(‘Heyyyyyy.’)

Now that he’s finally injury-free and ready to fight, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is setting his sights high for his return to the Octagon. Rua told Fighters Only that he’d like to be the first to beat Rashad Evans following his impressive knockout of Chuck Liddell over the weekend:

“Rashad fought the perfect fight, he obviously studied Chuck and worked hard on his game plan,” he said. “He may be undefeated but everyone is there to be beaten and I would like to be the first one to do it.”

Of course if he can’t get that fight, he’ll take Rich Franklin, who’s also coming off a win. Apparently “Shogun” is not deterred by the fact that he’s coming back from a long injury layoff, or that his last time out didn’t go so well. Maybe it might be a better idea to ease back into it. I hear Matt Hamill’s schedule is pretty open.

- In other Brazilian fighter news, UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva told Tatame that there is absolutely no chance of him facing WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho even after the heavier weight classes are absorbed into the UFC. Silva called Filho “the best middleweight,” saying “there’s nobody to beat him.”

It probably helps that they’re buds:

“I would never fight with Paulão. We almost train together, we’re always helping each other and (Josuel) Distak is our coach. There’s no chance to happen. People can complain, scream, whatever, but it won’t happen.”

You heard the man. You might as well stop your constant complaining and screaming for Silva-Filho, because it ain’t happening. Just let it go and move on with your life. Somehow.

(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…

(Toymakers are hard at work trying to capture the essence of Urijah’s chin.)

Not content just to offer UFC action figures — such as the Brock Lesnar figurine complete with phallic chest tattoo — toymaker JAKKS Pacific sent out a press release today announcing that they have signed agreements to produce WEC and Pride dolls as well:

“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with UFC by adding WEC and PRIDE to our action figure roster,” said Stephen Berman, President and COO, JAKKS Pacific. “As the world leader in fighting action figure toys, we plan on dominating the Mixed Martial Arts collector action figure arena. The addition of WEC and PRIDE gives JAKKS a substantial base of fighters with which to work and develop into a broad and exciting line of collectable products for fans.”

“This agreement with JAKKS gives fight fans a premier line of authentic collector action figures,” said Dana White, UFC President. “This is a great partnership that benefits the sport, our athletes and our fans.”

We know what you’re thinking. WEC action figures make some sense, even though they are undoubtedly lesser known than the UFC, but Pride? Aren’t they a little late to the party? That’s like putting out Guns N’ Roses action figures.

To that, we can only say: 1) you would totally buy Guns N’ Roses action figures and you know it, and 2) better late than never.

You’re telling us you don’t want an Igor Vovchanchyn figure, complete with pot belly and extremely tight shorts? Don’t kid yourself. There are tons of great options out there, and hopefully Zuffa has rights to them, since otherwise it doesn’t make much sense what with many of the major Pride stars now in the UFC. We’re just hoping that the Gilbert Yvel figurine comes complete with extended thumbs that fit nicely into the eye sockets of the Don Frye doll. In a perfect world, the Don Frye doll would also have a string that you can pull to make him say, “Gilbert! We can do it again, brother!”

Damn this imperfect world!

There’s plenty to love about the WEC. Zuffa’s brand of minor league MMA features competitive bouts between lesser-known fighters, including the lighter weight classes that get so little love in other organizations. But does that mean MMA fans are willing to pay extra for it?

Dana White seems to think so, as he told Yahoo! Sports that he plans to put on a WEC pay-per-view event, possibly in 2009. Yahoo! says it could go down “as early as May,” and also says that Zuffa will follow through on plans to absorb the WEC’s light heavyweight and middleweight divisions into the UFC. That means even fewer fighters will be available for the WEC cards that fans will soon be asked to pay for.

Asked how many events the WEC would stage in 2009, White replied, “We’re still figuring that out, but I can tell you this: It’s not going to go down.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t one of the WEC’s main selling points the fact that it was always free on Versus? Why go and screw with that? There’s been a clear dichotomy even in the UFC between fight cards that are good for free TV (i.e. Spike TV) and those that are of pay-per-view quality. As great a year as the WEC has had, asking fans to pay premium prices means expectations go up too. With so many UFC events already stretching the pay-per-view budget of many fans, it could also mean a decline in overall WEC viewership.

I think I speak for all non-independently wealthy MMA fans when I say, damn.

