In a fight that no one thought would go five rounds, Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver waged a war that lived up to the hype last night at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.
The first round saw Faber surprise Pulver with his power as “The California Kid” connected with clean overhand rights to start the championship bout. Pulver tried to find his range with dirty boxing, but Faber would have none of it as he was changing levels and landing with that right hand. Faber’s speed clearly frustrated Pulver the entire first round as Faber bobbed and weaved away from Pulver while landing the more effective strikes.
In the second frame, Faber caught Pulver with a huge overhand right that led to a flurry that rocked Pulver. Showing the heart of a true warrior, Pulver rebounded later in the round and tagged Faber with crisp clean counter strikes. A back-and-forth round ensued with Faber taking Pulver down, but both men continued to get right back up.
The third and fourth rounds saw Faber pushing the pace of the fight and Pulver fading away. The key in the fight for Faber was beating Pulver to the punch with crisp striking and mixing it up with kicks as well. With the right hands landing, Pulver was beginning to show a huge mouse over the right eye. The swelling would continue as Faber was pulling away.
The fifth and final round both men showed respect to one another as they hugged before the final five minutes. It was more of the same for Faber as he continued to push the pace and throw the right hand to frustrate Pulver. The question of Faber’s chin was answered as he continued to take some big shots from Pulver but it didn’t seem to phase the hometown favorite.
In the end, Faber’s standup proved to be the difference in the fight. Many thought Faber would immediately take the fight to the ground but that wasn’t the case. If anything Faber proved that he does have some power in his hands and that his striking has come leaps and bounds. Another big question answered was Faber’s chin. Pulver threw some big shots and connected but Faber was still there waiting to punch back.
As for Pulver, this could be the beginning of the end or just another bump in the road for the former UFC lightweight champion. Faber moves to 21-1 and the distinction as the best featherweight in the world while Pulver moves to 22-9 and must climb the ladder back to a rematch.
Definitely a great fight … one that would be a treat to see again.
The fight of the night, however, could have easily been the bantamweight title fight between 135-pound champion Miguel Torres and challenger Yoshiro Maeda.
The fight was all over the place as both men were throwing with bad intentions. Torres picked Maeda apart in the early going but Maeda continued to stun Torres with the occasional right hand. The first round was pretty sloppy in terms of the stand up — Torres perhaps was a bit anxious and did not demonstrate the tight game that we have all come to enjoy and expect.
It was still fun to watch, however.
The second round proved to be easily one of the best rounds of the year. Both men were exchanging big shots with the hands and feet. Torres would catch Maeda repeatably with stinging body kicks and knees that led to the clinch.
At one point, both men hit the mat and simultaneously attempted their own heel hooks. The crowd went wild! As both men got back up toward the middle of the round, Torres caught Maeda with a standing guillotine choke against the cage and then took down the Japanese fighter.
Torres would steal the round and was leading on the scorecards.
Finding his rhythm, Torres began to utilize the jab to start the third round and really began to take over the fight. He was clearly the fresher fighter. With Torres landing the jab at will, Maeda’s right eye began to swell bad, which was the beginning of the end for the “Last Samurai.” Torres continued to pick apart Maeda with beautiful leg kicks to the body and demonstrated some fantastic ground work from his back.
At the end of the round, referee Herb Dean took a look at Maeda’s eye and stopped the fight. It was non-stop action from both men. And with the win, Torres could be looking at Manny Tapia as his next opponent.
In other action, former NCAA Division I wrestling champion, Mark Munoz, made the most of his WEC debut with a vicious first round knockout of Chuck Grigsby. Early on, however, it was Grigsby who used his reach and height advantage in the early going to confuse Munoz and stuff Munoz’ the takedown attempts.
With three minutes left in the first, Munoz finally took Grigsby down and threw huge over hand rights into Grigsby’s guard. The shots from the top lead Munoz into side control where the fight would end.
Grigsby attempted a kneebar, but Munoz scrambled out, landed in Grigsby’s guard and rained down bombs onto Grigsby’s open face. Four shots later and Grigsby was asleep.
It was a brutal finish.
