(Props: MMA Mania)

After their first meeting six months ago resulted in Urijah Faber getting crushed and losing his featherweight title, the California Kid and the WEC’s current 145-pound champ Mike Brown will have their rematch at WEC 41, which goes down June 7th at the ARCO Arena in Faber’s hometown of Sacramento. Both headliners discuss the matchup in this new promo video, which shows that Brown is slightly peeved that his win over Faber is still considered a fluke in the eyes of some fans, while Faber is all "whatever brah, let’s do this, I want that belt back." (Not a direct quote.) Meanwhile, Frank Mir pops in to give his large-man perspective.

WEC 41 will also feature Jose Aldo, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, Jens Pulver, and Manny Gamburyan. The full lineup is after the jump; please toss your insightful predictions into the comments section.

WEC Champ Mike Brown Does Business Casual – Watch more Funny Videos

Last week yours truly was in Florida at American Top Team while on an assignment for Fight! Magazine, and I learned a number of interesting things about what goes on inside the walls of one of America’s best fight gyms.  For instance, here’s WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown getting suited up for another day of training and explaining why he wears business socks to work out in.  You can’t argue with his results, though that might be due more to his training partners than his attire.  The day before this interview was filmed I saw him in a heated sparring match with “JZ” Cavalcante that left both men bloodied before the action spilled out of the ring.  Needless to say, they train hard down at ATT.  Keep an eye out for more videos coming later this week.

(The first taste is free, but the second dose is going to cost you.)

Taking full advantage of his position at Versus.com, Ariel Helwani just posted an interview with WEC Vice President Peter Dropick where they discuss the future of the organization and rumors of a move to pay-per-view.  Dropick was all too eager to confirm those rumors, telling Helwani that the first WEC pay-per-view will be headlined by the much-anticipated rematch between Urijah Faber and WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown, and it could happen as soon as this June.

If you’re worried about how you’re going to afford all the MMA this summer, you’ll be glad to hear that Dropick also promised the price of a WEC pay-per-view would be less than a UFC event, though he didn’t specify by how much.  As for what else might appear on that card, he wouldn’t rule out an appearance by Miguel Torres, saying he wants the pay-per-view to be “stacked.”

Obviously, the WEC is considering Sacramento, where they’ve done extremely well in the past, as a potential venue for this event, but Dropick said there were “three or four different cities” they were considering as well.  He also commented on the status of the lighter weight classes in the WEC, and the potential for Gina Carano to head up a women’s division at some point in the near future.  The whole interview is worth a read, so give it a look.

(There’s my boy.  Photo courtesy of WEC.tv)

As some of you have noted in the comments to our Gambling Addiction Enabler series, following our betting advice seems likely to lead to financial ruin.  Weird, I know.  It’s almost as if you shouldn’t make financial decisions based on what you read for free on the internet while you’re supposed to be working.

But in an effort to bring accountability and transparency to the Gambling Addiction Enabler, here’s how I did following my own advice for WEC 39.

The Bet: $20 on Mike Brown at -185 (BetUs.com)
The Outcome: Won a cool $10.81 (plus, you know, my original twenty back). 
What I Learned: Yes, I know I’m betting small here but it’s the WEC, which is basically the dog track of MMA.  You don’t want to blow hundreds of dollars on some greyhounds that will be euthanized four months from now, so to speak.  (To really lose your ass, you go to Santa Anita.  Which for the purposes of this ill-fated analogy, is the UFC.)  My faith in Brownie paid off here, albeit in meager fashion.  But I’m building my gambling fortune empire and like they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.  It also wasn’t built on twenty-dollar bets on guys who were favored at almost 2-1, but I’m conveniently ignoring that fact in order to savor this win.

(Brown vs. Garcia)

If you didn’t believe it after he pulled out a first-round TKO over Urijah Faber in November, believe it now — Mike Brown is a freakin’ monster. Brown’s first featherweight title defense ended in quick, violent fashion, as the American Top Team fighter needed less than two minutes to pound #1 contender Leonard Garcia into helplessness, then end the fight with an arm-triangle choke from the top. Things looked bad for Garcia right away, with Brown smashing him to the mat with an overhand right just 18 seconds into round 1. From there, Brown worked some brutal ground-and-pound, bloodying Garcia’s face. Garcia was able to stave off a rear-naked choke attempt, but Brown relentlessly worked to finish the fight on the ground, and made Garcia tap at the 1:57 mark. After the fight, Brown picked up a $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus, and welcomed a rematch with Faber, calling it the fight that fans want to see the most.