Perhaps the most talented of the unsigned IFL fighters out there — featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano — may have finally found a new home. Tatame reports that the Brazilian has signed with the WEC, supposedly to fight in the bantamweight division. That already seems a little fishy, and then you add in this garbled quote from Fabiano that mentions WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber, and it seems like there might be a slight mistranslation problem:

“My objectives is to grown in the event and get the title. Let’s start with a tough and focused work. It won’t chance anything in my life, I’m always serious and go to any event to win. My goal is to fight for the belt and do my best”, said the athlete, that analyzed the champion, Urijah Faber.

“Faber is the best of the world now. To beat him, I think you have to be in a good shape. He’s an expert fighter and he has a good gas, it’s complicated to beat a guy like him. You have to set a good game plan and be calm and watch the elbows, because if you hits you can change a whole fight.”

Well, I’m officially confused. Either Fabiano is planning to drop down to 135 pounds and the remarks about Faber were just for kicks, or Tatame has it wrong and he’s really signing on as a featherweight. With the WEC hurting for challengers to Faber’s throne, the latter seems more likely.

- In other news, MMA Rated reports that the KJ Noons-Nick Diaz bout that Elite XC had hoped to add to their October 4 event on CBS is now officially off. Elite XC VP Jared Shaw said the organization was unable to come to terms with Noons’ agent, Mark Dion, and added that throughout the entire process no one from Elite XC was able to personally speak with Noons. Shaw said they wouldn’t be stripping Noons of the lightweight title just yet, but expressed hope that he would “wake up and smell the Hawaiian coffee.” That’s the kind of remark that should convince him to come around.

(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

(Hiromitsu Miura and Carlos Condit. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the fighter salary figures for Sunday’s WEC show. Yeah, they’re lower than what you might see in UFC, but the greatest disparity lies in the fight bonuses. The WEC handed out $7,500 bumps for Knockout (Brock Larson), Submission (Brian Bowles), and Fight of the Night (both Condit/Miura and Varner/Hicks) — compared to the $60,000 bonuses now up for grabs in the UFC. The numbers are below; props to MMA Junkie and MMA Weekly.

Carlos Condit: $51,500 (includes $22,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Jamie Varner: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brock Larson: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Marcus Hicks: $23,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brian Bowles: $15,500 (includes $4,000 win bonus, $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus)
Hiromitsu Miura: $12,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Blas Avena: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Shane Roller: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Brian Stann: $11,000
Steve Cantwell: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Josh Grispi: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Carlo Prater: $7,000
Mike Budnik: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Scott Jorgensen: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Damacio Page: $6,000
Micah Miller: $5,000
Kenji Osawa: $5,000
Todd Moore: $4,000
Dave Terrel: $3,000
Greg McIntyre: $2,000
Total: $275,000

Underpaid: Pretty much everyone. Particularly, everyone under Steve Cantwell on the list, and Hiromitsu Miura, who went into the main event title fight with just a $5,000 base salary — and left with a long medical suspension. To put this in perspective, Matt Lindland out-earned WEC 35′s entire payroll for fighting at Affliction: Banned.

Overpaid: Nobody. Though, relative to the other fighters you might say Marcus Hicks was overpaid. For some reason, his $16,000 base salary was the night’s second-highest, after Carlos Condit.

(Brian Bowles’s fight-ending flying guillotine of Damacio Page. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Even without franchise fighter Urijah Faber on the card, the WEC managed to put on one of the wildest events in recent memory last night, featuring six first-round stoppages and a welterweight title fight that you’ll definitely be seeing on “Best of the Year” lists in a few months. Following a kickass supporting card that saw welterweight standout Brock Larson smash Carlo Prater in just 37 seconds, and undefeated Brian Bowles choke out the tough and cocky Damacio Page in a bantamweight match, the broadcast featured a trio of title fights, and they did not disappoint.

Leading off was WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner in his first title defense, facing submission specialist Marcus “The Wrecking Ball” Hicks, who walked into the cage with a perfect 8-0 record. After an exchange of knees in a clinch, Hicks bulled Varner to the ground and nearly sunk in a guillotine choke. Hicks tossed Varner down again when he escaped, but “The Worm” scrambled to his feet and started pouring on an insane barrage of kicks, knees, and punches that continued until Hicks hit the deck at the 2:08 mark.

