Five reasons to watch 'WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo'
November 17th, 2009, 2:55 pm · Post a Comment · posted by CARLOS ARIAS
LAS VEGAS --- Here are five reasons to watch "WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo" on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Versus at The Palms Resort & Casino:
1. Will Mike Brown join Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre as dominant champions in MMA? UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has cleaned out the UFC's 185-pound division. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has cleaned out the UFC's 170-pound division. Is WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown in the process of doing the same thing to the WEC's 145-pound weight class? The answer is ... maybe.
The American Top Team fighter is a powerful wrestler with bone-jarring punching power. He knocked out Urijah Faber in the first round to capture the WEC belt at WEC 36. He submitted highly-touted Leonard Garcia with an arm-triangle choke at WEC 39. He punished Faber en route to a five-round unanimous decision in their rematch at WEC 41.
Brown makes his third title defense against Brazilian KO artist Jose Aldo at WEC 44.
2. Jose Aldo's explosiveness? Aldo burst onto the scene with a second-round TKO over Alexandre Franca Nogueira in his WEC debut at WEC 34. He followed that up with spectacular knockouts over Jonathan Brookins, Rolando Perez and Chris Mickle before turning in an 8-second wipeout of Cub Swanson at WEC 41.
Aldo's destructive 5-0 run through the WEC has earned him a shot at Brown for the WEC featherweight championship. Aldo has been so dominant on his feet with his strikes and knees that no one has been able to see his ground game where he is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
3. "Razor" Rob McCullough is back in action: The former WEC lightweight champion from Huntington Beach hasn't fought since a majority decision victory over Marcus Hicks at WEC 39 in March because of a broken right hand. McCullough is healthy, in great shape and ready to get himself back in the title picture.
McCullough, a former five-time Muay Thai world champion, is known for getting into wild slugfests and always turns in a great effort in victory or defeat. McCullough puts his reputation on the line against Judo player Karen Darabedyan, who trains with Karo Parisyan and Manny Gamburyan.
4. Leonard Garcia always throws down: Garcia is one of those fighters that seems to always be in action fights. His memorable slugfest with Roger Huerta at UFC 69 stole the show on a night where Matt Serra upset Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title. That's how exciting Garcia's style of fighting is.
Garcia loves to mix it up and he will have a willing partner in Gamburyan at WEC 44. Garcia bounced back from his loss to Brown for the WEC featherweight title at WEC 39 with a split decision victory over Jameel Massouh at WEC 42. Gamburyan, a finalist on "The Ultimate Fighter 5," went 2-2 at 155 pounds in the UFC before dropping down to 145 pounds and making a run in the WEC.
The Garcia-Gamburyan winner moves a step closer to a title shot.
5. Danny Castillo vs. Shane Roller: Both fighters are excellent wrestlers with knockout power which should make for an explosive fight.
Castillo was an NAIA All-American wrestler at Menlo College before he made his pro debut in MMA in 2007. He trains with former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Roller is a former three-time NCAA All-American wrestler who trains with Team Takedown.
The winner of this bout between rising prospects will move up the ladder in the WEC's lightweight division.
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