Speaking of bonuses, bantamweight Damacio Page earned a $7,500 Knockout of the Night bump for his 18-second storming of Marcos Galvao — who, somewhat unsurprisingly, had to leave the cage on a stretcher — while Johny Hendricks and Alex Serdyukov each took home an extra $7,500 for their action-packed Fight of the Night, which Hendricks won in a unanimous decision despite a late comeback from Serdyukov. Hendricks vs. Serdyukov was the last welterweight match to be featured in the WEC; both fighters are rumored to move to the UFC.

(Mike Brown prays to Krom for victory.  But if Krom does not help, then to hell with him, Brown will do it himself.)

You may have forgotten all about WEC 39 on Sunday night, such is your excitement for our party with Fight! Magazine in Columbus, Ohio, but we remembered because someone has to keep things in order around here.  In case you’re not content just watching a night of free fights on Versus, we’ll also help you throw away your money betting on them.  Because that’s how little we care about your welfare and happiness.

Here are the sweetest lines out there, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Mike Brown (-165) vs. Leonard Garcia (+160)
Marcus Hicks (+134) vs. Rob McCullough (-144)
John Franchi (-118) vs. Mike Budnik (+108)
Johny Hendricks (-312) vs. Alex Serdyukov (+300)
Chris Mickle (+700) vs. Jose Aldo (-850)
Damacio Page (-140) vs. Marcus Galvao (+130)
Alex Karalexis (-175) vs. Greg McIntyre (+165)
Phil Cardella (+151) vs. Danny Castillo (-160)
Rafael Rebello (even) vs. Kenji Osawa (-110)
Justin Haskins (+180) vs. Mike Pierce (-193)
Bart Palaszewski (-272) vs. Ricardo Lamas (+260)

Thoughts…

("Brow down, bitches!")

Remember when the WEC’s featherweight division just consisted of Urijah Faber and the handful of dudes who were sent in to get trounced by him? Now we’ve got Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia fighting for the title, and guys like Wagnney Fabiano and Jose Aldo slaying their way up the ladder. It’s an exciting place to fight, and the division got even deeper this week with two high-profile additions to the 145-pound roster.

On Monday, MMA Junkie reported that #10-ranked featherweight Rafael Assuncao was signed to a multi-fight deal, with his debut possibly coming at WEC 40 (April 5th, Chicago). Assuncao is 12-1 with eight wins by submission, and holds career wins over Joe Lauzon and Jorge Masvidal. Most recently he scored a 12-second knockout over Joe "The Triangular Strangler" Pearson at an Ironheart Crown show in November. Though he was previously associated with Unit 2 Fitness in Atlanta, Assuncao will be moving to American Top Team, the home of current WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown. Said Assuncao’s manager Malki Kawa: 

I can’t help but wonder whose idea it was to have new WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown on Inside MMA and then ask the panel — which consisted of Brown, Dave "Pee Wee" Herman, and oddsmaker Nick Kalikas — who the best fighter in the WEC is.  You know Brown’s going to say it’s him, and you also know the other two guys are going to want to say it’s Urijah Faber, thus implying that Brown got lucky when he beat Faber for the belt at WEC 36.  And you know that when this happens it will create a palpably uncomfortable situation for everyone.  And yet they do it anyway.

Say what you will, I have no choice but to admire that move.  It’s kind of a mini ethics test, because we’d know if one of them said Brown it would only be because he was sitting a few feet away and not because they really believed it.  But honesty ruled the day, and as usually happens in real life, awkwardness followed with it. 

(Taking a breather, messing with a footlock. No biggie.)

It’s that time again. Volume two in our “Ask the Potato” series. So, for those of you who asked whether this was an ongoing series, consider your question answered. Try to come up with something a little more thought-provoking next time. Go here if you’ve got a question that just can’t wait.

When are we going to find out about Paulo Filho‘s toxicology report, and how soon do you see the California Kid getting his rematch? Is he going to have to climb the ladder, or would the rematch be immediate? — Faderade

I once drove a forklift on the loading docks of a small, non-union trucking company. Many idiots worked there. One day one of these idiots inexplicably drove his forklift directly into a stack of riding lawnmowers, causing several thousand dollars worth of damage. They drug-tested that guy the same day. He did not pass. For some odd reason, Filho’s performance at WEC 36 reminded me of that guy.

