(Looks like someone deserves a lollipop for being such a brave boy. Photo courtesy of Brian Bowles‘s Twitter.)
Fans were treated to a night of upsets at WEC 47, as favorites Brian Bowles and Miguel Torres both went down to unceremonious defeats in Columbus, Ohio. As you see in the above photo, Bowles wasn’t kidding about that injured hand. He claims to have broken it on the very first punch he landed, which then threw his whole game off and eventually prompted him to relinquish his title when he couldn’t continue past round two. That makes Dominick Cruz your new 135-pound champ, and the way the title’s been bouncing around lately he better get all the enjoyment he can out of it while it lasts.
In another minor shock, 5’4” Joseph Benavidez swarmed all over former champ Miguel Torres before securing a guillotine choke in the second round that forced Torres to tap out. With the victory, Benavidez claimed the $10,000 bonus check for Submission of the Night. The other bonus awards went to Anthony Pettis for his Knockout of the Night-winning finish of Danny Castillo, and to George Roop and Leonard Garcia, who earned Fight of the Night in a three-round draw during the prelims.
And finally, with a first-round loss via armbar against Javier Vazquez last night, Jens Pulver has now lost five straight fights. So, is he done for good now? Well, after the loss Pulver addressed fans, saying, “I love you all way, way, way too much to put you all through this again.”
You can take from that what you want, but we’re going to go ahead and assume that it’s as close to a formal retirement announcement as “Lil’ Evil” is ever going to get.
Don Frye takes back everything good he ever said about Bowles. The moustache was not amused.