In the light-heavyweight championship match, Steve Cantwell avenged his only career loss and stole the WEC’s 205-pound belt at the same time, scoring a second-round TKO over reigning champ Brian Stann. The first frame saw Cantwell get the better of the previously undefeated “All-American” in a kickboxing match that turned absolutely frantic about 90 seconds in. There was a scary moment for Cantwell at the end of round one as he slipped to the ground and started taking heavy shots from above by Stann, but he was able to get to his feet as the horn sounded. Stann started the second round by kicking Cantwell dead in the nuts, but the challenger recovered with more sharp striking, eventually staggering Stann with a left hook and turning out his lights with a right hook.

With the WEC’s next event just around the corner, media coverage has started to ramp up this week. As it does, the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is that the organization’s top fighters are mostly just pissed off that they aren’t in the UFC. USA Today wrote about the UFC’s uncertain attitude regarding the future of the promotion, including a quote from Marc Ratner that reflects what seems to the consensus opinion over at Zuffa:

“There is talk about having the heavier guys come on over (to UFC), and maybe anything under 145 (pounds, the featherweight limit) would be WEC and above 145 would be UFC,” says UFC vice president Marc Ratner. “It hasn’t been put into place yet.”

In the same article, Carlos Condit describes the UFC as “the big show” and says he hopes to move on up. Jamie Varner made similar comments to Sherdog, saying:

“I still got all the doubters out there, and that’s motivation to me,” Varner said. “All the people out there saying this guy in the UFC would beat you or this guy in Dream would kill you. I want to beat everyone that Zuffa puts in front of me and hopefully one day get my opportunity to fight a B.J. Penn and show the world what I’m made of.”

Ordinarily it would be a bad thing to have all your top fighters publicly stating their desire to go and fight somewhere else, but this only reinforces how smart it was of Zuffa to purchase the WEC and use them as a sort of minor league, as well as how dumb it would be to turn it into nothing but featherweights and bantamweights.

Here’s the thing: when Carlos Condit (currently ranked #9 in the world at welterweight in the ultra-official Cage Potato Power Rankings) says to you before a sparring session, “Hit me as hard as you want to get hit,” it may not be the best idea to go out there and unload on him with your best right hand. Not unless you want to feel his retaliation in the form of a head kick-right straight combo that will put you on your ass.

At the same time, it is pretty awesome. When that dude wakes up, someone should buy him a beer.

(The Nightmare returns; photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

A couple of important fight bookings to pass along this morning…

First, MMA Weekly reports that a welterweight bout between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves will take place at UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago); the UFC hasn’t officially announced any of the fights on the card yet. Originally, Sanchez/Alves was rumored to take place at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, but with that lineup filling out it looks like the Nightmare vs. the Pitbull will be used to anchor the UFC’s first show in Chi-town.

Meanwhile, Leonard Garcia has reportedly agreed to face Jens Pulver in a featherweight match at WEC 36 (September 10th; Hollywood, Florida). WEC 36 is also slated to feature title fights between Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, and Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen. Garcia hasn’t fought since a TKO victory over Hiroyuki Takaya at WEC 32 in February, after which he was caught up in a minor misunderstanding over drug smuggling. Pulver had to undergo elbow surgery after his unanimous decision loss to Urijah Faber last month, but according to Lil’ Evil, “everything is good.”

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.

Okay, so he’s not officially out of the woods yet, but WEC fighter Leonard Garcia has had the federal drug trafficking charges against him dropped, according to a MySpace post reprinted by MMA Mania earlier today. You may recall that Garcia was arrested back in March in alleged connection with a cocaine smuggling ring in Texas. Garcia proclaimed his innocence from the get-go, and now things are starting to look better for him:

“I just wanted to post this to let everyone know that I had the federal charges dropped. I am still dealing with the state but the charges aren’t as serious as they seemed. So I hope to be back in the cage soon … real soon. I’m just waiting on my excellent manager Steven (boogie) Bean to get that straightened out for me. I am gonna be the WEC lightweight champ soon, this is something I feel strongly about. So I’m telling everyone that is my goal and my dream and that is what I’m going to do so I will give it my all to do what I say I’m gonna do.”