When I picture the urine sample Filho submitted to the Florida Commission, I imagine it smoking and bubbling like the secret potion in a monster movie. Just handling the sample could probably cause a woman to miscarry, even if she wasn’t pregnant.

But that’s just speculation on my part. Maybe Filho wasn’t on drugs. Maybe he was off them, and that’s the explanation. You can usually expect to find out if someone tested positive within a month of the event. We’re waiting. Anxiously. As for Urijah Faber, he’ll get that rematch just as soon as Brown is healthy. He’s earned it, and it’s the only fight for the WEC at 145 that’s a guaranteed draw at this point.

What does it mean if Brock Lesnar wins? — Maxwell

(‘Fuck you, pay me.’)

When we looked at the payouts for WEC 36 and saw $14,000 next to Urijah Faber‘s name, we had little choice but to assume that Zuffa was screwing him like a one-legged Panamanian hooker: cheaply and with shocking disregard for his delicate feelings.

But Faber’s manager, Mike Roberts, says that figure was “not even close” to a full accounting of what Faber was paid to face Mike Brown:

“That was an accurate statement of the check he received that night. Some contractual issues came up after the September fight was postponed and that $14,000 was the remaining balance of what was owed to him. That is not what he made.”

[...]

“Keep in mind Urijah’s still fighting off an old contract, but Urijah’s been well taken care of for the last couple fights.”

(Mug shot courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

An unfortunate side-note to last night’s WEC 36 card (which happened to be full of unfortunate side-notes): UFC lightweight Hermes Franca, who attended the event and was shown during the broadcast, was arrested in Jupiter, Florida, at 2:38 a.m. last night for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was transferred to the Palm Beach County jail after the arrest, and released later this morning. This was Franca’s first DUI offense, though not his first brush with controlled substances; he was suspended from MMA competition for a year following his UFC 73 match against Sean Sherk in July ’07, after testing positive for the steroid Drostanolone. It should be mentioned that Franca’s manager Reed Wallace claims the fighter was simply very tired last night and was falling asleep behind the wheel.

Franca is a former WEC lightweight champion who holds career wins over the current lightweight champ Jamie Varner as well as the WEC’s new featherweight champ Mike Brown, and recently won a decision over Marcus Aurelio at UFC 90 last month. Paulo Filho, who is suspected of fighting under the influence of alcohol or drugs, is apparently still at large. If more important details emerge, we’ll let you know.

And even more not-awesome news from WEC’s aftermath: Mike Brown did indeed screw up his ribs during the Urijah Faber fight. FiveOuncesofPain reports that Brown suffered torn cartilage in his ribs and had to be taken to a local hospital via ambulance immediately after leaving the cage. The injury is expected to sideline Brown for four-to-six weeks.

Urijah Faber wasn’t kidding when he said he was a happy person who loved life. Even as he admits that he doesn’t really remember what happened in his loss to Mike Brown on account of all the punches to his head, he still seems to be in a pretty pleasant mood in the post-fight press conference, captured here by ESPN.

Chael Sonnen, however, describes his fight with Paulo Filho as “like being in a dance with a partner who doesn’t know how to dance.” He also says he hasn’t received Filho’s belt, as promised, and he’s absolutely not above accepting it should they offer it, despite the weird circumstances.

After the jump, a couple special treats.

(Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown; props to MMA Scraps.)

Last night’s WEC show drew 5,227 fans for a live gate of $563,578, according to MMA Weekly. $7,500 bonuses were awarded to the following fighters:

Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone and Rob McCullough for their three-round undercard war that some are calling a fight-of-the-year candidate; too bad we had to see the Filho/Sonnen debacle instead. Cerrone took home the unanimous decision win.

Knockout of the Night: Mike Brown for his beating of Urijah Faber. Which was nice and all, though Aaron Simpson kinda got robbed.

Submission of the Night: Rani Yahya for his first-round guillotine choke of Yoshiro Maeda, also from the undercard.

TKO of the Night?: Leonard Garcia reportedly got an extra $7,500 for steamrolling Jens Pulver.

Full results can be found here. More videos after the jump…

(“Boys, please, can’t you settle your differences with words?” Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The California Kid invades Hollywood (Florida), Chael “RE/MAX” Sonnen aims to do a bit of closing on Paulo Filho’s middleweight title reign, and Leonard Garcia will be smuggling nothing but his fists and feet across the border that is Jens Pulver’s face. I’m coked-out Mauro Ranallo and I’ll be your liveblogger tonight — the specials are honor, glory, pumpkin crème brûlée, and maybe some championship gold?

