WEC 43 Results: Henderson Edges Out Cerrone in Main Event, Semerzier Submits Fabiano in Upset of the Year
(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...
- Benson Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision
- Dave Jansen def. Rich Crunkilton via unanimous decision
- Raphael Assuncao def. Yves Jabouin via split decision
- Damacio Page def. Will Campuzano via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:02 of round 1
- Anthony Njokuani def. Muhsin Corbbrey via TKO, 1:42 of round 2
- Scott Jorgensen def. Noah Thomas via TKO, 3:13 of round 1
- Mackens Semerzier def. Wagnney Fabiano via submission (triangle choke), 2:14 of round 1
- Eddie Wineland def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision
- Charlie Valencia def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision
- Deividas Taurosevicius def. Javier Vazquez via split decision
Bonuses
Fight of the Night: Henderson and Cerrone ($20,000 each)
Submission of the Night: Semerzier ($10,000)
Knockout of the Night: Njokuani ($10,000)
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for the love of mma Says:
ben henderson is bout the most durable son-of-a-bitch ive ever seen!!!! great night of fights and why did cp worry so much about fabiano get a rank opponent?
Subo Says:
Cerrone won rounds 1, 4 and 5 if you ask me.
What the fuck happened to Tapia?
xveg Says:
you can't tell if bendo is out with that hair. guida must be thinking the same thing.
NinJay Says:
Horrible decision. Cowboy clearly won rounds 1, 4, & 5. Ben clearly won 2, & 3. I don't get how they could have judged it any other way. Henderson is nails though. I really hop he puts a beating on Varner, I can't stand that douchebag and I'm glad the crowd boo'd him every time they put him on camera.
Sheps Says:
Henderson wasn't ever out, Cerrone is just a god damn idiot.
Anyone that says Cerrone won that fight is also a god damn idiot. How can you win a fight if your on your back for 90% of it? His submissions were each as useless as the last so other than that, what did Cerrone do other than NOT SUBMIT his opponent? Nothing other than get taken down and beaten into a pulp.
Get off his nuts, Henderson clearly won the fight.
Tigercat Says:
Yeah, i kinda saw it like most of you. With Cowboy winning rounds 1,4, and 5 and Ben winning 2,and 3 but round 1 could've gone either way. I was impressed with how tough and in shape Ben was for this fight. He's a gamer, that's for sure and i think Cowboy kinda took him lightly at the beginning but once he figured him out he took control of that fight but it was obviously too late. All you had to do was look at Cowboy's reactions as they announced the scores and you could tell he even thought that Ben had got him that night, that's good enough for me. That being said, if they were to rematch, i think Cowboy takes it for sure!
Harry Russo Says:
Henderson deserved the decision and Cerrone admitted defeat any way. They will fight again at some point. And....
Dan Quinn won his fight yesterday. Post the fight you streetdouches.
Jarekov The Great Says:
Henderson won because has was the one dictating where the fight was, he took down Cerrone at will. His ground and pound was vicious, and he was just relentless. Im not a judge so i wouldnt know but i would imagine popping a guy in the mouth is gonna score better then failing a submission.
That being said that was the one of the best fights i have ever seen. I thought Ben was going to sleep or tapping like 5 times that fight. And his escapes were great and he proved why they call him smooth. Cerrone showed some awesome submission skills and i have no idea why Ben isn't sitting in a hospital with a broken arm and collapsed trachea right now.
just some dong Says:
Great fight. Total warriors. Not sure why so many feel Cerrone won the 1st tho... aside from those early sub attempts, which were gnarly but ultimately ineffective, I recall he spent most of it on his back eating fists. And it was pretty much the same story through the 2nd and 3rd.
I'll have to watch it again but that was my take while watching it live.
miscreant Says:
"Anyone that says Cerrone won that fight is also a god damn idiot. How can you win a fight if your on your back for 90% of it? His submissions were each as useless as the last so other than that, what did Cerrone do other than NOT SUBMIT his opponent? Nothing other than get taken down and beaten into a pulp."