After serving an eight month suspension because of a failed post-fight drug test, Donald Cerrone returned to cage to face Danny Castillo in other televised action.
Castillo took the fight to Cerrone, taking him down to the ground early and attempting to unleash some ground and pound. As Castillo attempted to drop elbows from the guard, Cerrone was able to secure an armbar and from there it was a textbook finish.
With the armbar locked in, Cerrone turned Castillo over and left him no choice but to tap.
In his first fight since losing his 155-pound title to Jamie Varner, “Razor” Rob McCullough won a close split decision victory over the game Kenneth Alexander.
McCullough clearly didn’t look like the same person that knocked out Rich Crunkilton in just 30 seconds. He was tentative on the feet throughout the fight, which was bizarre for the Muay Thai specialist. In fact, both men weren’t looking to engage — Alexander would takedown McCullough and McCullough would work back to his feet and try and defend the next attempt.
Alexander eventually realized that he was unable to keep McCullough down and eventually the two men were content to keep it standing. However, nothing much came about it for three rounds. It was quite a disappointing performance for McCullough but a win nonetheless.
Overall it was a fantastic evening of mixed martial arts action from the WEC … as usual. The five-round war between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver was an epic battle; however the show stealer was clearly the slugfest between Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda.
For all the WEC 34 results click here.
33 Comments »
That Faber kid is good. I think he would give BJ a good fight.
BJ would destroy him. Faber is a great fighter, and is perfect @ 145. 155.. the guys are much bigger. Look at the recent Edgar-Maynard. Edgar is a natural 145, who was pretty much man-handled by a much bigger fighter. Faber should stay where he is. He has already lost to the much bigger Tyson Griffin aswell. (might be a bad analogy, considering the undersized Edgar beat Tyson..)
Since you brought up Edgar, I feel he would be a great match up against Faber. Besides Edgar who else is there?
manny gamburyan is a bit small for 155. i think he would be a force at 145. his experiance would play a big factor against faber. faber would have the advantage when it comes to exp.
Yeah, but Manny might try to kick him while they touch gloves like the douche he and his cousin is.
clay guida could make 145!
Caol Uno, haha!!
If you said this because of the way BJ fought Sherk I agree, it would be entertaining. But BJ would fight Faber differently so it wouldn’t be anywhere near as interesting.
BJ definitely is the more accomplished striker. If Faber tried to take down BJ, he’d be tapped in a little more then a Minute. Faber is the best 145lb fighter out there, but he isnt in the class with GSP, BJ, A. Silva, or Fedor of being one of the top fighters in the world. But make one thing certain, he keeps winning against guys like Jens Pulver, he’ll be heavily considered.
Great show lastnight overall. Only fight that was a yawnfest was the McCullough fight. Torres - Maede was insane. Those guys just kept going at it until Maede started to fade. Torres really capitalized and ripped that eye to pieces. Does anyone know if he had any cheek or socket issues? Didnt look like just a bruise.
Pulver-Faber was a great fight, but Pulver didnt show any sort of flare to match Faber’s. Not saying Faber walked away with that fight, but Pulver only had a few shots to match the intensity.
Much better fights overall compared to the widely televised fight the night before.
Whad up my mma peeps. Guess who’s back?? I’ve been out of the loop and out of touch in the world of mMa..for a minute. well I didn’t see this fight. I tought it would be a war.. and I hear it was.
Hey hey! there stranger….you only coming on here once a year?.lol
Good to see your back PhilQNY!!..
Now time to rant!
I havn’t been posting that much in the last week, cause i have been busy..But like always, I stop by Mania everyday, and usually read threads, i just havn’t had time to post, and argue with people..
I must say though, after reading the last couple of threads I am mad dizzy!!There is sooo much hate going on about the EliteXC show this weekend…All in all I thought it went alright…Remember EXC is such a small time MMa promotion, that does not have the best talent, and they still put on some entertaing bouts..I do think there was a couple bad stops, but that will happen time to time in every promotion..
By no means do I see them as competition to the UFC(ever), but C’mon guy’s, stop hating it was FREE..
