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Jose Aldo’s win over Mike Brown opens the door for Faber to return as king of WEC
By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2009
After watching Wednesday’s night Featherweight title change, tell me if you agree or disagree (and why, in a respectful reply) with the following premise:
– Mike Brown is kryptonite to Urijah Faber.
– Jose Aldo is kryptonite to Mike Brown.
– Urijah Faber could be kryptonite to Jose Aldo.
It’s a very interesting situation right now in the WEC. Jose Aldo not only won, but he won in pretty convincing fashion against Mike Brown. It almost felt anti-climactic. I don’t know if that was because the crowd didn’t really enthusiastically cheer or boo either fighter, but there was a strange feel during the fight. I was very excited going into this fight and coming out of it, I’m impressed with Aldo but I’m not sure how the general public feels.
The most impressive thing about Jose Aldo’s performance is that he fought a slower pace in the early round, but when he hit punches he was very crisp and right on target. Brown tried to buy some time by pushing him against the cage but in the end it really didn’t seem like Brown was all that comfortable with Aldo on the ground. Aldo said going into the fight that if it went to the ground that he would be comfortable with that and he wasn’t lying at all.
The Featherweight division sets up as follows: Aldo will likely defend the title against a challenger shortly and the promotion needs him to win that initial defense. Urijah Faber has a fight with Raphael Assuncao, which he should win but it’s not a gimme fight. If we are to believe Reed Harris and accept that WEC will run a PPV in the Spring, wouldn’t a fight featuring Faber and Aldo make the most sense? Faber’s the one guy in the WEC right now who people will pay to watch and given how impressive Jose Aldo is as a fighter, it shouldn’t be that difficult of a fight to sell.
Other WEC show notes: I thought the TV announcing was very suspect tonight, which is not something I normally say. I like Frank Mir’s energy and knowledge he brings to the broadcasts, but he plays favorites a lot of times and some of the things he said left me scratching my head. Such as thinking Rob McCullough won his fight, which he didn’t… Mike Chiappetta summed it up best: “That wasn’t a great call from Harris & Mir. Almost no reaction to a title change.”
The top-level depth in WEC right now is becoming more established, which is a good thing. However, the lower portion of the company’s roster is all scrambled up. I know Chris Horodecki is coming in soon, so that should help bolster the roster.
Topics: Media, MMA, WEC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Yes and no. Brown definitely has Faber’s number, but I can see Faber coming in recklessly trying to trade and getting clipped.
I don’t know how well the PPV is going to do. I guess they have no choice since the Direct TV incident took a big chunk of their fans away and this is the only way for them to see it, but when you’ve given shows away on free tv for so long it’s going to be pretty hard to convince people, even with really good fights, to pay for it when they’re trained to see it free. People like Faber but I don’t think enough to pay to see him in big numbers.
And with all the talk about most of the stars going to UFC (and 90% of the WEC audience are the hardcore fans who know that kind of thing) getting invested in the promotion if they’re just going to get rebooted after a PPV could be hard.
I don’t think Brown has Faber’s number. If he did have his number then he would’ve been able to finish Faber after he broke both hands, or at least win a lot more convincingly. He had at least three rounds to take advantage of Urijah having no use of his hands and yet he barely squeeked out a win even though Faber was so limited.
What the hell was with Harris and the Guillotine choke yesterday? Does he think any choke is a Guillotine choke? Mir partially corrected him and yet he still kept calling it a guillotine.
I agree that Brown seems to have Fabers #. But I’m not sure how Faber has aldo’s.
I was somewhat blown away when I saw Aldo last night. I’d never seen him before. I think he might be another one of those darn brazilian naturals like Anderson Silva.
But the concept did cross my mind that if Faber can get past Aldo that would be his ticket out of the corner he’s in. But I have no reason to think he could, it was just idle speculation.
I don’t care how important Faber is to WEC, he does not deserve another title shot if he defeats Assuncao.
He had the title and lost it. He earned a title shot after beating Jens Pulver (who was also coming off a loss, 2 in fact, and had lost 4 of his last 5 matches) and we all know that Pulver would never have been given the same opportunity if he pulled out a win. He gets his rematch against Brown for the title and loses again.
Faber is once again going into a match, AFTER LOSING, where if he wins he earns a title shot. Granted, if Assuncao wins he gets the title shot.
Let’s say that Faber defeats Assuncao and goes on to face Aldo for the title. Let’s also say that Faber loses against Aldo. We all know he’ll just get another opportunity to fight for the title if he can win his next match. It’s a cycle that will continue as long as he can keep it up until he finally gets the title back around his waist.
If Brown was able to hold onto his title and defeat Aldo, and Faber was able to defeat Assuncao, does anybody really want to see a THIRD match between Faber and Brown? I don’t.
