The main card wasn’t all that unbelievable, but it did have some standout fights on it.
Crunkilton came out with a good combo and head kick to start it out, but McCullough countered with a barrage. McCullough landed a huge right that knocked Crunkilton down and then the onslaught continued. Crunkilton would scramble to his feet only to get rocked again and again. Mir was flabergasted at the fact Crunkilton was trying to stand with McCullough and literally was saying “What the hell is he doing?”. McCullough easily overpowered Crunkilton with his standup.
Chase Beebe vs. Rani Yahya delivered. Rani Yahya came out, and tangled with Beebe from the get go. A small exchange and Yahya shot the legs and got Beebe to the ground. As Beebe was trying to transition on top of Yahya, Rani grabbed Beebe’s leg as he tried to scramble to his feet and sunk in a great kneebar. Beebe was visibly in tremendous pain, but was able to slip out of it. Yahya continued to try submissions throughout the first round, mainly armbars, but failed to do so, but won the round. For the next four rounds, Beebe put on a wrestling clinic is stuffing Yahya’s ju-jitsu. Beebe was able to get Yahya’s back and sink hooks in for 3 out of the 4 remaining rounds and basically nibble away at Yahya with small jabs and choke attempts. Yahya became gassed in the 3rd, and barely hung on by the 5th round.
Stann vs. Billington was somewhat of a joke. Everyone expected Stann to come out and dominate, and that’s exactly what happened. He tagged Billington early and was able to just punch him down to the ground and win easily with some ground and pound. Stann’s size over Billington was incredible, and the reach advantage was just too much from the get go. It was clear Billington’s standup was much too slow, and allowed Stann to basically pick a spot and hit it.
Miguel Torres vs. Jeff Bedard went much as it was expected. Sherdog actually has Miguel Torres ranked thanks to Jordan Breen’s great knowledge of the low weight classes, and it was rumored Shooto was trying to obtain him. He came to the WEC, and dominated a ground and pound wrestler in Jeff Bedard. Bedard took Torres down early and Torres worked off his back, sinking in a triangle choke from the bottom easily.
Bryan Baker vs. Jesse Forbes wasn’t a bad fight. A lot of people did not know who Baker was, but he proved it tonight. Forbes came out with a straight punch that rocked Baker. Forbes went in for the kill, but Baker was able to fend off the attack and eventually outlast the assault. Baker was able to throw some big punches and land a few. The biggest advantage for Baker was his wrestling. He was able to dominate Forbes on the ground, and eventually sunk the hook in and flatten Forbes on his stomach, mounted on his back. He rained down a load of punches and the fight was over. Good win for Baker, keep an eye out.
Blas Avena vs. Joe Benoit, Benoit had Clay Guida in his corner and it immediately had me thinking this may last a while if it comes down to cardio, but Blas came out much like he did against Tiki, with pure adrenaline. Blas immediately grabbed Benoit’s head and sunk in a guillotine choke that ended the fight 29 seconds in.
Overall, not a bad fight card, but not unbelievably spectacular. Mir’s commentating wasn’t half bad, but in some of the fights, the action was happening so quickly, he couldn’t keep up, notably the Baker vs. Forbes fight. Mir’s sidekick was pretty horrible, saying some of the chokes were sunk in deep when they weren’t even in, but overall, his play by play wasn’t bad. That’s what Mir is there for, color commentary.
They announced the new WEC/Versus deal during a break as said above and had a good interview with Urijah Faber, Faber did mention he had heard Curran say he was going to knock him out, and Faber replied by stating that he didn’t think Curran had knocked anyone out… ever.