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Some praise for the WEC San Diego show
By Zach Arnold | January 25, 2009
Throughout the week, there wasn’t a lot of talk amongst the hardcores about the fights in San Diego but it seemed by every indication that the promotion was doing well in terms of drawing fan interest locally. The promotion did an excellent job in packing the San Diego Sports Arena and getting a relatively enthusiastic crowd.
Jose Aldo has a lot of star potential and he knows how to work over a crowd. Good performance tonight. The loss to Mike Brown did no damage to Urijah Faber, who was treated like a superstar. He really has the ‘it’ factor. Brown got booed by the crowd. Varner and Cerrone was a decent main event until the finish. I thought it was interesting that one of the judges had Cerrone edging out a decision (and it wasn’t Nelson Hamilton, either.)
Topics: Media, MMA, WEC, Zach Arnold | 43 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Two fights in, and if it keeps this pace, it will easily be better then UFC 93 and Affliction 2. Very fun show so far.
I agree Zach. The crowd is into it, and there seems to be a decent amount of people there.
Despite Jamie “The Actor” Varner’s Oscar Winning Performance at the end… This was the best MMA event this year (so far).
Varner was technically only on two points (to the ground) for a split second but it ended up being an illegal knee.
Good event, too bad VS spams wayy too much advertising!
I had Varner-Cerrone scored 10-8, 9-10, 10-9, 9-10, 9-10 for a 47-47 draw with Varner taking the 1st and 3rd rounds. Varner was getting takedowns in the middle rounds, but didn’t do much with them. After the takedowns, Cerrone was active from his back. I might be one of the few who would have scored the first round 10-8 for Varner, but he inflicted a lot of damage from the top in that round.
How did everyone else have the fight?
That illegal knee was as close of a call as you can get. Varner dropped his knee the same instant that Cerrone connected with him. I watched it a half dozen times on my friend’s DVR and we couldn’t tell which happened first.
I don’t want to give the 5th round a score since it was interupted two minutes in, but I had Varner winning 10-8, 9-10, 10-9, 10-9.
I’m amazed at Cerrone’s chin, in that first round Varner was landing flush bombs while standing over him and I was expecting Cerrone to go stiff after almost every one of them.
The replacement play-by-play guy did a pretty good job, and as usual for a WEC event, the show itself was very good. I hope that the WEC keeps Pulver. Yes, he has lost three fights in a row, but those three fights were against Urijah Faber, Leonard Garcia, and Urijah Faber again. There’s no shame in that. And what was he doing having a major fight just one month after one of his long-time best friends (Justin Eilers) was murdered?
Also, what in the hell was wrong with the crowd in San Diego? That has to have been one of the most ignorant MMA crowds that I’ve heard in a long time. They were booing for no reason throughout the night even though they were seeing a pretty damn good MMA show. A good example: Danillo Villefort. What were they thinking? “Boo! You just won a fight decisively and impressively by TKO! Boo!” Villefort got booed out of the building as if his opponent was a hometown guy, but it said Villefort’s opponent was from Massachusetts. Then, in Varner-Cerrone fight, one fighter (Cerrone) threw an illegal knee to the head of his grounded opponent, and the other fighter (Varner) suffered an eye injury as a result of that illegal knee. So, the crowd strongly boos Varner and strongly cheers Cerrone. The ignorance was astounding.
The ignorance of many MMA judges also continues to be astounding. Alejandro Rochin was the judge who inexplicably had the Varner-Cerrone fight scored 3 rounds to 2 in favor of Cerrone.
On a semi-related note since it delayed the start of the WEC broadcast by eleven minutes, The Sports Soup is a horrible show, even though its sister show (The Soup) is a great show. Someone needs to tell the people at The Sports Soup that just airing clips of people in various sports getting seriously injured and then laughing at those people for getting seriously injured is not funny.
The WEC continues to impress. That was definitely the most exciting show of the year so far.
WEC was NOT the most exciting or best show of the year. Bunch of mismatches and a tainted main event.
Affliction takes it hands down and its not even funny!
Where is the praise for Affliction?
“It’s ridiculous [to say] that there was a five million dollar fee paid [for de La Hoya’s attendance],” said Binkow. “There’s a financial commitment obviously that Affliction made and Oscar felt an obligation through his partners at Affliction [to attend]. I don’t know how more simple it can be and why it’s any more complicated than that.”
And while Merchant might be questioning de La Hoya’s lack of allegiance to the sport that made him a star, Binkow said the former champion’s decision to grace “Day of Reckoning” was strictly business.
“The [Affliction] pay-per-view date was set long before the boxing event, and Oscar didn’t feel right about offending his commitment to our partners in Affliction,” said Binkow. “I think it was a great night for both sports. There was packed houses at the Staples Center and the Honda Center, so we were thrilled with both events.”
Sherdog continues with their one sided coverage of the sport…. Also known as their hatred for everything Zuffa.