State charges are still enough to get you locked up in prison, so it might not be time to celebrate just yet, but the fact that the feds dropped their case against him lends credence to his claims of innocence and suggests that maybe he’ll be back in the good kind of cage sooner rather than later.

(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…

Here’s the must-see video of the morning — WEC ring girl Christie Cartwright asking WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres a series of incredibly awkward questions in a dimly lit hotel room. Gotta love the opening: “What do you actually wear under your fight shorts? Good question, right?!” Christie, you can’t “good question” your own questions. What kind of cut-rate journalism school did you attend, anyway? This is just the first episode of “Christie’s Corner,” so we shouldn’t be judging her too harshly. Check back next week for part two of the interview, where Roger Huerta walks in and they all have sex.

(Props: MMAMania)

(Jens Pulver: Rode hard and put away wet.)

The California State Athletic Commission issued medical suspensions to 11 of the fighters who competed at WEC’s “Faber vs. Pulver” event on Sunday, and fuck are they brutal. 180-day suspensions were handed out to six fighters including Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver, and Yoshiro Maeda; according to the report, only Faber’s and Will Robeiro’s can end early with a doctor’s clearance. So, we hope whatever Maeda took home from his $6,000 salary after taxes, insurance, license fees and everything else can last him until December. Here’s the full list of suspensions, and the ouchies that caused them:

Urijah Faber: 180-day suspension due to a right-hand injury (can be cleared early by doctor)
Jens Pulver: 180-day suspension due to a right-eye orbital injury
Miguel Torres: 60-day suspension due to a cut
Yoshiro Maeda: 180-day suspension due to a right-eye orbital injury
Mark Munoz: 180-day suspension due to a right-hand injury
Chuck Grigsby: indefinite suspension due to a head injury (must be cleared by a doctor)
Rob McCullough: 60-day suspension due to a cut
Will Robeiro: 180-day suspension due to a right-hand injury (can be cleared early by doctor)
Jeremy Lang: 180-day suspension due to a left-ankle injury and a cut
Luis Do Santos: 45-day suspension with no contact for 30 days due to suffering a knockout
Alexandre Nogueira: 60-day suspension due to a cut

The California State Athletic Commission has released the official salary figures for WEC: Faber vs. Pulver, proving that just because you’re one of the best fighters in the world, not to mention the marketing face of your organization, doesn’t mean you’ll be paid like a star. The numbers are below; each winning fighter’s salary represents a doubling of their base salary (i.e., Faber earned $22,000 to show, and $22,000 to win). The figures don’t include sponsorship money, undisclosed “locker room” bonuses (which we really hope Yoshiro Maeda received), or deductions for insurance, licenses, and taxes.

Urijah Faber ($44,000) def. Jens Pulver ($33,000)
Miguel Torres ($28,000) def. Yoshiro Maeda ($6,000)
Mark Munoz ($16,000) def. Chuck Grigsby ($3,000)
Rob McCullough ($32,000) def. Kenneth Alexander ($3,000)
Donald Cerrone ($10,000) def. Danny Castillo ($3000)
Mike Brown ($10,000) def. Jeff Curran ($10,000)
Will Ribeiro ($6,000) def. Chase Beebe ($7,000)
Tim McKenzie ($12,000) def. Jeremy Lang ($4,000)
Alex Serdyukov ($6,000) def. Luis Sapo ($3,000)
Jose Aldo ($6,000) def. Alexandre Franca Nogueira ($8,000)
Dominic Cruz ($6,000) def. Charlie Valencia ($7,000)
Total: $260,000

Anyway, it’s just another reason why Faber should move up in weight and head to the UFC, especially now that he’s reached an Anderson Silva-level of domination in his league’s weight class. At this point in his career, the only challenges left are a superfight with Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto — who, by the way, will be fighting a complete nobody at DREAM.5 — and a run at lightweight. How much more can the WEC really do for him?

Those left with a bad taste in their mouth from the multiple fiascos of Saturday’s EliteXC show got a palate-cleansing burst of brilliant MMA last night, as WEC 34 in Sacramento featured arguably the two greatest bouts in the organization’s history.

