No..sometime this week I will email you
Brian looked great last night.Has a lot of heart,it came a little easier than expected,but I knew he had a great chance.
Write up for last nights event:
For five years Miguel Torres was a riddle other martial artists could not solve. But the mystery that spanned 17 fights evaporated Sunday night after a brutal fistic flurry from No. 1 contender Brian Bowles, who was rocked by the champion in round one before suddenly turning the tables with a vicious right hand that dropped Torres for the first time in his illustrious career. When Torres fell to the canvas, Bowles pounced on the dazed legend and pounded him with several hard shots that landed flush and knocked Torres out cold, stunning fans at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Torres’ 18-month as WEC bantamweight champ officially ended at 3 minutes 57 seconds of round one as he lay motionless on the canvas, while Bowles jubilantly exalted and jumped into the arms of his teammates.
“I was convinced that I could beat him,” the unbeaten Athens, Georgia resident said afterward. “I stayed calm and a lot of other (fighters) get caught up in the hype. The game plan was to stay away from that jab -- obviously he has a great jab and to take him down.”
Though Torres and others had questioned Bowles’ lack of experience – he only had seven fights under his belt coming in – the barrel-chested challenger served notice to Torres early with a hard right hand that buckled Torres, a vulnerability rarely seen in the iron-jawed champion. Torres cleared his head but soon conceded a takedown to Bowles from the clinch. Torres craftily landed three solid upkicks as Bowles stood over him, prompting Bowles to invite him back to his feet. Torres, never one to back down from a standup exchange, quickly obliged.
A strong chorus of fans chanted “Torres! Torres! Torres!” and the ultra-aggressive champion went on the offensive, tagging Bowles with a hard combination that caused him to retreat. Smelling hurt, Torres hunted Bowles and would pay dearly for throwing caution to the wind: With Torres offensive-minded, Bowles uncorked a monster short right hand that culminated in the fateful conclusion that would catapult him to the 135-pound throne.
“He had me rattled there pretty bad,” the new champion said. “I kind of recovered there and caught him coming in pretty good with a hook.”
Torres, meanwhile, has always lived dangerously inside of the Octagon. He had always been as intent to put on a show, to be a crowd-pleaser, as he was to punish his opponents – even if it meant absorbing unnecessary abuse himself in the process. In the eyes of many, he took way too many hard shots to prove a point – to show how sturdy his chin is, and to entertain. But one has to wonder if all of those wars, and the rigors of Torres’ training camps, where he almost always goes hard and doesn’t mind taking big shots in practice even when sparring with 200 pounders, might have taken a toll and made his chin lesser than it might have been had he utilized more caution and discretion.
Whatever the case, Torres is just 28 years old and figures to return with a vengeance and in pursuit of a rematch with Bowles. Had he not taken the big shots, Torres might himself scored a come-from-behind win because Bowles would have been fighting with one hand after breaking his left hand in the first round. Now, instead of Torres defending the belt against the winner of the Dominick Cruz-Joseph Benavidez clash, the honor may fall to Bowles.
Indeed, it was an evening of upsets, with the underdog Cruz knocking Benavidez from the ranks of the unbeaten with a fast and furious assault that saw both men scrapping and scrambling and banging non-stop for 15 minutes. Both men stormed at each other from the opening horn. Cruz, riding a significant height and reach advantage, danced about the cage and fired off crisp punching combinations; Benavidez answered with low kicks and his own fistic assault. Cruz scored a takedown and Benavidez fished for a guillotine choke in vain, then scrambled back to his feet. Benavidez landed a knee to the face and Cruz followed up with another takedown and mounted his opponent, before Benavidez fought back to his feet once more.
By round two, a sizable contingent of fans who had made the trek from Sacramento were chanting “Let’s go Joe! Let’s go Joe!”
