WEC 35: Condit vs. Miura A Fight for the Ages

WEC 35 lived up to its billing and then some. Three title fights and a night full of action packed fights, what more could a MMA fan ask for? The fighters are not as well known to most casual observers of the sport, but if you are a sports fan and interested in learning about MMA, catching one of the WEC events on Versus will make you a fan. For some reason no WEC fights ever go to decision. I was on the edge of my seat for the Condit/Miura four round war and this is one of those rare instances when describing a sporting event in military terms is absolutely not hyperbole. The fight went back and forth with both fighters holding periods of extreme dominance, but whenever you thought the fight was about to be finished the man on the bottom would somehow spring back to life and land a straight right or reverse out of a submission. Ultimately, Miura succumbed to a knee from Condit, but not after earning the respect of the Las Vegas crowd and showing the Samurai spirit he brought with him from the land of the rising sun. Right now that fight beats the Miguel Torres/Yoshiro Maeda fight from earlier this year, also a WEC fight, which everyone believes was the fight of the year so far. At the end of the fight both fighters lay sprawled out on the canvas, hands above their heads gasping for air as if it was their last breath. Condit was so exhausted he could barely eek out a few sentences in the post fight interview. The other two championship fights were also great. Jamie Varner battered Marcus Hicks into submission and Steve Cantwell avenged his previous loss to Brian Stann. My final word is about Brian Stann and the class he showed after his loss. Prior to tonight’s fight there were a number of verbal barbs exchanged between Stann and Cantwell, but after Cantwell's hand was raised Stann came over and put the belt around Cantwell's waist himself. That act of respect and humility is something we rarely see in today's sports world and he should be praised for it. Hopefully more up and comers will show such respect in defeat.

WEC 35 Sunday Night on Versus

Sunday night will be a big night for the WEC and a great opening for MMA in the month of August. Three championship fights in one night is extremely rare and to have it on free TV is even more ridiculous. By no means am I an expert on the fighters in the WEC, but I have watched a number of their events and the fights are always entertaining. Regardless of MMA pedigree the big name in this event is Brian Stann. Stann, who just completed his service in the USMC, is the current light heavyweight champ in the WEC and will be defending his belt for the first time against Steve Cantwell. There is no secret to Stann's success, his strategy is pretty simple; keep it on the feet and the longer it stays there the quicker his opponent gets TKO'd. In six professional fights he is undefeated and all have ended due to strikes. His opponent, Cantwell, is 4-1 and that lone loss is to Stann via TKO, so this match up has a lot of intrigue behind it. I definitely see this fight ended with Stann's hand raised. Will he KO Cantwell? I am not sure, fighters who face opponents in a rematch whom they have already knocked out tend to do two things; 1) They are way over confident, leave themselves open and get finished via KO or submission(think Couture vs. Liddell 2), 2) Their opponents are overly defensive because they were previously KO'd so they spend the entire fight covering up and defending the take down, which results in a boring fight but a win for the Champ(think Tim Sylvia vs Arlovski 3). Right now I am saying number two is much more likely, because Cantwell seems to be a smart fighter and I don't see Stann just going crazy and risking his belt.

WEC 35 Preview

WEC 35 Fight Card Released

Today the WEC released the fight card for WEC 35. The fight will take place August 3rd at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in "The Joint" (couldn't they have come up with a better name for the venue). This card features 3 championship bouts and should be action packed. The show will air live and for free on Versus.

MAIN CARD

• Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura
• Brian Stann vs. Steve Cantwell
• Jamie Varner vs. Marcus Hicks
  
• Brian Bowles vs. Damacio Page
• Josh Grispi vs. Micah Miller

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Brock Larson vs. Carlo Prater
• Blas Avena vs. Dave Terrel
• Cub Swanson vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
• Alex Karalexis vs. Todd Moore
• Mike Budnik vs. Greg McIntyre
• Scott Jorgensen vs. Kenji Osawa