In the featherweight championship match, Urijah Faber solidified his status as one of the best fighters in the world, wearing Jens Pulver down with explosive striking combos and showcasing his scary conditioning during the first 25-minute match of his career. Faber came out hard in his usual style, landing a couple of big punches and knees in the clinch. Though Faber slipped to the mat while attempting a kick, Pulver couldn’t capitalize on the ground and was kicked off. The fight was halted briefly when Pulver was poked in the eye, but Lil’ Evil refused to take recovery time. Pulver took Faber’s back briefly against the cage, and ate a spinning backfist for his efforts.

The second round began with another brief stoppage as Faber accidentally kicked Pulver in the groin following a punch combo. Faber dominated the next couple minutes, taking Pulver down, throwing some big elbows, then landing a vicious punch combination when Faber scrambled to his feet. Pulver looked rocked, but fired back with his own punches, including a sharp uppercut that shook Faber. Faber answered with a takedown attempt, but Pulver sprawled and nearly secured a front choke. Faber escaped and punished Pulver with punches until the bell sounded. Pulver seemed gassed at this point, and clearly frustrated that he was being outboxed.

The third round was probably the most exciting of the match, starting with a sharp head kick from Pulver. After Pulver sprawled on a takedown, Faber was able to take Pulver’s back and slam him to the ground, but Pulver bounced up and began a thrilling striking exchange ending with a devastating body kick that put Faber in serious trouble. Faber shot for a takedown but landed with Pulver on top of him and dropping elbows. Faber reversed the position and landed a couple elbows of his own before the fighters were stood up; Pulver was very slow in getting to his feet.

(Urijah Faber: Never a dull moment.)

Though EliteXC’s CBS show is grabbing most of the attention for this weekend, WEC is putting on its biggest event to date on Sunday at Sacramento’s ARCO Arena, headlined by the monumental featherweight championship match between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver, and also featuring Miguel Torres, “Razor” Rob McCullough, Jeff Curran, Chase Beebe, and Charlie Valencia. If you get Versus, you can watch the action live starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. — and judging from recent WEC shows, missing it wouldn’t be in your best interest. Let’s take a look at the four main card fights…

Urijah Faber [champion] vs. Jens Pulver (featherweight title fight)
Don’t let his beautiful anaconda choke of Cub Swanson at WEC 31 fool you — Jens Pulver is still a stand-up banger, and his greatest advantage over the California Kid is his dynamite-loaded striking. Faber will probably try to trade shots for a while, but he’ll eventually employ his superior wrestling to get the fight to the mat and look for a submission or ground-and-pound TKO. If Faber can neutralize Pulver’s boxing and avoid getting caught early, the hometown boy’s relentless aggression and inventiveness will win the day. Prediction: Faber via 3rd-round submission.

Miguel Torres [champion] vs. Yoshiro Maeda (bantamweight title fight)
Miguel Torres owns one of the most impressive records in MMA (33-1, 21 wins via submission), but he didn’t start getting name-checked as one of the best fighters in the world until he tore through Chase Beebe in February to win WEC’s bantamweight title. Torres has never been stopped, and he avenged his sole loss to Ryan Ackerman in 2003 by submitting him two years later. Known more as a striker, Maeda is a seasoned veteran of Pancrase and DEEP, and made his impressive U.S. debut at WEC 32 when he delivered a knockout body-kick to Charlie Valencia midway through the first round. It’ll be a tough test for Torres, but he’s looked incredibly impressive in his last few matches, and he’s got enough momentum to defend his belt. Prediction: Torres extends his streak of five-straight submission victories to six, and does it in the second round.

Jens Pulver may have said that there would be no trash-talking leading up to his WEC featherweight championship match against Urijah Faber on June 1st, but Faber’s implication that Pulver has stopped evolving with the sport certainly comes close. Our favorite part: Jens punching out the cadence of his words at 1:58. This fight is going to kick so much ass…

Also: Check out this teaser clip for the upcoming first episode of Outside the Ring, hosted by Marika Taylor; for more Marika, go here.

Miss, I was born ready…

"1! 4! 5!"

Such was the battle cry of Jens Pulver after his 35-second submission victory over Cub Swanson at WEC 31 last December. Though some fans wondered if Pulver’s previous two losses in the UFC (to Joe Lauzon and BJ Penn) signaled that his career was heading toward its conclusion, the sheer dominance displayed in his first match as a featherweight proved that a new chapter was just beginning. And along with his fierce reputation, the win was enough to get him an immediate shot at the WEC’s featherweight title, which has been held by Urijah Faber since March 2006.