Benavidez emerged as the aggressor, but Cruz caught the unbeaten fighter with a solid right as he was coming forward. Sensing Benavidez might be stunned, Cruz unleashed a hail of punches that forced his foe to retreat. Benavidez answered with a solid left hook and then a combination but Cruz was unfazed. Cruz then tagged Benavidez with a hard right. Cruz repeatedly rebuffed Benavidez’ takedown attempts and scored another takedown.
In round three, with Benavidez bleeding behind his left ear, Cruz claimed the round with two takedowns and good top control, even taking Benavidez’ back and getting both hooks in as the final seconds counted down.
The judges awarded Cruz a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.
“I just look for his strengths, stay away from them and put him where he’s uncomfortable,” he said of how he game plans for opponents. “That’s what I’ve been doing with everybody I’ve been fighting. “
Bowles does not yet know who he will fight next, but is confident it won’t matter.
“I’m pumped man,” he said. “I wanted this belt and now I’ve got it and I’m going to keep on defending it.”
In other WEC action on Sunday night:
Danny Castillo vs. Ricardo Lamas
When two closely-matched wrestlers fight, the saying goes, a boxing match usually breaks out. Well, this matchup did nothing to dispel that stereotype.
Neither Castillo nor Lamas could take the other down, so they contently waged battle on their feet, with Castillo being the aggressor with combinations and Lamas faithfully attacking with kicks to the head and body. The first round was a coin-toss but things heated up in the second as Lamas landed a solid right to the head and later followed it up with two impressive head kicks.
Castillo answered with a hard 1-2 combination that drew blood from Lamas’ mouth and a crisp body shot. Lamas then scored with a hard kick to the rib area that produced an audible thump. Just as the bout seemed to swing slightly in Lamas’ favor, Castillo unleashed a show stopper in the form of a textbook right hand – lunging into with all of his weight – that landed perfectly on its mark. When the fist hit Lamas’ chin, the Chicagoan fell to the canvas and Castillo pounced, unleashing a few heavy shots that forced referee Herb Dean to halt the bout at 4:15 of round two.
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Jeff Curran
Curran spent an inordinate amount of energy early trying to score a single-leg takedown, but after a long time in the clinch, it was Mizugaki who scored the takedown with a trip. The Japanese fighter landed a few inconsequential punches and elbows from the top before Curran attempted an armbar and then reversed him. Mizugaki then managed a reversal himself and the round of grappling came to a close.
In the second round, it was more of the same. The pair exchanged a few punches on their feet before Mizugaki scored a takedown. From the bottom, Curran implored his opponent, “Come on! Come on!” but not much else happened after that with the exception of a Curran guillotine choke that proved fruitless as time expired.
In the third round, Mizugaki locked in another clinch and took Curran down yet again. It was ho-hum entertainment until the final 30 seconds when, suddenly, Curran attempted a reversal and in the ensuing scramble trapped Mizugaki in a triangle. This is Curran’s signature move and he gradually cinched it in tighter and tighter in a race against the clock. The suspense built: Would Mizugaki tap or pass out? Or would the clock save him?
The horn came and Mizugaki’s valor was rewarded with a split decision by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29.
“It was a deep triangle and I expected that from Curran with his BJJ,” said Mizugaki, who improved to 12-3-2. “The only thing that got me out of that triangle was my heart. I think I am one step closer to a title shot with Miguel Torres but we have to wait to see what happens with Joseph Benavidez (and his fight with Dominick Cruz).”
In defeat, Curran lost his fourth straight and fell to 31-12-1.
Jameel Massouh vs. Leonard Garcia
Coming into this fight, Garcia pledged to fight smarter and cut back on his wild, free swinging ways in favor of more technique and control. Well, let’s just say that goal remains a work in progress. More importantly, Garcia did what he needed to do to escape with a win Sunday over a very game Massouh, who nearly ended the match with a tight choke in the second round. It was quite a reversal of fortunes for the lanky Wisconsinite, who was dropped by a big right hand in the first round and weathered a storm of punches to fight on.