Just kidding, it’s only me, BG. Hit that “More” link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest from tonight’s live event on Versus. Should be a monster.

(September 10? Middleweight championship? Oh, the best laid plans.)

Despite Paulo Filho’s inability to even pretend like he was trying to make weight yesterday, the bout with Chael Sonnen is still on and Filho (hereafter referred to as ‘Fatty Filho’) is still the favorite with oddsmakers. Fatty Filho might want to think about trying to profit with a little side action, because he had to give up 25% of his purse to Sonnen as a penalty for loving food too much. His corner also said, according to Matt Lindland, that despite the bout’s non-title status they would physically give Sonnen the belt if he wins tonight.

Said the gruff-but-lovable Lindland: “When Chael whoops his ass, I expect them to live up to their word.” See what kind of straight-talking awesomeness you’re going to be missing out on, Oregon voters?

The betting odds for tonight’s WEC event come from our friends at BestFightOdds.com. As always, you should read this if you’re too “special” to understand what these numbers mean.

Chael Sonnen (+155) vs. Paulo Filho (-130)
Mike Brown (+400) vs. Urijah Faber (-416)
Rob McCullough (+136) vs. Donald Cerrone (-145)
Leonard Garcia (+170) vs. Jens Pulver (-170)
Jonathan Brookins (+350) vs. Jose Aldo (-430)
Rani Yahya (-104) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (-106)
Nissen Osterneck (+260) vs. Jake Rosholt (-256)
David Avellan (+135) vs. Aaron Simpson (-165)
Steve Steinbeiss (+265) vs. Carmelo Marrero (-320)
Danny Castillo (+170) vs. Rafael Dias (-210)

Thoughts…

(Chubby Paulo. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

If missing weight was the cool thing to do at today’s WEC weigh-ins, you can just call Paulo Filho the Brazilian Fonzie. Filho was a full seven pounds over the limit for tomorrow night’s event, coming in at 192 pounds. This is his first fight back after a nearly ten-month layoff due to problems with depression and drugs, and coming in ridiculously overweight is not typically how you want to return to action. He needs to drop the seven pounds within the two-hour limit given by the Florida Commission, otherwise there will be no title on the line and maybe no fight at all.

Update: On his second attempt, Filho weighed in at 189 pounds, still four pounds over. The fight will go forward as a non-title affair.

Just for kicks, Mike Brown also weighed in over the limit, but thankfully he only missed his mark by a half-pound. Brown weighed in at 145.5, which would have been fine for a non-title affair, but what with Urijah Faber‘s WEC featherweight title on the line he had to go spit in a cup for an hour or so. On his second attempt, Brown hit the 145 pound mark.

Rani Yahya also missed weight for his bout with Yoshiro Maeda. Maeda did him a solid and let him have the extra pound rather than force him to cut it and weigh in again. What a guy, that Maeda.

Full WEC weigh-in results are after the jump.

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

The WEC has released the final lineup for next Wednesday’s event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Here’s what we’ll be seeing:

Main Card (airing live on Versus, 8 p.m. ET)
Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown (for featherweight championship)
Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen (for middleweight championship)
Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia (featherweights)
Jake Rosholt vs. Nissen Osterneck (middleweights)
Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone (lightweights)

Undercard
David Avellan vs. Aaron Simpson (light-heavyweights)
Jose Aldo vs. Jonathan Brookins (featherweights)
Alex Schoenauer vs. Steve Steinbeiss (light-heavyweights)
Danny Castillo vs. Ed Ratcliff (lightweights)
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Rani Yahya (bantamweights)

The video promo above wonders if Mike Brown is the man to stop Urijah Faber’s reign of dominance in the WEC. Most likely, he isn’t — which should explain why Faber’s betting line is as high as -450 on sports wagering sites. The fight to really pay attention to here is Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen. Before the controversial armbar stoppage in their first match last December, Chael Sonnen was dominating Filho, beating the middleweight champ standing and scoring multiple takedowns. Filho entered treatment for chemical dependency shortly after the fight, and hasn’t competed since; Sonnen last fought at WEC 33 in March, where he won a decision over Bryan Baker. It’ll be interesting to see where Filho’s head is at. And of course, there’s no way Lil’ Evil vs. Bad Boy will be a dull fight. Not bad for free TV…

(Mike Brown better be preparing for Tropical Storm Faber.)

