Wagnney Fabiano

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Though various MMA pundits called the decision bullshit, a royal screw-job, and a miscarriage of justice, it's undeniable that Benson Henderson is one of the toughest bastards to ever put on fingerless gloves. In last night's interim lightweight title fight at WEC 43, Henderson survived an endless assault of chokes and armlocks courtesy of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone that would leave the average fighter asleep with shattered limbs. But in a controversial end to the thrilling five-rounder, all judges scored the fight 48-47 for Smooth due to his consistent takedowns and ground-and-pound. Not that Henderson was always dominant from the top position: At one point in the second round, Cerrone landed enough punches from his back that Henderson appeared to be momentarily dazed. Cowboy shouted to the referee that his opponent was out, but Henderson quickly recovered. In the end, it was just the latest in a string of WEC main events that could be considered 2009's Fight of the Year; if you missed it, click here. Henderson will now take on Cerrone's old nemesis Jamie Varner at a WEC event to be named later. 

Elsewhere on the card, what we were calling the biggest squash match of the year turned into what may be the upset of the year as Miguel Torres student Mackens Semerzier — who came into the fight as a 3-0 rookie — somehow managed to lock in a triangle-choke in the first round against top-ranked jiu-jitsu ace Wagnney Fabiano. After scoring a takedown, Fabiano got a little sloppy in Semerzier's guard and paid the price. Also, Raphael Assuncao notched a split decision over GSP's homeboy Yves Jabouin thanks to his superior grappling and impressive ability to take a hard shot. Jabouin was every bit the explosive striker that he was advertised as, but his spinning back kicks and superman punches barely rattled the iron-chin'd Assuncao.

Full results from WEC 43 are after the jump...

(An impressive win over Semerzier could earn Fabiano a shot at 0-0 featherweight prospect Spencer Pratt. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Unfortunately, not every fight can be as competitive as Tank Abbott vs. Butterbean. Two matchups came down the pipe yesterday that probably wouldn't get approved if we were the ones holding the rubber stamps. First up...

— Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier: Top-five featherweight Fabiano was originally supposed to face Erik Koch at WEC 43 (October 10th, San Antonio), and even then we were like WTF, can this guy get an opponent that's at least near the top 20? But Koch suffered an injury in training, and coming in to replace him on two weeks notice will be Mackens Semerzier, a 28-year-old U.S. Marine and Miguel Torres student who currently has an MMA record of 3-0; two of his opponents were making their pro debuts when he faced them, and the other had a record of 1-0. In other words, this is about as big a leap in competition as theoretically possible. Could Semerzier shock the world next month? No, absolutely not — his arms are going to end up where his legs used to be. On the bright side, maybe Fabiano can finally score a quick stoppage in the WEC and start earning the fan-respect that he deserves. And speaking of top-ten fighters being given sacrificial lambs...

(Fred Sanford, bitch. Photo courtesy of the WEC 40 weigh-ins gallery on Combat Lifestyle.)

From tonight's "Torres vs. Mizugaki" show at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois:

Rafael Dias def. Mike Budnick via unanimous decision
Akitoshi Tamura def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision
Rani Yahya def. Eddie Wineland via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:07 of round 1
Wagnney Fabiano def. Fredson Paixao via unanimous decision
Dominick Cruz def. Ivan Lopez via unanimous decision [fight halted in third round after Lopez took an illegal knee and couldn't continue; match went to the scorecards, with the incomplete third round included]
Anthony Njokuani def. Bart Palaszewski via TKO, 0:27 of round 2

(Quit it, Fredson — Mario is in no mood.)

Contradicting an earlier report that said top WEC featherweights Wagnney Fabiano and Urijah Faber would be fighting each other at WEC 40 on April 5th, it now appears that Fabiano will instead be facing Fredson Paixao, and Faber won't be on the Chicago card at all. A four-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion and instructor at Gracie Barra Las Vegas, Paixao holds an MMA record of 8-2 — with wins over Rani Yahya, Masakazu Imanari, and Thomas Denny — but has only competed once in the last two years. He was supposed to make his WEC debut against Jose Aldo last month at WEC 38, but was pulled off the card for undisclosed reasons. Anyway, it's no Faber/Fabiano, but Fabiano/Paixao could turn into an epic ground battle.

Faber may not see action again until this summer; it's possible that his next fight will be against the winner of Mike Brown vs. Leonard Garcia at WEC 39 (March 1st; Corpus Christi, Texas).

(Fabiano complicates Tamura's life at WEC 37. Photo courtesy of WEC.tv.)

According to a new article on Tatame.com, highly-regarded WEC featherweight/former IFL champ Wagnney Fabiano may be taking on Urijah Faber in his next fight. Said Fabiano:

Fabiano most recently choked out Akitoshi Tamura in the closing seconds of their fight at WEC 37 in December, while Faber bounced back to the W column last month with his quick submission of Jens Pulver. Faber and Fabiano currently sit at #2 and #3 on CagePotato's Featherweight Power Rankings, and the winner would very likely earn a shot at the winner of WEC 39's Brown vs. Garcia title scrap next month.

In other important WEC featherweight news, exciting up-and-comer Jose Aldo — who has scored three straight TKO victories while in the WEC, including a first-round ownage of Rolando Perez at WEC 38 — will return to the cage after just a five-week layoff, taking on Chris Mickle at WEC 39. Mickle is a former lightweight who has compiled a 26-11-1 record (with an impressive 22 wins by submission) while fighting in various midwestern promotions including Extreme Challenge and Midwest Cage Championships. You can expect the winner of this one to immediately enter the WEC's 145-pound title hunt.