Yeah the main thing here is it was FREE!..stop hating..
People got to stop hating on Kimbo because he fought on youtube..
I cant believe that most people are not even giving him the time of day..But when it come to talking shit, people are all over the place…Damn, give the guy a break, he doesn’t claim to be the best…He is a well known man, so of coarse a minor MMa promotion like EXC will headline him…He admits he is “a baby” in this sport, and by training with Bas, it shows me he is taking this very seriously..People got to get over the fact he made a name fighting “streetfights” on the internet, and see that the man has great stand-up, and I thought he showed some good ground game on the weekend..bottom line is he is trying to improve…people should look at him as an aspiring MMa fighter, not some thug trying to make a mockery of the sport…He is dedicated and that is all I look at…I know he would not beat a top HW fighter, and can handle him fighting lower class fighters…deal with it. He is not a UFC fighter he is an EliteXC fighter..apple’s and orange’s….
True, it was free, but I’m allowed to complain because I watch all of my PPV’s for free anyway lol.
lol..cheap ass!..lol j/k!
Complaining is fine. It is the straight bashing over and over, that some do..
which I guess is also fine, on account of this is an open sight for MMa fans to post their insight, thoughts and opinions on MMa..
It just gets a little old, with the people that repeat the same shit over and over while only focusing on one point, that most the time is irrelevant…ie(kimbo doesn’t deserve to be looked at as a up and comer MMa fighter cause he was on youtube) or (EXC cant compete with the ufc)..
shit like that and much more that people use as reasons to hate on a minor league MMa promotion like EliteXC….I mean it is not the UFC guy’s..
I hope you didn’t take my fist remark wrong? Toms Bombs..I think you are one of the 25 out of 1000000 people that post on here that seem to know MMa, and open to real talk..
Stagger Lee: I have been trying to say the same thing as u since Saturday but I have been getting bashed for it…Happy to see someone with some sense on here today.
People need to realize that was Kimbo’s 1st real mma fight. Bo Catrell took a dive, and Tank is an overweight, Old, non training Drunk. So Collossus was the 1st really well trai8ned fighter Kimbo has faced and I dont think he did all that bad, especially when you take into consideration the weight of all the hype that has been put on him.
Like u said it was FREE! I expected it to be worse, which is probably why I am not complaining about it.
PHILQNY! Whats up MAN? Nice to see u on here hommie, I miss your technical ju jitsu analysis! Welcome back!
thx John. Dude I’ve been almost 2months without a PC in frony of me. I watched the last UFC 84..BJ jus jabbed Sherk to death..Wandi was back being wandi..and Tito almost secured a pretty nice Triangle on Machida..
On this passed weekend event on CBS..I couldn’t watch it..but on what you said on Kimbo was right on the $$$..
And also, welcome back!
john;
Here is a link to the Faber/Jens fight..
http://www.mmatko.com/urijah-faber-vs-jens-pilver-fight-video-wec-34/
It is the only fight from the WEC34 card I can find on the net right now..
I got the whole card on dvd-r, but that doesn’t help..
Thanks Stager Lee! As Advertised….iT WAS A FREAKIN WAR!
Most impressive part of the fight to me was that both Jens and Urijah’s chins held up through some Bombs! I dont think any of us saw a decision coming when we made our pre4dictions.
Urijah is going to run out of dudes to crush soon…… Zuffa needs to sign “Kid” Yammamotto to a 1 fight contract and throw Urijah vs. Kid on a Big UFC card to kind of introduce the casual UFC fans that dont watch WEC, to the 145 lb division. After the fight “Kid” can take that high price tag of his back to Japan, which doesnt compete with the UFC’s market anyway. This will lead to more people being exposed to Faber as well as the WEC, and the UFC can start sending fighters (small 155 lbs) to challenge him in the WEC for Example Frankie Edgar!
This would be a great way to promote WEC and its lighter weight classes to the casual fan….Of Course it could all blow up in Zuffa’s face, because “KID” is a MONSTER, and I do not know that Urijah can beat him for sure!
Still a must happen fight in mma! People talk about DREAM match ups… Urijah vs. Kid has too happen!