In his four title defenses, Faber has looked absolutely unbeatable. But he’s never faced anybody as seasoned or explosive as Pulver, whose 21 career victories include seven via stoppage in 60 seconds or less. The matchup, which goes down at WEC 34 (June 1st; Sacramento, CA), is easily the biggest 145-pound MMA contest in American history, and has all the ingredients to become an all-time classic. In advance of that fight, we called Jens at his home base in Bettendorf, Iowa, to discuss "The California Kid," his legacy, video games, and how his old rival BJ Penn will do against Sean Sherk at UFC 84.

***

CAGEPOTATO.COM: Talk to me about Urijah Faber — what do you think of him as a person?
JENS PULVER: Oh, I think he’s a great person. I like Urijah, man. He comes in great shape, likes to be explosive, and he’s really inventive out there in the cage. I think he’s done a real good job taking the reigns at 145, representing it, and trying to build it up.

So you don’t see yourself having a heated personal rivalry with him, like you had with Cub Swanson and BJ Penn? We’re not going to see any trash talking?
No, there’s no bad blood, no trash talking; it’s utmost respect. We’re gonna go out there and show everybody that we don’t have to have animosity to fight our hearts out. We’re going to prove that.

How much have you been studying Faber’s past fights?
I study habits. You don’t want to get too hard into what he’s done in the past, because he may change it up for me. So I just try to study things like how willing he is to stand up and when he’s going to shoot for takedowns. I study how hard a person fights, how hard they push things, and Urijah’s pretty much shown that he doesn’t fold. He had Curran on his back for almost a whole round and never panicked. He just stayed solid and waited for his opportunity.

Have you noticed any weaknesses in his game that you’ll try to exploit?
I wouldn’t call them weaknesses at all — like I said, he’s a great champ — but I have my plusses, and that’s what I’ll be going in there to exploit. I want to end up on top, I don’t want to be working my guard too much, and I want to control the pace. If he wants to box, I definitely want to be there to counterpunch and blast him with shots if I get those opportunities. If he wants to wrestle, I’m more than willing to use my ground game. It’s always been instinctual for me to keep fights standing, but the more I’m training and having fun on the ground, I’m trying to change those instincts.

(Technically, this picture wasn’t gay until the guy on the far right started dragging his pants down.)

In an interview with Rochester, Minnesota’s Post-Bulletin, Tommy Speer announced that he has been picked up by the WEC and expects to debut with the organization in August. The TUF 6 finalist — who was cut by the UFC after getting knocked-dead by Anthony Johnson at last month’s UFC Fight Night 13 — competed once before in the WEC, knocking out Sidney Silva at WEC 27 last May. Said Speer on his bounce from the UFC:

“I didn’t agree with it right away; it was depressing news. But now I know I lost to a great fighter, and he surprised me and everyone by how well he fought. I don’t think it’s too bad of a thing for me to be going to the WEC. There are great fighters there, too. I need to keep learning and working on my game, and the WEC is a great place to do that.

The WEC’s 170-pound division is certainly respectable, with names like Carlos Condit, Carlo Prater, John Alessio, and Brock Larson populating the roster, but it’s not nearly the threshing machine of the UFC’s welterweight class, and seems like a great place for Speer to develop while still maintaining a decent level of exposure. “The Farm Boy” intended to fight outside of the WEC before his August debut, but his training has been halted by an appropriately rural setback:

“The doctors at Mayo (Clinic) said I was bit by a brown recluse spider (on my calf), so I’m on antibiotics,” Speer said. “They said it might take a month to heal up. So I’m not training now, and I probably won’t be able to fight until August, because I’ll need some serious training time when I get back.”

Speer said he still intends to travel to Missouri to train with former UFC champion Matt Hughes at his gym, H.I.T. Squad, prior to his fights.

In other news…

Tracy Lee of Combat Lifestyle has a new photo set up of Urijah Faber during one of his predictably brutal days of training, followed by a rare day off. Check it out, particularly if you’d like to see Urijah with his hair in some broke-ass cornrows, and Tracy in a bikini. (They may not be real, but they’re still fabulous…)

(GIS result for “Bedlam.”)

— YAMMA veteran Patrick Smith had a little misunderstanding with a “child” (ugh) back in 1999. To learn which other MMA fighters might be living in your neighborhood, check out nsopr.gov.

