WEC 48 Aldo VS Faber

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reaches its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest WEC event to date, WEC 48 - Aldo VS Faber.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

WEC 48 gives you two pivotal matchups, as long-time former WEC untouchability Uriah Faber comes back to the cage to redraw himself as a relentless presence, and there is no more solid nor more serious of a way of doing that than to do battle against Jose Aldo, the warrior who came out of nowhere, "just" to destruct everyone he crossed path with in the arena to emerge as WEC Featherweight Champion. Uriah Faber states that he wants to be the best of the world, and he wants to be chased by everyone else for the Belt. Jose Aldo replies: "Uriah thinks it is his belt. Come and get it."

Ben Henderson and Donald Ceronne will collide for a second time. The strait winner - by decision - of the first meeting and current WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson demonstrated exceptional punishment tolerance in the first fight, resisting submission attempts many would have tap out of. Henderson comes to defend his title with this kind of determination intact, fueled by properly positioned bad intentions, if you can ever call those that. The defendant probably will have a whole lot to deal with, as Ceronne has shown tactical improvement in the recent period, making his set of tools the most versatile, and, perhaps, lethal in the division. It is more interesting than ever to see if this tactically improved Donald Ceronne is able to stop Ben Henderson or - are you ready for this? - not.

Anthony Njokuani VS Shane Roller

Dangerous striker Anthony Njokuani storms the cage with an iron determination, just to find himself being taken down by Shane Roller, who exhibits considerable skills at off-balancing his rival. Roller subjects the opposition to various submission attempts on the ground, and, while Njokuani shows initial readiness to defend himself efficiently, there is no end to the numbers of the submission maneuvers Roller is throwing at him. Njokuani proves unable to offer the necessary skills to escape from the position of the hunted tonight, and taps out of this contest due to a rear naked choke.

Manvel Gamburyan VS Mike Brown

Former WEC Lightweight Champion Mike Brown gets put away rather quickly tonight, as result of a solid counter punch and the consecutive air to ground missiles, all administered by Armenian prospect Manvel Gamburyan.

Ben Henderson VS Donald Cerrone

Ben Henderson brings this championship confrontation to a swift and efficient conclusion, muscling Cerrone to the fences and maintaining control from the back. After softening up the former bull rider with a raining storm of knees to the legs, Henderson commands Donald to the ground, on which he administers a guillotine choke in 1:57 of the very first round.

Jose Aldo VS Uriah Faber

Reigning WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is quick to define and claim complete control of this match, showing efficiency at finding the range, yet giving nothing of that for his rival. Faber is methodically getting taken apart simply by failing to find the defendant in the cage, suffering massive leg kicks in the process. These attacks on the low quarters eventually take a steep toll on Uriah's ability to offer relevant offense, slowly and surely ending up with the role of the harassed. With each and every round convincingly falling to Aldo's favor, the especially notable moments of the collision include numerous canvas inspections performed by the Sacramento Kid, as result of legs that can not help but give out from the kicks that land on them, while a healthy portion of fourth round observes Faber in the immensely dangerous crucifix position, with Aldo reigning down strikes and elbows to the head. Complete domination by the defendant with not a single moment of danger he has to deal with. Jose Aldo reigns supreme via putting up a truly stellar performance against a warrior many thought could not easily be defeated, yet, tonight: he got.

Leonard Garcia VS Chan Sung Jung

You do not see many matches like this, as the pace dictated and the punishment absorbed by its participants both converge to delicious absurdity: this collision, which very well might be among the most spectacular confrontations in the history of WEC and in the history of mma to date, delivers a back and fourth battle with simply way too much happening in it to be suitable and/or functional to address in a written form. This is the match you want to show to your family and friends so they can see what mma is all about.

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