I would love to know the ratings of the two shows. To think of the people who punished themselves and watch the CBS show, but then not treat themselves to the VS show… I really think Faber could be a contender at 155. He handled Pulver for all 5 rounds, which makes me think he could beat all but maybe a handful of 155ers. The only thing we were wondering watching the fight was that it lists Faber as 5′6″, which would be tall enough for 155. However, we weren’t sure if he might be a little shorter because Pulver looked more than one inch taller, though it didn’t help his cause. Still, even if he didn’t get stronger, I can’t name 5 LWs that could beat him right now.
Good thing no one got poked in the eye or had a cauliflower ear bust open. They might have stopped the fight, right? ;(
I was disappointed in Pulver. He had success whenever he really committed to throwing punches but did so only on rare occasion. Any time he clocked Faber with a good punch he’d back off or just stand there and wait. He also looked dumb when he covered up, remained completely stationary, and pretty much waited to get punched. His defensive wrestling was pretty much on point, but I expected a lot more from the hands of Pulver. Props to butt chin though. He acts like a diva but he fought a good fight.
I work midnights..And I had to miss this live..
I just finished watching it, and I must say that the Pulver/Faber fight was one of the best 145lbs fights I have ever seen..
Granted Jens did not perform as well as I thought he would, the fight still had me on the edge of my seat because I know what Jens is capable of…
Faber is no joke. I gave him the slight edge in my prediction before, but I never thought Faber would stand with Jens the ENTIRE 1st round…imo Faber’s stand-up is what took the fight in his direction…I bet Jens was even puzzled a bit..
nonetheless’ great fight! and all around pretty good card.. I will probably watch the Faber/Jens fight 2 or 3 times agian before I go to bed..
yeah -bed. that sounds good..it is getting late(for me) and I should crash soon…Time to roll up a fat joint, and watch the fight a couple time…
goodnight, or i mean goodmorning..
I did not watch last nights fights yet, but I never would have thought that fight was going to make it to a decision. Overall, I hear there were some good fights, looking forward to watching it when I have the time.
Zuffa needs to start releasing some WEC compilation DVD’s composed of like all the best WEC fights!
Yeah, then send the first copy to Scumbag Shaw so he knows what real MMA looks like.
i thought that the fight would be a close one and didnt think faber would blow right through jens. however i didnt see faber winning a 5rn stand-up war. anything can happen. maybee they can get tyson griffen to move down to 145 for the rematch. the skys the limit for faber at 145 at 155 in the ufc i dont think he’s gonna be so dominant, but couls definiyley compete at that wieght.
Pulver really showed an amazing degree of toughness.
That being said: The way he got caught behind the ear in the 2nd round was definitely legit (sort of a Serra/GSP 1 moment) but the follow up, when he was going for a leg?
Faber got a free pass there for 4-5 hammer fists to the back of the head and the base of the skull. (re-watched it in slow motion, one of them could have been called an attempt to hit the back of the head that landed badly, the rest were completely off) I’m amazed Pulver actually managed to come back from that and fight another three and a half rounds.
Really not a clean fight from Faber overall - a kick to the groin, an eye poke, several blatant strikes to the back of the head, and - towards the end - elbows to the neck.
Pulver is a tough dude, and there’s no one who can deny it after last night. I thought he exposed Faber with strikes and there were a couple times Faber looks visibly shaken after strikes. That said, there’s no point in a rematch because it would go exactly the same way. Still, I don’t see anyone else in that division giving jens too tough a time..