— UFC 85 has been given the official title of “Bedlam.”

— Wacky middleweight Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been booked to fight Katsuyori Shibata at DREAM.3 (May 11th; Saitama, Japan). Shibata is a former pro wrestler whose 2-3 MMA record includes a loss to Kazushi Sakuraba and a win over a dude named Ice Man. DREAM.3 will also feature the quarterfinals of their lightweight grand prix. (Well, maybe.)

— The lineup of WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver (June 1st; Sacramento, CA) has been finalized. Besides the much-anticipated headlining bout, the main card also features Miguel Angel Torres defending his bantamweight belt against Yoshiro Maeda, and former WEC lightweight champion “Razor” Rob McCullough taking on Kenneth Alexander.

From Sherdog — for the first time since checking into a Brazilian rehab facility last month, undefeated WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho speaks about his condition and his delayed rematch with Chael Sonnen. Apparently, Filho was addicted to “Rupinal” (possibly referring to Rohypnol, aka “the date rape drug”), and had been suffering from depression even before his first fight in America. As far as Sonnen, “What I have to say is the lion does not deal with men.” Wait a minute Paulo…are you high right now?!

(A courtroom victory would be a thousand times sweeter.)

In an e-mail exchange with MMAJunkie, Leonard Garcia claimed his innocence regarding his recent drug trafficking arrest, and implied that the charge is based only on groundless hearsay:

“I am fighting it because there is nothing but someone saying I was involved,” said Garcia, who was released from jail on a reconnaissance bond and will return to court on May 5. “I hope to have a smile on my face after this is said and done, but I feel like I’m in a fight for my life…

“I’d like to tell my fans to stick with me and pray that the liar in this case tells the truth,” Garcia said. “I want to get back to doing what I do best: fighting for the fans…

Your past is exactly that. My life has a bright future, and people that don’t have that don’t want me to have one either. May God forgive them.”

On his MySpace page, Garcia adds the following:

“This is leonard, I want to ask all my fans and supporters to keep me in their prayers. Know that I can clear my name and continue to give fans the fights they deserve to watch. And know that I am innocent of a crime that I’m being accused of from 3 years ago…I will get through this mess and make everyone proud of me as I have done before.”

Three years ago, eh? Too bad there’s no statute of limitations on filling two dozen condoms with cocaine, inserting them into your body cavity, then taking a train from El Paso to Lubbock. We’re kidding of course — we actually have no idea what Garcia used to transport the coke.

(Mug shot courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

Thirteen members of an El Paso-to-Lubbock cocaine smuggling ring were arrested this week during raids that followed a four-year investigation. And now the bad news:

NewsChannel 11 has learned one of those arrested is mixed martial arts fighter Leonard Garcia. He was arrested Tuesday in alleged connection with the cocaine ring. Garcia is currently ranked sixth in the featherweight class in MMA. [Ed. note: According to KCBD News Channel 11's independent rankings?]

If convicted, three of those arrested could face up to 40 years in prison and up to a $2 million fine. The others could face up to life in prison and up to a $4 million fine.

Cripes, so 40 years is the best case scenario? Let’s hope “Bad Boy” has a good attorney. When reached for comment, Garcia’s manager Sven Bean said:

“It was a shock to me. It definitely came out of left field. I’ve talked with his family and I’ve had one phone conversation with his lawyer. We’re just letting him do his job at this point. Hopefully, we’ll know more as the days progress.”

Obviously, we’re just as shocked. Could Garcia’s managerial position at Frito-Lay have just been a front for something more devious? We’ll update you when more details emerge…

Previously — Leonard Garcia: Stalking Urijah

(Sergio Gomez swings at Rich Crunkilton in the goriest fight of the night. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Doug Marshall’s light-heavyweight belt ended up around another guy’s waist last night, as Brian Stann got the better of the Rhino in a brief but wild brawl at WEC 33. Marshall took it to the Marine early and seemed to have him in trouble after landing some power punches, but in the midst of the barrage Stann fired off a left hook that connected perfectly, sending Marshall to the mat. Stann threw up his hands in victory before realizing the fight hadn’t been stopped yet; after Stann landed a couple of finishing blows from the top, Herb Dean stepped in and called the match at the 1:35 mark. Afterwards, an emotional Stann told the crowd, “All my Marines came with me in this ring. You’re all here. This belt represents all of my Marines that were with me, that couldn’t be here, that died in combat with me.” The win brings Stann’s record to 6-0, with all six of his victories coming via first-round TKO.