Massouh recovered and took Garcia down, then repeated the feat in the second round, endangering Garcia with a choke and dominating him on the ground. Garcia, looking winded, survived and came out the aggressor in the final stanza. He swung for the fences at times, usually missing his target. But the Greg Jackson protégé was the busier of the two, firing kicks and whacking Massouh with a hard right late in the round.
Garcia won a split decision by scores of 29-28 across the board.
“After I hit him with that first big right hand I thought the fight was over,” Garcia said. “I got a big adrenaline rush and I didn’t have anything left in the second and the third. He was choking the piss out of me.”
“In the second and third round I didn’t have any energy, I was just going on instinct … I felt like I was a little bit calmer until the last round.”
Fredson Paixao vs. Cole Province
Province secured a takedown early, and that was probably perfectly fine with Paixao, a four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champ who does his best work on the ground. But other than a failed oma plata, Paixao did not mount much of an offensive assault in the opening stanza, though one of his elbows did open a nice gash on Province’s nose that bled profusely and covered Paixao in blood while he was on the bottom. Round two was essentially a carbon copy of round one, with Province scoring a takedown and not much happening on the canvas. The only drama was Province’s cut continuing to liberally bleed (all that blood and sweat may have hindered Paixao’s ability to get a firm grip on Province and secure any submissions).
In round three, the action stayed standing, with Province pressing and Paixao inexplicably backpedaling and throwing mostly leg kicks. Not a whole lot happened in this round and the lack of urgency on Paixao’s part was confounding. When the final horn sounded, Paixao pumped his fist as if he had won, but the judges saw it otherwise and handed Province a unanimous decision victory.
Shane Roller vs. Marcus Hicks
A face-off between two guys who both love the guillotine choke and are coming off losses. Roller, a former All-American wrestler, jumpstarted the action with a takedown early in round one and then found himself trapped in Hicks’ signature weapon – the guillotine. Few men escape from that treacherous grip; Roller did and then stood up, took Hicks with him, and slammed the Texan hard to the canvas, producing a loud thump for everyone in the arena to hear. Roller continued to live dangerously, getting caught in Hicks’ guillotine a second time, and escaping again.
Round two was a theatrical dandy. Roller again scored a takedown and Hicks again seized the opportunity to trap him in a guillotine choke. This lock was tighter than the previous two. Hicks squeezed and squeezed, for maybe 30 seconds or so, and Roller held on and eventually escaped. Roller then rained down a heavy barrage of punches on Hicks. Dozens of blows landed and referee Josh Rosenthal looked on intently, poised to intervene. While many referees would have called the fight, Rosenthal, to his credit, let the action go. It proved to be the right decision as Hicks returned to his feet, only to be taken down once more by Roller.
After the frenzy of round two, round three was much more mellow and primarily a stand-up affair, with Hicks the aggressor and digging punches to the body while Roller fought cautiously and floated about the cage, like a man presuming that he had won the first two rounds and could afford to play it safe. Roller showed improved defense in his boxing, often tucking his chin, moving his head and keeping his right hand up to protect against a left hook or head kick. With the round seemingly up for grabs, Roller managed a hard double leg slam late in the round for good measure.
In the end, the judges awarded a unanimous decision to Roller by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. He is now 6-1, while Hicks dropped his third straight and fell to 8-3.
Ed Ratcliff vs. Phil Cardella
This fight started exactly as knowledgeable fight fans might expect, with Cardella looking to close the distance and Ratcliff seeking space to fire away with kicks and punches. In the first-half of round one, Cardella was able to secure the clinch and pull guard, but Ratcliff soon got to his feet. Cardella repeatedly achieved the clinch, but Ratcliff stubbornly fought off the takedown attempts. When Ratcliff couldn’t free himself from Cardella’s clutches, referee Steve Mazzagatti did it for him. On at least six different occasions – five times standing in the clinch and once with Ratcliff in Cardella’s guard – the referee saw it as insufficient activity and forced a restart.
