WEC 38 Recap
Overall I’d say that WEC 38 was a very entertaining night of fighting here in early 2009. The card seemed short because only one televised event lasted past the first round. With an evening of surprise endings and talented fighters, WEC 38 was worth staying up for.
Perez vs Aldo
In the first televised fight of the night, Rolando Perez and Jose Aldo went at it. Both fighters came out swinging. Aldo was noticeably trying to work the left leg of Perez with some low leg kicks, while Rolando answered with a flurry of combos. About 4:10 into the first round, Rolando gets a little anxious and goes for the low jab to the body. Taking advantage of the low body position, Aldo drives a brutal knee into the head of Perez knocking him down to the mat and out of the fight.
Both fighters were obviously trained and ready to go as they both had quick hands and a will to fight, but Aldo came out on top via TKO in the first round.
Campbell vs Villefort
In the first (and only) round, Campbell lands a couple nice leg kicks to the body of Villefort. Villefort then tries one of his own, Campbell grabs the leg and takes him down to the mat. The ju-jitsu of Villefort appears evident as he go for a leg lock but ends up short as Campbell spins out of it. After a while the two fighters clinch, Villefort throws Campbell down, getting his back. Villefort continues to pound his fists into Campbell’s head until the referee finally stops it.
In my opinion, (and the crowd’s), this fight was stopped pre-maturely. Even though Campbell didn’t really have many options of getting out of the mount on his back, the ref still should have let it play out. But with 1:07 left in the round I can see why he did what he did.
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Faber vs Pulver II
The first time these two fought it was a war, a battle, and an amazing fight. So this time I, like everyone else, wasn’t expecting anything less.
When the fight starts both men exchange a few punches and kicks. Faber tries a head kick and fails in the process, falling to the ground. Pulver lets him get up and they continue to exchange punches for a while. Faber then hits Pulver with a left hook to the body, hurting him. Sensing that Pulver was in pain, the “California Kid” rushes in and knocks Pulver to the ground via his right knee. Faber locks in a vicious guillotine choke and Pulver is forced to tap.
This fight was short but sweet. They seemed like they were fighting with some heart and something to prove. And why wouldn’t they? Pulver obviously didn’t want to lose twice to the same guy and Faber didn’t want to lose two times in a row. Ultimately Urijah Faber came out on top and Jens Pulver said that he’s “not done” with fighting - Always good words to hear coming out of a Lightweight legend.
WEC 38 Main Event: Varner vs Cerrone
With the WEC Lightweight Title on the line the main event of the evening definitely didn’t disappoint. It was a great scrap with an unfortunate ending, one that should be revenged soon.
In the first round, the two men are feeling each other out until Varner scores a takedown. The rest of the round plays out by Varner basically standing over Cerrone raining down punches from above and sporadically landing some kicks.
Rounds 2-4 were essentially just the two fighters landing kicks and punches, with the occasional Varner takedown transferring the fight to the ground.
In the fifth round they come out hugging, showing the sportsmanship of each other knowing that they’re both in a great fight. Varner is then quick with the takedown, but Cerrone swiftly gets free. Cerrrone shows that he’s not he only one with the takedown abilities and gets Varner to the ground. As Varner tries to get to his feet, Cerrone nails Varner in the head with a knee. But because Varner still had both knees on the ground, the knee was deemed illegal, stopping the fight. Varner claims he cannot see and since it was un-intentional, the fight is sent to the judge’s scorecards for the first four rounds of fighting.
(49-46) Varner, (47-48) Cerrone, (49-46) Varner were the judges’ scores with Varner retaining his Lightweight Belt.
This fight was the main event for a reason. It was a great back-and-forth fight with momentum changing every few seconds. It’s too bad it didn’t last until the end of the fifth round, but still an incredible brawl. Since it went to a decision of four rounds instead of five, I can assure you there will be a rematch. It’s not really a matter of “If,” but more a matter of “when.”
By Ryan DeClerck
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer