By Jim Terwoord
WEC Wreckage – December 12, 2007 – The Joint – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Live 9 PM ET on Versus HD.
Wanna “feel like a kid at Christmas” again? If you’ve been busy knocking back eggnog or spending too much time in the gym, you need to take a gander at the World Extreme Cagefighting holiday card at the Joint in Las Vegas, less than two weeks away. Featuring no less than three title fights with “The California Kid,” Urijah Faber, in the main event, it looks to be a smashing, “mmartistic” success. And it’s free on Versus HD!
Featherweight Faber has impressed everyone with his solid grappling, high speed stand-up skills and raw athleticism – except those who say he hasn’t really fought anyone yet. Fighting an older, more experienced Jeff Curran, who has exactly twice as many fights (40) as Faber, should provide the long awaited “real test” for the Faber fella. We “call the win Urijah” in this one.
A light heavy title matchup features current WEC champ Doug “Rhino” Marshall (6-2-0), against Ariel Gandulla (2-0-0), a Cuban expatriate fighting out of Miami, FL with a judo and wrestling resume’. Marshall brought a vicious hammer down on his last two opponents and is the heavy prefight favorite - but Gandulla plans to show up. His trainers report he’s getting better every day. We’ll see.
In the third title tilt, Paulo Filho will answer the bell with a perfect 14-0-0 record against Chael Sonnen in a middleweight title defense. The big Brazilian is ranked number two in the universe among middleweights behind countryman Anderson Silva (no shame there..). Sonnen, a former UFC’er has put up a 19-8-1 record and views the fight as a chance to rearrange the middleweight division pecking order. Although Sonnen has won his last five fights by TKO or submission, Filho will raise his arm in this one.
Fans will also get a chance to see “L’il Evil” himself – Jens Pulver, make his WEC debut against a talented and hard charging Cub Swanson, who is coming off a huge win over Micah Miller in June. Pulver made the move to WEC from the UFC to fight at 145, his natural weight, where he is 7-0-0. Nothing against Cub – but this corner sees Evil fighting Faber in the future (try saying that three times fast). Pulver punishes in this contest.
John Alessio and Todd Moore lockup in a welterweight scrap, with Alessio filling in for an injured Luis Sapo on short notice. Alessio, who has kicked around the Octagon with the likes of Pat Miletich, Thiago Alves and Carlos Condit, is a big upgrade for Moore, “the Pride of Texas” and a collegiate grappler, who enters the bout with a perfect 9-0-0 record. We like the more experienced Alessio, but a win puts Moore on the map.
Alex “The Assassin” Karalexis (9-2-0) and Ed “9mm” Ratcliff (5-0-0) knock knuckles in a lightweight battle in which Karalexis is favored. We talked to some folks who have seen Ratcliff fight who begged to differ: “not so fast my friend… that’s why they fight.” Couple that with the fact that Mr. Millimeter began training in the Lion’s Den at 17…and hmmm. It’s just a hunch, but we like Ratcliff in an upset.
Georgia’s own Brian Bowles will be facing off against Marcus Galvao on the undercard in a 135 pound dust-up. Training out of the Hard Core gym in Athens, Bowles has compiled a 3-0 record in WEC, including an upset of Charlie Valencia in his most recent fight. Go Dawg! (An interview with Bowles, who is sponsored by GeorgiaMMA.com, can also be found on this site.)
It may not be a Lionel, but WEC has put a real MMA “train wreck” under the tree just in time for Christmas. Forget the holidays, peace, love and understanding. Just turn on the tree lights, pull up your favorite chair, pour yourself a tall one and enjoy watching the boys “get it on” December 12th in one of the most explosive WEC cards ever assembled. Oh – and Merry Christmas from GeorgiaMMA.com!
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