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PPV Events
WEC 33 Review 3/26: Marshall vs. Stann, Baker vs. Sonnen; Liddell, Bonnar, griffin, Faber shown watching
By Frank Hyden, MMATorch columnist
Apr 4, 2008, 15:23
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WEC 33 Review
March 26, 2008
By Frank Hyden
There's a good video package to open. Todd Harris and Frank Mir run down the card. Tim McKenzie is shown with a hair style that can only be described as odd.
FIGHT 1- Steve Cantwell (4-1) vs. Tim McKenzie (11-4) (Light Heavyweight Bout)
Steve is 2 inches taller yet gives an inch on reach. Herb Dean is the official.
ROUND 1- The fight starts slow in the early going. Nice head kick by Steve. The fights heads to the ground where Tim lands some nice elbows. Steve stands and backs off as they stalemate. Steve lands another high kick then drops McKenzie with knees and punches. Steve gets a full mount but McKenzie squirms and Cantwell takes Tim's back. A rear naked choke ends it and forces Tim McKenzie to tap.
RESULT- Steve Cantwell wins at 2:13 in the first round, submission by rear naked choke
STAR RATING- I'll give this 2 stars out of 4. There was some decent action to be had but nothing that was overly exciting.
FALLOUT- Cantwell moves up the ranks in WEC. It certainly seems as though he could eventually step inside the cage and challenge Brian Stann again. As long as he avoids the initial flurry Stann would throw he would be okay. That's asking a lot, though. McKenzie should get another chance to prove himself. I'd rematch him with Doug Marshall myself.
A promo for WEC 34 airs. The main event is Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver. June 1st is the date. I've got that date marked on my calendar as that fight promises to be awesome. Jens Pulver is interviewed amongst the crowd. Typical stuff, though he does predict a win. I wonder if there's ever been a fighter who's predicted a loss for himself? I would guess not. Although, you have to wonder just what Ken Shamrock was thinking when he agreed to fight Tito Ortiz the 3rd time? Big money hat?
FIGHT 2- Marcus Hicks (7-0) vs. Ed Ratcliff (6-0) (Lightweight Bout)
Ed is 3 inches taller and has a 7.5 inch reach advantage. Josh Rosenthal is the official.
ROUND 1- Nice shots by Marcus, followed by a guillotine. Mir calls it but Ed escapes. Marcus lands a vicious right uppercut,then grabs a guillotine again. Mir calls it again but Ed escapes again. More shots by Marcus lead to a takedown. A guillotine ends it.
RESULT- Marcus Hicks wins at 1:42 in the first round, guillotine choke.
STAR RATING- This fight was very exciting while it lasted. Frank Mir looked a bit foolish calling the fight early twice, but I'd give him a pass since those guillotines were clamped on very tight. 2.5 stars out of 4.
FALLOUT- Marcus looked very good in this fight. And by the same token it was impressive to see Ed escape Marcus' guillotines twice. I personally would love to see Marcus get a title shot against Jamie Varner. Ed should get a shot at either Sergio Gomez or WEC should bring in another young fighter for him to take on.
FIGHT 3- Richard Crunkilton (17-2) vs. Sergio Gomez (7-1) (Lightweight Bout)
Crunk is 2 inches taller and also has a 2 inch reach advantage. Herb Dean is the official.
ROUND 1- Crunk gets an early takedown and gets on top. Eventually, they get to their feet. Crunk lands a huge elbow that makes Sergio bleed big from the back of his neck. Crunk gets a trip takedown and slaps on a few submission attempts. Sergio escapes, then the fighters exchange big punches. Crunk grabs Sergio's leg and treetops him in the air, before slamming him. They scramble around and Sergio lands some big blows. Crunk gets a leg trip but the round ends.
ROUND 2- Crunk treetops Sergio again and gets a takedown. Crunk takes Sergio's back but Gomez escapes. Big slam by Crunk. All the blood makes this more exciting. Kneebar by Crunk but Sergio escapes. Sergio gets side control but Crunk escapes. The round ends with more groundfighting.
ROUND 3- They quickly go to ground and stay there until Herb Dean stands them up. Crunk runs Sergio to the ground and is able to land a few punches and elbows. Another takedown by Crunk and the round is soon over.
RESULT- Richard Crunkilton wins by unanimous decision. The judges' scores are 30-26, 30-27, and 29-28
STAR RATING- 1.5 stars out of 4. Crunkilton gains some with this win but he wasn't overly impressive.
FALLOUT- With the Lightweight division being what it is in WEC there's not a lot of options for Crunk. It's either a title shot against Jamie Varner or a rematch against Rob McCullough. I would put Marcus Hicks against Varner and rematch Crunkilton and McCullough, with the winner receiving the next title shot. Sergio should get matched up against Sherron Leggett.
Chuck Liddell, Stephan Bonnar, Forrest Griffin, and Urijah Faber are shown watching in crowd. Before the next fight, Craig Hummer chats with Urijah Faber. Pretty basic interview.
FIGHT 4- Bryan Baker (6-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) (Middleweight Bout)
Baker has 2 inches and a 3 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the official. Baker makes his entrance while wearing a Conquistador helmet.
ROUND 1- Chael hits a big slam. Baker holding Chael's head to protect himself and keep Sonnen close. Chael gets a nice 3/4 nelson but eventually the two fighters separate. Chael with a monster suplex, dumping Baker on his shoulders and the back of his head. Baker is precariously upside down, with his legs in the air and his head beneath Chael. Baker squirms around but Chael keeps landing bigtime punches as the round ends.
ROUND 2- Chael with a takedown. Baker is against the cage, taking big shots. Mir is doing a great job explaining everything. Chael with a flurry but this round is incredibly boring. Baker is bleeding as the round finally ends.
ROUND 3- Chael with another takedown. He then pins Baker's arms and proceeds to punish him. They grope around some more and I reach for some caffeine pills to stay awake. The bell puts us out of our misery.
RESULT- Chael Sonnen wins by unanimous decision. The judges' scores are 30-26, 30-25, and 30-25
STAR RATING- .5 stars out of 4. It started off like it might be a good match but then descended into quite the borefest. Not the fight to show your friends if you're trying to get them to watch MMA. That's about as nice as I can be.
FALLOUT- I suppose you could match Chael up against Joe Doerksen or one of the lesser-known guys in WEC. But a performance like this does nothing to warrant a title rematch against Paulo Filho. Baker goes back to training and maybe gets matched up against Joe Riggs to see what he can do?
FIGHT 5- Doug Marshall (7-2) vs. Brian Stann (5-0) (Light Heavyweight Championship Bout)
Stann has 3 inches height and reach advantage. Herb Dean is the official.
ROUND 1- They both shoot out punches early. Doug throws a flurry. A big left hook by Stann lands square and drops Doug. KTFO, new champion. Stann cries.
RESULT- Brian Stann wins at 1:35 in the first round, by KO 2.5 of 4
STAR RATING- 2.5 stars out of 4. An explosive finish, reminiscent of Quinton Jackson knocking out Chuck Liddell last year. A very exciting, though very short, fight.
FALLOUT- There's not a lot to the Light Heavyweight division in WEC. A rematch with Steve Cantwell may just be the only real option. That is, unless someone is brought in.
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