Tag: Leonard Garcia (Page 2 of 2)

Aldo dominates Faber in enemy territory at WEC 48

A crowd of over 14,000 fans rocked Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. Saturday night to cheer on their hometown hero, Urijah Faber, as he headed to the cage to take on the World Extreme Cagefighting Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.

All week the buzz has surrounded the city of Sacramento for this fight between Aldo and Faber, the headline bout of WEC 48, which was presented by AMP Energy. The event was the WEC’s first run at putting on a pay-per-view show and Aldo vs. Faber was the biggest fight the promotion could put on.

But just as much as the fans rocked Arco Arena as Faber headed to the cage with “California Love” blasting in the background, was as quiet as the arena got as Aldo picked apart their king in a decisive five-round unanimous decision victory.

“There is no doubt that (Aldo) is one of the best in the world, period,” WEC and UFC President, Dana White, said of the champion after the fight. “That is of all fighters, not just in his weight division. He’s definitely on the pound-for-pound (best fighters) list.”

Aldo came in as the favorite, but the local crowd truly believed in Faber. After all, he has been the city’s rallying cry seeing as their NBA franchise has struggled in recent years. The town even made April 22 “Urijah Faber Day,” earlier in the week. But, early in the first round of Saturday’s fight, it became clear that Faber was out-matched by the younger and faster Aldo.

From the start, Faber struggled to develop his timing in his strikes while Aldo unleashed leg kicks to Faber’s lead left leg. Late in the opening round Faber started to show signs of ware in the leg, and it only got worse as time passed.

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MMA Preview: Strikeforce & WEC

This weekend Mixed Martial Arts has two solid shows taking place outside of the UFC label. It begins Saturday on Showtime at 10 p.m. with Strikeforce presenting a strong card of recognizable fighters, a few of which are still considered among the best in the world. On Sunday, the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) takes center state with WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2, which is highlighted by the Featherweight championship (145 lbs) rematch of champion Mike Thomas Brown against former champion Urijah Faber. That show will air on Versus at 9 p.m.

Here is a quick breakdown of the feature fights and my predictions for both shows:

Strikeforce at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

– Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-6) Light-Heavyweight (205lbs): Kevin Randleman was a giant in the MMA world in the late 90’s and in the beginning of the 2000’s, but now Randleman is finding himself in the same position as many of the giants in those days like Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, where the sport has passed him bye. Loser of five of his last seven fights, Randleman needs a win over UFC veteran Mike Whitehead, who has won 13 of his last 14 and has looked good since his move down to light-heavyweight (205 lbs). I like Whitehead by decision or TKO from ground-and-pound on a tired Randleman.

– Joe Riggs (29-10) vs. Phil Baroni (13-10) Middleweight (185lbs): Phil Baroni and Joe Riggs are classic examples of two fighters that had worlds of potential and never tapped into it. Both men have tremendous power, but both are notorious for their lack of endurance as fights move on. Baroni tries to throw all his power in each punch which limits him later on and Riggs has a suspect chin that has caused quick knockout losses. If Baroni has truly improved his training, I see him winning this one as Riggs is the mentally weaker fighter. I take Baroni by TKO late in round one.

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MMA Review for Sunday, March 8

Frank MirHere’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– Mike Brown beat Leonard Garcia’s ass at last Sunday’s WEC 39 show, proving that yes, he is the real deal. A rematch with Urijah Faber is slated for this summer.

– The UFC will be partying in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day and Philadelphia later this year.

– The weakest, flabbiest fighter from Affliction’s last show just got popped for steroids.

– Kimbo Slice scores a supporting role in a porno flick.

– Major fight-booking alert: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir in May Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin in June, and Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida a week later.

– UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock recently shared his life story at a conference for Christian fighters. He’s scheduled to be beaten to death by Bobby Lashley later this month.

– UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine goes down tomorrow night in Columbus, Ohio. Come back to CagePotato at 10 p.m. ET for a liveblog of the pay-per-view broadcast, and get acquainted with the lineup by checking out our betting advice [link: http://www.cagepotato.com/gambling-addiction-enabler-ufc-96], our look at two debuting fighters, and our heated debate about the headlining fights.

– We almost went an entire week without someone getting arrested and then 0-13 Scott Blevins gets popped for child molestation.

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