Of the 17 articles/videos on the main page:
11 For Affliction
2 For WEC
4 Random
I guess it’s cooler to hate the big giant company paying so many fighters.
The Affliction show had better fights. That probably figures into it. I mean, the only top ten fighters on the WEC show were at 145, and neither was in too tough.
Personally, I enjoyed the WEC as much as the Affliction show.
Both provided some fun action and were very enjoyable.
I had not noticed the lack of coverage at Sherdog, but that certainly is the case.
Hopefully today finds some video interviews.
@Joseph
For sure Barnett vs. Yvel and Buentello vs. Sidelnikov weren’t mismatches 🙂
I think both shows were great, but if I had to choose, I would take WEC, but it’s probably because I prefer lighter fighters.
The WEC show would have been better if Varner had the common courtesy to lose while doing his Bo Cantrell dive. Oh and I’ve seen a frame by frame – its close but the knee is LEGAL. Hand up and knees not yet down. Cerrone should be champ and Varner is a douche.
You people who say the WEC event was even close to as good as the affliction show are on crack.
I’m impressed by the voting for the WEC fight of the year. The Maeda fight was my pick hands down, but I’m surprised that the general WEC watching public agreed with me.
WEC show was as good as the Affliction show and much cheaper.
We are still in January so we have a way to go before we pick the cad of the year.
I think there isn’t a lot of coverage for WEC as it was a rather minor WEC event overshadowed by a big boxing event and a big MMA event.
Nobody is conspiring against Mother Zuffa, it was just not a big deal of a show. Affliction running their second show was a big deal, never mind they gave press credentials to Sherdog and other big sites when Zuffa will snub them for hacks like Yahoo! Sports as they believe said sources to be more ‘credible.’
WEC show was as good as the Affliction show and much cheaper.
The portion of the Affliction show that was shown on free tv actually compares favorably to the WEC event.
While I enjoyed the WEC show more, there’s no question Affliction is more deserving of wide coverage. The two issues shouldn’t be conflated.
While the WEC fights were fast-paced and exciting, as we’ve come to expect from ligher-weight fighters, Affliction is a show of epic proportions, focusing on heavyweights, stars and former champions.
I criticize Affliction (the fights, not the production or business model) as a fan, for the following:
1. The first aired bout was marred by those groin shots (real or fake; not that I have any reason to doubt their realness). Shame for such a fluid bout to be repeatedly interrupted like that
2. Nog-Matyushenko started off boring, stumping even the commentators. Still, that was a cool finish. It seemed Nog was angered by Mat’s second round resurgence and finished him in a fit of fury
3. Buentello-Sidelkinov sucked. Sloppy boxing between 2 chubby dudes, and TKO by undefended jab… terrible
4. Belfort’s impressive performance was overshadowed by the Lindland convulsions. I think Affliction covered it humanely but it was truly disturbing to witness. I hope the man is OK
5. Barnett was a big disappointment. Yvel was actually kicking his ass from inside the mount, which you don’t see very often. Not the most technical, powerful or exciting display of MMA, that fight
6. I wish we’d seen more of Fedor-Arlovski. The few minutes really had me on edge, thinking, this man has a shot. Although it was over too soon, Fedor has managed to once again strike terror into the hearts of all potential foes. If I’m not mistaken, that is Fedor’s first ever standing one-punch knockout. After all these years, he continues to shock us by displaying new abilities
For the reasons above, it wasn’t the best night of fights. But I’m happy I spent the $65 for the HD PPV (and spared myself from paying for UFC 93).
Count me among those praying for Affliction 3 and more cards of such epic proportions.
Yeah, Affliction shows have been fun cards all around. They get hit with hyperbole from every side, which kinda sucks. You get the 45’s of the world (not him, he is the best) who tend to lean towards the Zuffa side of the scale who will hate hate hate everything about it. Then you get the disenfranchised PRIDE fans who, in the wake of PRIDE’s demise, have nothing even remotely similar to watch, and they think this is the greatest shit ever. FYOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOR~!, etc.
Comparing them with most Zuffa-produced stuff is just so off the mark. Affliction isn’t trying to be EliteXC and over night become a national competitor running a few shows a month and buying up the competition. It is a few guys who made some money off the industry booking guys they like and sponsor into entertaining fights against each other.
The best part to me are all of the internet guys who get butt hurt over this concept. Who cares about their business model? Did anybody give a shit about Bodog’s?
Well…the WEC event didn’t really have anything noteworthy on it. Some squash matches, a pointless rematch that ended quick, and a bout for the Zuffa 170lb Intercontinental Title.
155lb title actually. Funny that Zuffa who have always shit talked the “alphabet soup” of boxing titles actually have two titles in two different divisions (and previously 4.)
Yeah, but Dave, Bodog didn’t have any quality fighters. Who is gonna pay to see Mike Brown? Now WEC, THERE’S a promotion.
I am glad some people came on to this site and stoop up for a GOOD showing by Affliction.