But, if you think about it, it’s only fair that Brown get a title shot if he can win his next match, especially if he faces an opponent who lost his last 2 matches.
It’s kind of scary that they couldn’t sell out the Palms for a title fight in their premier division. Especially with UFC coming up this weekend you’d think some people would come into town a day earlier than normal and check the show.
I wouldn’t do a ppv unless DirecTV carries Versus again or they’ll get Ring of Honor-esque buyrates
If Brown can’t take Aldo down then Faber can’t either, and that’s the only place I can see Aldo losing a fight.
He does have a black belt in BJJ so he could be skilled on the ground (or it could be a Wanderlei “did he bribe his trainer?” type deal) we just haven’t seen any of it. But Faber will probably try to bang regardless.
Karo Parisyan out of UFC 106. Out of the UFC as well. This according to Dana White. Apparently, he never paid his previous fine. And after him pulling out of the Yoshida fight last minute about a year ago… looks like White has had enough of him and sent him packing. Can’t say I blame him as Parisyan has been a flake.
UFC 106 is completely in the crapper. This was one of the fights I was looking forward to. Almost worth scrapping the fights and adding Ortiz/Griffin to UFC 108….
Zach,
I think your analysis is right on the money. Uriah Faber seemd to have real issues with size and strength of Brown. And Brown had fits with Aldo’s quickness.
I say a Faber-Aldo favors Uriah. There won’t be a large gap in speed and quickness between the two, and I think Faber can control Aldo with his wrestling.
Brown is arguably a better wrestler than Faber, and he couldn’t take Aldo down to save his life.
If Faber had a real problem with Brown’s strength, I don’t know how fighting a guy as strong as Brown, but faster and better at striking is a more favorable match-up. Aldo’s probably going to Anderson Silva him.
I think Zuffa will run a WEC PPV just to prove it can’t be done. No sense not even trying it. I’m sure they’ll give it their best shot, market it etc, run the show, and then throw up their hands and fold WEC into UFC.
Having the WEC be a success on PPV is the worst of all possible outcomes. I would rather see it stay as is (on free TV) or merge into the UFC.
Karo Parisyan is addicted to pain meds…. http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/11/19/exclusive-karo-parisyan-forced-to-pull-out-of-ufc-106-due-to-addiction-to-pain-killers/
I doubt any organization in North America touches him for a long time. Hopefully he gets the help he needs.
LOLOL that is an exclusive? What is next? EXCLUSIVE: Chuck Liddell: Likes strippers and Cocaine! EXCLUSIVE: Randy Couture: Older than most fan’s fathers!
I don’t think anyone is kryptonite to Aldo at 145. He is much faster than everyone in the division, incredibly explosive on the feet, and he is reputed to be a better grappler than striker. Once he got on top of Brown he ended him in a matter of seconds.
I don’t blame the UFC for not wanting to book Karo Parisyan anymore. I just hope that Parisyan’s addictions don’t kill him.
Addiction to painkillers is a very serious issue that has contributed to the deaths of many pro wrestlers over the years. In MMA, a recipe for painkiller addiction is brewed on shows big and small by the fact that fighters do not have medical insurance and they do not get paid unless they fight.
They don’t get paid if they have to pull out of a fight due to a training injury, which inherently encourages them to fight through major injuries to get that next paycheck or to make that next show, which is the same kind of mentality that has led to the deaths of so many people in the different, but in many ways similar, pro wrestling industry.
Parisyan is far from the only MMA fighter to have major issues with painkillers. There are plenty of other fighters who have talked about painkiller addictions, including Frank Mir, Joe Riggs, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Mark Kerr, just off the top of my head.
On another note, if Parisyan had been tested as part of the NSAC’s out-of-competition drug testing program, we wouldn’t have a situation where he’s pulling out of a fight at the last minute in order to avoid testing positive for painkillers, because he would have already tested positive for painkillers weeks ago and would have already been pulled from the bout.
Hahahahahahaha!
Agreed. Out of competition drug testing needs to be the norm. I know Nevada and certainly California can’t afford it, but maybe the UFC can pay for it. It’s worth the money if it can prevent situations like this. Hell, they can go to Rite Aid and buy home drug tests for probably $20.
I don’t like the way Dana turned this into a public spectacle on Twitter with the “YER FIRED!” tweet (although I do understand his nerves are frazzled right now with seemingly every major fight he tries to make falling apart.) Karo definitely needs a wake up call, and losing his UFC job is definitely that. But don’t make this into a public spectacle, as it is none of our business. They’ve had a ton of fighters with drug problems they’ve handled privately so give Karo that same respect. Or at least wait until he goes on Dr. Drew’s show to have Dana confront him.
