WEC Preview: WEC 39 Fight Card, Preview & Projections

Pro Fighting Fans is the home of WEC fans across the world and we now bring you the best place to find the latest WEC preview. WEC 39 is fact approaching, schedule for March 1st, and you can find the fight card below where we will add our preview of WEC 39 once it is available.

The next events for WEC after WEC 39 will be WEC 40 on April 5th, 2009 which will feature the Bantamweight Championship fight between Miguel Angel Torres and Brian Bowles. But first, we prepare for WEC 39 which features the WEC Featherweight Championship bout as Mike Brown looks to defend his belt against Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia. Fans can now buy WEC tickets online through Pro Fighting Fans to all of these WEC events.

Bringing in the new month, the WEC decided to go with a Featherweight Championship bout with submission experts Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia. But let’s not forget about the other potentially great fights:

Rob McCullough vs Marcus Hicks - Lightweight

Rob McCullough, coming off of his unanimous decision loss to Donald Cerrone in November is looking to prove something in the eyes of the WEC folk. His opponent, Marcus Hicks is in a similar situation. Back in August, Hicks lost to Jamie Varner due to strikes in the first round. McCullough has heavy hands while Hicks likes to go for the take down.

I have a strange feeling that this fight won’t last past the second round – and that’s a stretch. One of the main reasons is that Hicks has never seen the third round in his career. Both fighters seem to enjoy getting the job done quickly, even though McCullough has had his fair share of 3 round bouts.

It will last for 2½ rounds with WEC veteran Rob McCullough defeating Marcus Hicks by way of TKO.

Jose Aldo vs Chris Mickle - Featherweight

On March 1, Jose Aldo will most likely walk into the ring with an “I am invincible” attitude. And why shouldn’t he, he hasn’t lost in over 3 years. But that’s just what Chris Mickle wants him to think. Having just leaving the army, Mickle wants to face the best and won’t settle for anything less.

This will be a great fight. Aldo has proven that he’s a force to be reckoned with. Mickle, on the other hand, racks up fights and has fought some pretty tough guys. Not to mention he spent most of his fighting career in Iraq. Either fighter could come out on top in this one. Neither looks like they would let up in the heat of battle.

I’m feeling an upset for this one. Chris Mickle wins by submission early in the third round.

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Richard Crunkilton Jr. vs Bart Palaszewski - Lightweight

Due to injury, Richard Crunkilton has withdrawn from WEC 39. Bart Palaszewski will instead fight Ricardo Lamas.

With 41 fights under his belt, Bart Palaszewski is no newbie to the octagon. He finishes fights every which way you could think of and is nothing short of a brawler. Likewise, Richard Crunkilton has only lost twice and has one more win by knockout than submission. He also has more experience in the WEC itself.

Palaszewski will win this fight. Not just because he has 23 more fights than Crunkilton, but because Palaszewski seems like he’s ready for the title shot. And since the winner of this fight will most likely be considered as the number one contender for the WEC Lightweight belt, it’s his time. That’s not saying that Crunkilton is going to lie down and die, he’ll put up a good fight but it won’t be good enough.

Bart Palaszewski will become the number one contender with 4:10 left in the 3rd round by way of TKO.

WEC 39 Main Event: Mike Brown vs Leonard Garcia - Featherweight

At WEC 34 Jens Pulver lost to Urijah Faber for the Lightweight Title. Soon after, at WEC 36, the lineup was Garcia vs Pulver and Faber vs Brown. Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia defeated Jens Pulver, giving him a shot at Faber if he could hold on to the belt for the rest of the night – Mike Brown had a different idea. Brown demolished Faber after 2:23 in the very first round. Now Brown had the belt and Leonard was the number one contender. This brings us to the present tense. On March 1 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the WEC will host these two for the Lightweight Title.

Coming off of his shocking win over Urijah Faber, Mike Brown wants to make an impression. The only thing standing in his way is the 5’8 145 lbs. Leonard Garcia. 5’8 might not sound that intimidating but they don’t call him the “Bad Boy” for nothing. Most notably is his 3 round war with Roger Huerta in which he lost but gained a horde of fans through his ability to never give up. Of the three fights Garcia has lost, they have all come from decisions. He seems to like to go for the submissions but it could backfire as Mike Brown is extraordinary off of his feet. He has finished 11 of his 20 wins by submission, so this fight has a strong chance of going to the ground.

You will experience a great fight with a lot of technical moves. It will remind you of a chess match, but with blood, sweat and… well… my guess is you probably won’t see any tears, but amazing none the less.

Mike Brown remains the WEC Lightweight Champion after 5 rounds of fighting by a unanimous decision.

By Ryan DeClerck
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer

Other WEC 39 Fights:

• Danny Castillo vs Phil Cardella
• Marcos Galvao vs Damacio Page
• Johny Hendricks vs Alex Serdyukov
• Kenji Osawa vs Rafael Rebello
• Alex Karalexis vs Greg McIntyre
• Mike Budnik vs John Franchi
• Justin Haskins vs Douglas Lima

WEC 40 Main Event:

• Miguel Angel Torres vs Brian Bowles

Other WEC 40 Fights:

• Jeff Curran vs Joseph Benavidez
• Shane Roller vs Ben Henderson
• Manny Tapia vs Akitoshi Tamura
• Rafael Dias vs Cole Province

Past WEC Previews & Recaps:

• WEC 38 Recap: A Fan's View
• WEC 38 Recap & Review
• WEC 37 Recap & Review
• WEC 36 Recap & Review
• More MMA news articles at ProFighting-fans.com