basically followed that formula. Faber seemed sharp with his strikes and strong in the clinch. As expected, Mizugaki was giving as good as he got, though. Faber got his back late in the round, though, and got an incredibly tight rear naked choke that put Mizugaki to sleep. Now that the WEC is being absorbed by the UFC, Faber has to be feeling good about his last fight in the organization that he was instrumental in putting on the map. He's also got to be pretty happy about the decision to drop a weight class at this point. A shot at the winner of the Dominick Cruz vs. Scott Jorgensen fight next month wouldn't come as a shock.
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