For periods of the fight Ratcliff danced about the cage, occasionally landing crisp head shots on Cardella, who stands up very tall and stiff and has a habit of stalking his opponents. In the third round, Cardella’s golden moment arrived: As Ratcliff readied to strike, Cardella timed it and whipped around to take the San Diegan’s back in the standing position. Cardella wrapped a choke around Ratcliff’s neck, then tried to lock it in. Ratcliff peeled off Cardella’s top hand and escaped.
Incessant guard-pulling usually hurts fighters in the eyes of the judges. And this fight was no exception, as judges awarded Ratcliff a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Rani Yahya vs. Johnny Hosman
Johnny Hosman’s best, and perhaps only, chance of beating Yahya was to keep the fight standing. So what did Hosman do in his WEC debut? He sprawled when Yahya shot in --- then tried to guillotine choke the grappling wizard. Really bad move. On the scale of mistakes he could afford to make, with 10 being the worst mistake, it was about a 9. The inevitable came next as Yahya easily secured the takedown, easily escaped the choke and passed Hosman’s guard, and then sunk in a tight north-south choke to win the tap at 2:08 of round one.
It was Yahya’s third straight win – each of them in expedient and effortless fashion. With the win the 24-year-old Brazilian goes to 15-4 and is beginning to look the part of a top contender at 135 pounds.
In losing his WEC debut, Hosman fell to 15-5-1.
Rafael Dias vs. Diego Nunes
In a battle of Brazilians, Nunes overcame his scrappy countryman to push his flawless record to 13-0. Nunes’ assault was more gritty than pretty. Dias, a BJJ black belt and member of American Top Team, scored a takedown early and Nunes reversed. With Nunes standing over him, Dias whacked his adversary with a wicked upkick to the face that visibly angered Nunes, who then dove in for some ground and pound that caused minimal damage but likely scored with the judges.
In the second round, both fighters engaged in standup exchanges, mostly firing leg and body kicks. Nunes’ unleashed a hard kick that cracked Dias in the rib area and later landed a beautiful spinning back kick that whacked Dias in the midsection and knocked him backward. Dias landed a hard body kick that was partially blocked, and Nunes later landed his a decent 1-2 combination, with Dias returning the favor.
In round three, Nunes pulled away, gaining top position and landing some decent elbows that cut Dias. Nunes kept top position for most of the round, and though he didn’t really punish Dias, he controlled and clearly won the round.
In the end, Nunes walked away with a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27 across the board.
L.C. Davis vs. Javier Vazquez
True to his word, Vazquez, known mostly as a submission artist, jumped out of the gate in round one and beat up Davis on their feet. The Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt repeatedly tagged Davis with a wide variety of punches, from stiff jabs to choppy right hands that stopped the Pat Miletich-trained fighter in his tracks. By the end of the round, Vazquez had opened a gash under Davis’ right eye. By any measure, round one clearly went to Vazquez.
In the second round, the pace of the battle between southpaws slowed somewhat, with Davis still struggling to find his mark with his punching combinations and Vazquez not landing consistently as he had in the first stanza. Davis stayed aggressive with punches and kicks, but he continued to have trouble landing clean shots, perhaps in part to Vazquez head movement. Vazquez did score with a solid right hand and later with a hard overhand left, but he seemed intent to throw one punch at a time, move to the side, and occasionally pulling guard to test Davis on the mat. On the ground, not much happened as Vazquez could not hold Davis down and Davis repeatedly stood up, intent to settle things standing.
In last 30 seconds, with the round seemingly up for grabs, Vazquez hit Davis with a stiff left hand and followed it up with a takedown.
In round three, Vazquez shot in and when Davis sprawled he pulled guard. As he had done all night, Davis simply disengaged on the ground, forcing more standup. Vazquez pulled guard a second time, and soon enough they were back on their feet. Vazquez showed good head movement and, though Davis kept busy throwing punches, they usually did not find their mark. Down the stretch Vazquez again tried to pull guard and it would apparently cost him. The judges awarded Davis a split decision by scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29. It was a questionable decision to some, but nevertheless Davis notched his first WEC win and is now 14-2. Vazquez fell to 13-3.