I’ve got a pretty serious question about this fight. Was there a referee involved? I liked both fighters equally before. I knew Faber was a fast unrelenting beast, I knew Pulver was a world class fighter with a great amount of high quality experience. I was watching the fight and saw Faber’s speed really come out and cause problems for Pulver. I also saw Faber become a little overwhelmed with Pulver’s chin. No matter what came his way Pulver kept coming. WooHoo, great fight right? This brings me to my main point, what was with all the illegal moves? Faber pokes Pulver’s eye, accidental, these things happen alot right? OK, explain the kick to Pulver’s groin, accidental, these things happen. OK, explain when Pulver got stunned the approximately 10 blows to the back of the head, one or two I can understand but they were repeated, where was the referee? I’m not just picking on Faber, there was a point where Pulver was going being taken down and grabbed, quite obviously, the fence and held on for a while to keep from being taken down. And lastly, back to Faber, what was with the two or three elbow shots to the neck/throat of Pulver when they were on the ground (heck, even Pulver was looking at the referee like “What the F@^%?”). Maybe I am wrong about the rules in which case would someone please set me straight. I am also not a fighter, but just love this sport, maybe I am missing something. I sure hope that this is not the way of the future of this sport. One or two “accidentals” in a match is understandable, but give me a break that fight was almost laughable. Was it fixed? I hope someone responds to this, I would love to hear if I am the only one that thought that fight was strange.
I don’t know about strange (nothing that can’t be attributed to a mediocre ref and Faber’s champion status) but if you look a couple of posts up, you’ll see me talking about Faber not fighting a clean fight.
It happens all the time, too:
Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine, Silva nails Jardine with a big clean shot causing him to stumble (but doesn’t knock him out, quite) then nails Jardine with two punches to the back of the neck. Ref does jack shit. Chances are, Jardine would have gotten knocked out anyway, but that doesn’t make it ok…
Matt Hamill vs. Tim Boetsch: Similar deal, Boetsch is on the way out, gassed and obviously losing, but Hamill actually finishes the fight with strikes to the back of the head. The ref ignores the illegal strikes, and declares a TKO.
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon: Florian has Lauzon in his guard, and unloads with a shitload of illegal elbows to the back of Lauzon’s head (opening up cuts on the back of the head, making it impossible to argue the point - the strikes themselves, down with the point of the elbow, would have been illegal if Florian had been standing, not clear what the situation is when on the ground). The referee actually stops the action because of the strikes, but not only doesn’t give Lauzon any time to recover but *stands them up*, making Lauzon give up an advantageous position.
It’s a complex sport and mistakes will be made, but some of this crap can be so blatant you really wonder what fight these referees are watching.
I can’t say I completely agree, but on or twos accidentals I do. I don’t believe the fight was “fixed”. They both went at it for 5 full rounds, and they gave each other props and much respect. I actually thought Jens won a round, and I was actually there in the front row! In the Jardine vs Houston Alexander fight, didn’t Houston knee him in the head while on the ground? 2 seconds later, Jardine is laid out???? Each corner can express to the officials and the ref of illegal habitual moves. Fighters are going to stretch and bend the rules as far as they can, that’s just human nature. There were a lot of low blows last night though, especially Razor Rob, and he won???wtf…. Overall a great card, and it will be a long time for another one to top it, UFC included.
I would really like to see that Torres kid fight some more. He seems to have cardio like no other and will never quit or tire out.
Unless the WEC brings in some talent, I cant see Torres losing that belt for a long time to come. He is just too fast with godd EVERYTHING….and with cardio beyond all it will be hard to beat him.
There are some fighters that rack up impresive record by fighting weaker opponents and, on paper look impressive as hell, but I think he is the real deal. You know fighters have big egos….And when you can have other tough fighter praising your accomplihments, you know he is for real
finally saw the faber/pulver rerun. dayam! pulver got heart even though he didn’t win a round. he can take some punches and didn’t go down after gettting dazed!!Dayam! his face looked hilarious when he got kicked in the sack! LOL!
faber looked unstoppable! he brought his boxing up to a whole new level i never seen from him, even though he could have did whatever he wanted to do on the ground if he chose to. i thought he was going to have problems with pulver’s BIG left, being that he is a southpaw but landed that left hook and lunging right straight all night AND the elbows! The way he was keeping his distance gave Jens no opennings whatsoever. His stance when he was staying low and had his hands down reminded me of Roy Jones Jr-esque!
He needs to be bumped up in the P4P rankings to TOP 3. The guy has no weaknesses whatsoever. Haven’t seen kid yamamoto fight but that fight should settle FW supremacy.