Chael Sonnen was also dominant in his match with Bryan Baker, spending most of the fight brutalizing Baker with ground-and-pound, and scoring some dramatic takedowns. Though Sonnen wasn’t able to earn a victory by stoppage, the judges’ scores reflected how lopsided the action was: 30-26, 30-25, and 30-25.

Also notable was the three-round war between Richard Crunkilton Jr. and Sergio Gomez. An elbow from Crunkilton slashed the back of Gomez’s head in the first round, opening a gash that spit blood for the remainder of the fight. Though Gomez had his moments during the standup exchanges, Crunkilton’s takedowns, GnP, and submission attempts were too much for Gomez to handle, and the judges awarded Crunkilton a unanimous decision.

Full results are below…

— Brian Stann def. Doug Marshall via TKO, 1:35 of round 1
— Chael Sonnen def. Bryan Baker via unanimous decision
— Marcus Hicks def. Ed Ratcliff via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:42 of round 1
— Steve Cantwell def. Tim McKenzie via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:13 of round 1
— Hiromitsu Miura def. Blas Avena via TKO at 2:35 of round 1
— Brock Larson def. John Alessio via disqualification (illegal knee) at 1:50 of round 1
— Rich Crunkilton def. Sergio Gomez via unanimous decision
— Alex Serdyukov def. Ryan Stonitsch via submission (triangle choke) at 1:35 of round 1
— Kenji Osawa and Chris Manuel fought to a draw
— Logan Clark def. Scott Harper via TKO at 4:37 of round 1

UPDATE: Here’s the video of the main event. Notice the opening staredown, where Marshall seemed unable to maintain eye contact with Stann.

Though they’ll be fighting in separate matches tonight, Brian Stann and Steve Cantwell previously faced off at WEC 26 (3/24/07), in a match that was stopped a little too early for Cantwell’s tastes. Check it out below for a preview of what Stann will be bringing to the Rhino in their title fight.

Bonus #1: The end of Doug Marshall’s first WEC title defense against Justin McElfresh, which was stopped at 2:16 of the first round.

Bonus #2: Blas Avena’s 29-second choke-out of Joe Benoit at WEC 30. Avena (2-1) takes on Hiromitsu Miura (8-4) tonight in a middleweight matchup.

(Doug Marshall will be hunting for his third title defense.)

WEC 33 goes down tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas; if you have Versus, you can watch the action live starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m PT. Unlike the last two WEC events which featured three title fights each, only the light heavyweight belt is on the line at #33, with champ Doug “Rhino” Marshall — 7-2, and coming off a 55-second tapout victory over Ariel Gandulla at WEC 31 — facing Brian Stann, who has ended all five of his professional fights by first-round TKO. The complete fight card is below:

MAIN CARD
Doug Marshall vs. Brian Stann (light heavyweights)
Chael Sonnen vs. Bryan Baker (middleweights)
Ed Ratcliff vs. Marcus Hicks (lightweights)
Steve Cantwell vs. Tim McKenzie (light heavyweights)
Hiromitsu Miura vs. Blas Avena (middleweights)

UNDERCARD
John Alessio vs. Brock Larson (welterweights)
Sergio Gomez vs. Richard Crunkilton Jr. (lightweights)
Ryan Stonitsch vs. Alex Serdyukov (welterweights)
Chris Manuel vs. Kenji Osawa (bantamweights)
Logan Clark vs. Scott Harper (middleweights)

— BloodyElbow has weigh-in results and photos here.

— MMA Analyst posted (and yes, analyzed) WEC 33′s betting odds yesterday. Unsurprisingly, Chael Sonnen is the night’s biggest favorite, at -355 to Bryan Baker’s +285. Somewhat surprisingly, Doug Marshall is a +130 ‘dog, compared to Brian Stann’s -160 line.

— Websites that care a lot more than we do ran down the matchups here and here.

— While describing Doug Marshall, Sherdog dropped a David Draiman reference without any sort of explanatory clause or link. But I suppose if you’re reading Sherdog you’re already pretty well-versed in nu-metal singers.