So, where is the positive Affliction coverage on this site? All I see is WEC and nothing about Affliction.
That’s obvious that Affliction had bigger names, but they didn’t have a single fight half as competetive as Varner vs. Cerrone. Some people just like watching Fedors, Silvas and St. Pierres of the world and some prefer back and forth fights. It doesn’t mean that someone is Pride or Zuffa fan, at least I guess 🙂
As for alphabet soup: doesn’t affliction support wamma? What’s next womma, wcmma and immaf?
I think nobody says that WEC champions in 155 & 170 divisions are champions of the world.
That’s obvious that Affliction had bigger names, but they didn’t have a single fight half as competetive as Varner vs. Cerrone.
I thought Varner was up at least 3-1 if not 4-0. I don’t know what some of these people were seeing if they thought that fight was wildly competitive.
“That’s obvious that Affliction had bigger names, but they didn’t have a single fight half as competetive as Varner vs. Cerrone. Some people just like watching Fedors, Silvas and St. Pierres of the world and some prefer back and forth fights. It doesn’t mean that someone is Pride or Zuffa fan, at least I guess”
Well, some people are clearly biased. It is fine, but I just find such a divide to be baffling. We had 2 great MMA cards and a great boxing match (not card) this weekend.
Affliction had its share of competitive matches, but it is hard to discount a fight like Fedor/Arlovski because it ended in the first. It was clearly competitive, it just wasn’t an epic-length fight.
Varner/Cerrone was a fun fight, no doubt, but Cerrone really had little to offer Varner other than some alright positions from the bottom that he couldn’t work with. Varner took him down at will and after shrugging off his submission attempts would rain fury on his face.
Correct D.Capitated,
Varner was pretty much in control the whole fight with takedowns and control.
I could see UFC dropping lightweights again. It’s not the most competitive division right now. The “champion” can’t even be bothered to defend his belt.
“That’s obvious that Affliction had bigger names, but they didn’t have a single fight half as competetive as Varner vs. Cerrone.”
You must’ve missed the undercard of the Affliction card that was on HDnet cuz all those fights were super competitive. The LC Davis/Bao Quach fight was f’n awesome. If that fight was on the WEC card it would’ve been one of the best two fights of the night.
I thought that the Affliction event was a very good show, and I thought that the WEC event was a very good show, and I don’t really understand why both of those things can’t be true.
Upon thinking about it more, I am even more flabbergasted by the ignorant crowd cheering Cerrone and booing Varner (and Villefort), and I am also thinking that Craig Hummer’s question, “Are you still relevant?” was not a good question for a post-fight interview immediately after a fight.
I thought the “Are you still relevant?” question was the best I have heard from an announcer in MMA.
Was it brutal? Yes. Was it harsh? Yes. But that is needed sometimes. He just got beat down twice within quick fashion.
He has been beaten twice in quick fashion by two world-class fighters (Leonard Garcia and Urijah Faber). Did Joe Rogan ask Chuck Liddell if he was still relevant after his third loss in four fights? Did Joe Rogan ask Wanderlei Silva if he was still relevant after his fourth loss in five fights? No. There’s no shame in losing to world-class opposition, and it doesn’t make one irrelevant.
Ivan,
I think you are in the wrong sport.
This is MMA, where (according to the fans) you lose 1 fight and you are not top 10, you lose 2 in a row and you should retire immediately. You get cut or leave UFC and you are a washout, can’t improve, and should just hang up the gloves or fight in obscurity for the rest of your life.
They didn’t, but everyone else did. Best time? Maybe not, but then again, half the people here want to see guys stretchered out of the cage too.
@Joseph
That’s really funny what you’re saying especially considering so many Randy Couture (16-9) fans 🙂 or applause that Pulver got from, I must agree, awful San Diego audience
@Zack
You’re right I forgot about the undercard. Davis vs. Quach was awsome, great piece of matchmaking after Hominick got sick.
Finally as Ivan said both shows were great 🙂
The Villefort booing was a home crowd thing cuz he fought a popular local dude. The Varner thing was probably worse just because with all the quick fights that night, the pacing was really bad (no ones fault…gotta fill the 2 hour air time.) So with the long waits between fights, along with most fights being pretty quick, the crowd was pretty alive during the main event because it was a good scrap. The ending just left a real bad taste in everyones mouth.
They also booed the hell out of Aldo cuz he fought a local dude too. Not sure if that made the broadcast.
Dana has a very interesting new blog from Sundays WEC show. Robbie Lawler, Caul Uno, and Kid Yammamoto are all in the blog.
^^^Koutetsu Boku was in it too. Don’t hate on Boku!
Joseph wrote: “This is MMA, where (according to the fans) you lose 1 fight and you are not top 10, you lose 2 in a row and you should retire immediately.”
You’re right about that being the mentality of all too many MMA fans, and that kind of sentiment is even expressed sometimes on otherwise respected MMA web sites.