WEC 36 — which was scheduled to go down this Wednesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida — has been rescheduled to November 5th due to safety concerns related to Hurricane Ike. From an official statement released by the WEC on Saturday:

“Due to the potential of a major hurricane hitting the South Florida area on Wednesday we were compelled to postpone the event,” said Vice President of Operations and Production Peter Dropick. “For the safety of our fans, the fighters and our staff we felt it was in the best interest to make this decision.”

Hurricane Ike is currently a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 MPH and is moving west/southwest toward South Florida according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory. The storm is on track to have impact on the Florida Keys and South Florida on Tuesday (9/9) into Wednesday (9/10).

“With Hurricane Ike approaching our area we have concern for the fans, fighters, our employees and the South Florida community in general,” said Bernie Dillon, Sr. Vice President of Entertainment for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “We felt like it would be prudent and in everyone’s best interest to postpone the event. We certainly don’t want to cause any travelers or employees to get stranded here should we have a major storm.”

Unfortunately, the WEC may have jumped the gun a bit, as it now looks like Ike will miss Florida entirely, and make landfall somewhere between Alabama and Texas. Tickets purchased for the September 10th date remain valid and will be honored on 11/5; refunds can be obtained at the point of purchase. After the jump is the card you won’t be seeing on Wednesday…

(Urijah Faber talks upcoming title defense with ESPN)

The WEC has announced the full fight card for their September 10 event in Florida, and once again it’s a fairly stacked show from Zuffa’s minor leagues. Most notable is the official announcement that former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver will be taking on Leonard “Just Try and Make Those Charges Stick” Garcia. It also includes Urijah Faber defending his title against Mike Brown, and Paulo Filho making his return to action in a rematch against Chael Sonnen.

Making their WEC debuts are two Team Takedown members — Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendricks — who are definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Here’s the full lineup:

Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown
Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen
Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia
Danillo Villefort vs. Jake Rosholt
Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone
Rani Yahya vs. Yoshihiro Maeda
David Avellan vs. Tim McKenzie
Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov
Ed Ratcliff vs. Danny Castillo

Sherdog has confirmed previous rumors that WEC 36 — which is slated for September 10th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida — will be headlined by a featherweight championship match between 145-pound king Urijah Faber and highly regarded American Top Team fighter Mike Brown. Brown is coming off an impressive decision win over Jeff Curran at WEC 34, and has won 10 of his last 11 fights in organizations like Bodog Fight, HOOKnSHOOT, AFC, and DEEP. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, check out the above highlight reel from VulgarATT.

All of Faber’s WEC matches to this point have been held in Las Vegas or in his home state of California, but Brown will have the hometown advantage in this one, since he trains with ATT in nearby Coconut Creek, FL. WEC 36 will also feature the middleweight rematch between champion Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen, as well as bouts between Mark Munoz and Steve Steinbeiss, and “Razor” Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone.

(You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie.)

MMA Mania is passing along a rumor that Urijah Faber could make his next featherweight title defense against Mike Brown at WEC 36 on September 10th. Brown (17-4) is an American Top Team fighter who you may remember from his spot-on parody video of teammate Jeff Monson calling out Kimbo Slice; he’s riding a seven-fight win-streak and holds notable victories over Mark Hominick, Yves Edwards, and most recently Jeff Curran in his WEC debut last month. Brown is a credible challenge to Urijah Faber, though not an ideal one — why the WEC hasn’t rescued Wagnney Fabiano from the IFL yet is anyone’s guess, and the featherweight fantasy fight between Faber and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto probably won’t happen in our lifetimes.

Speaking of the WEC, Dana White has again voiced his intention of folding the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions of the Zuffa-owned league and bringing the best fighters over to the UFC. There aren’t many standout 185- and 205-pounders under contract with the WEC, but middleweight champ Paulo Filho (who is slated to defend his title in a rematch against Chael Sonnen at WEC 36) immediately comes to mind. If Anderson Silva decides to leave the UFC’s middleweight division for good, there’d be room for another star at the top, and the fact that Filho has never had his ass kicked by Silva would make him an attractive contender for the UFC’s 185-pound title should it ever become vacant; Filho and Silva are close friends, and have vowed not to fight each other. Still, Dana White might need a little more convincing: “[Filho]‘s a great fighter, but he has a lot of personal problems to overcome,” White told Kevin Iole. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be a deal-breaker for employment in the UFC these days…

LOFL! Props to American Top Team.