Do you know the rules in the cage? I mean, really? Cerrone, while he was taken down, still showed excellent grappling in catching him in NUMEROUS, extremely dangerous submissions. The fact that the comment was made that he was "lucky to leave the cage with all his limbs" was EXTREMELY apt in reference to Henderson. Rounds 1, 4, and 5 Cerrone CONTROLLED the pace with his submissions and had Henderson In a lot of trouble more than 5 times. So, your argument comes from the (arguable) note that he wasn't the aggressor? So what. Yes, Cerrone lost rounds 2 and 3. Anyone with half a brain (or who has actually FOUGHT before) knows that round 1 had to go to Cerrone BECAUSE of his submission attempts and his control of Henderson in doing so.
I am a completely impartial observer. Several of my friends who watched the fights with me (all of which are fighters as well) say the decision was bullshit. Yes, Henderson is tough. Did he deserve that win? Unlikely. They are both extremely talented athletes, and this is not to take anything away from either of them...but we have seen several cases where poor judging has cost a fighter the match. Cerrone, I can guarantee is not happy with that. He is a gentleman, and that is why he applauded the decision, but I can almost assure you he does not agree.
Nippletwist Says:
2 & 3 were henersons
4 & 5 were cerrones
the debate is over the first round. i gave it to cerrone, and was dissapointed.
tnbp Says:
I had Henderson winning that fight, myself, as I gave him the first round. Cerrone had those submission attempts, but Henderson was in the dominant position and doing damage the remainder of the round. He was winning for, what, 3-4 minutes out of that first round?
I turned to my roommate after round 3 and said, "Henderson just won this unless Cowboy finishes him."
ScarTissue Says:
Part of me wishes they'd roll the WEC into the UFC. Guys of this caliber deserve more exposure and better pay. But meh it's free and the only thing worth watching on the shitty Vs. network. Fights re-air 10/15 at 8:00 pm.
patisme252 Says:
Not fair, Henderson is Stretch Armstrong and Jet Li's love child..
ktronics Says:
Close fight but I think it goes to show you how few points you get for sub attempts in North America.
@Sheps
So you shouldn't get any points for submission attempts just because they guy doesn't tap... but you should get points if you take somebody down and do next to nothing afterwards (or the guy gets right back up..)??
Like I said close fight and one of the best I've seen in a long time.
Jarekov The Great Says:
@ktronics
i think you have to give points for submission attempts but if you dont get anything off of them 5 times in a row it makes the judges score them less. And henderson did some serious ground and pound when he was standing up in cowboys guard.
I would have to agree, ive been into mma for like ten years now and ive never missed a local show or major tv event and this was bar none one of the most entertaining fights i have ever seen. The ground work in here was phenomenal, watching Henderson was like watching rocky balboa in real life, i kept thinking he was done for but he wasnt.
seriously he has to be the best conditioned fighter i have ever seen, that first guillotine would have taken everything out of any other fighter, thats not even mentioning the other attempts. and the most impressive thing about henderson is that he kept a breakneck pace all 5 rounds and he looked motherfucking frosty ass crisp the whole time.
Im amazed at how awesome that night of fights was, the wec has some straight legit talent right now.
whitey Says:
"motherfucking frosty ass crisp" haha that's nice
ktronics Says:
@ Jarekov
Yeah I agree that Henderson was doing good damage from top I was just pointing out that takedowns often get rewarded when they don't have any effect whereas submission attempts are forgotten for the most part.
Badguy Says:
It really depends how you judge rd 1!
Ben controlled most of it doing alot more damage. Cerrone had 3 very good subs in early. But other then the subs, Cerrone didnt do much.
That is a tough rd to score. I think it was pretty tough to give a guy a rd when he lost the last 3 mins plus. I dont know that was a tough rd
Even Cerrone thought he lost, you could see it in his face at the end of the fight.
When they were calling the scores he was shaking his head yes and clapping like one does when they lose. He never looked surprised.
As far as Ben being out, LOL Cerrone is an idiot! Ben never looked like he wa out even once. I didnt even understand why he thought Ben was out
youngblood Says:
Glad everyone is letting me know what happened. WEC is on the Versus network. They are having a pissing match with Direct TV right now. Haven't seen the WEC in Damn near a month. Even though I didn't see a second of the fights, I still feel I could judge them better then Cecil Peoples. (don't even know if he was working it or not)