The first thing I thought of was this:
http://www.fightopinion.com/2009/08/11/the-fallout-from-nick-diaz-not-taking-his-california-drug-test/
I wonder if Bryan Alvarez will comment how stupid it looks for the UFC to book a well known drug user and then pretend to be shocked when he can’t fight? Or 45, or Dave2, or any of the other guys who blamed Coker for “looking unorganized”?
Two different situations. Diaz was not even licensed, which means Strikeforce dropped the ball on making sure he was. Kari Parisyan was licensed. It was his last minute excuses that got him out of there.
Where the UFC is to blame was booking him on the main card instead if the undercard. His two scheduled fights were issues for him…. They should have not given him main card status because of it.
Mark…. White needs to be out in front of stories and control the message. That is what all good companies do. And it had to be loud enough so people heard about it BEFORE they purchased the PPV. The only think he lacks is being polite about it….
Two different situations. Diaz was not even licensed, which means Strikeforce dropped the ball on making sure he was. Kari Parisyan was licensed.
He wasn’t.
Well, the lacking politeness is exactly the problem. Obviously he should have announced it. But firing him over Twitter with all the exclamation points created this into a circus. And if you’re saying he did this that way to raise awareness before the show Saturday to prevent angry purchasers, come on, how many people buy shows for Karo Parisyan? Besides me and a few fellow judokas.
Zach,
Have you been reading about the entire Hoelzer Reich debate that’s been kicking around on the UG the last few weeks?
I find it kind of odd that a fighter sponsor with Nazi imagery on their t-shirts and associations with well-known Neo-Nazis has kind of fallen under the radar by the MMA media.
Just wondering what you think, Zach, since I would’ve thought this is the kind of meaty story that you normally like to investigate.
Personally I have not ever bought a PPV to see Karo fight. I think that when he injured his knee his career ended. Ever since then he has NEVER been able to live up to his potential. I hope his able to kick this addiction but I don’t see him making waves in MMA ever again at least not on SF or UFC.
I think Faber will lose to Aldo just as he lost to Brown. You can say that Brown didn’t dominate him because even with broken hands he couldn’t finish him off. But many fighter have fought through injury to win. Most recent would be GSP. Different injury but same situation.
Aldo is too strong and quick for Fabor. He made Brown look silly when he got him on the ground. Made it look like he was fighting someone with no ground game. I think it would be a 1st round TKO because Fabor would try and stand and bang not mention the he seems to be reckless with his punches.
If he’s hooked on pills to the point where he’s admittedly in financial ruin and has done nothing to get clean to keep his job, he’ll probably end up in Japan where they don’t drug test. With Marius Zaromskis splitting his time up with SF DREAM could definitely use him.
“He wasn’t.”
He was.
“Agreed. Out of competition drug testing needs to be the norm. I know Nevada and certainly California can’t afford it.”
Both of those state’s athletic commissions take in far more money (from their cut of ticket sales and PPV revenue) than they spend.
Regarding the Karo Parisyan situation, the best article that I’ve seen on it is, by far, this article by Jim Murphy on The Savage Science Blog: http://blog.thesavagescience.com/2009/11/19/karo-parisyn-off-ufc-106-card
It’s an excellent article that really puts things into perspective.
Wow, Jose Aldo is still only making $13,000/$13,000? Mike Brown is still only making $15,000/$15,000? That’s just sad and pathetic.
Ivan WEC isn’t making big money…they sell a few thousand seats and no PPVs…while I would like to see their best fighters get paid more, there isn’t much demand for their services.
I couldn’t disagree more. Zuffa is supposedly a billion dollar company, and if those same fighters were promoted as big stars in the UFC, they would draw. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy if Zuffa puts those fighters on a sub-par cable network on which you can become their #1 show if you can draw 500,000 viewers, and then wonders why they’re not taking off like the UFC.
On an unrelated note, the worst performance on tonight’s Strikeforce Challengers event was by referee Al Wichgers, who was responsible for a dangerously late stoppage in the Bobby Voelker vs. Erik Apple fight, and then in the very next fight (Kerry Vera vs. Kim Couture), Wichgers was the referee behind another dangerously late stoppage. This is the kind of crap that I’d expect from Jason Herzog, the worst referee in the business. The sport doesn’t need refs giving Herzog a run for his money in the “dangerously late stoppage” category.
Was Karo licensed or not?
The original story was that he failed to license because he hadn’t paid his fine yet. The NSAC said that was not going to prohibit his licensure for the fight because they would take the fine from his purse post-fight. Then it turned out that he was not going to take the drug test that was required to be licensed.
He is not licensed according to the entire story as I understand it, therefore it is in fact very much the same as the Nick Diaz situation.
And, having not been licensed, he would not have been subject to testing by NSAC anyway.