Brown Tops Faber to Retain Title, Eight-Second KO of Swanson Earns Aldo Title Shot at WEC 41
Mike Brown again got the best of Urijah Faber on Sunday at WEC 41, topping the former 145-pound title holder by unanimous decision to retain his title in the anticipated rematch which headlined the Versus-televised event at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
Brown stalked Faber throughout the bout, using superior striking to pick Faber apart en route to a unanimous decision victory with official scores of 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 (MMAFrenzy.com scored the bout 48-47 Brown). Faber, unable to muster much offense from the middle of the first round onward after suffering a broken hand, attempted several submissions and connected with elbows but was unable to finish Brown off over the five, 5-minute rounds.
Brown, who has now defended his title twice since winning it from Faber last November, improves to 22-4 with the victory, his 11th-straight, while Faber falls to 22-3.
In the evening’s co-main event, Jose Aldo made extremely quick work of Cub Swanson, knocking out his opponent with a flying knee and followup punches a mere 8-seconds into the opening round. The win likely secures Aldo the next crack at Brown and his featherweight title later this year, though should Brown win the matchup a rubber match with Faber likely looms once his hand is healed.
In other notable action, Donald Cerrone picked up a first-round submission win over James Crause then called out lightweight title-holder Jamie Varner for a rematch, Josh Grispi retired Jens Pulver with a 33-second submission victory, and Manny Gamburyan got his first featherweight win with a unanimous decision over John Franchi.
The rest of the undercard was a submission clinic with four of the five fights ending by submission as Rafael Rebello, Anthony Pettis, Frank Gomez, and Seth Dikun picked up submission victories while Chuck Liddell-cornered Antonio Banuelos defeated Scott Jorgensen by split decision.
The official WEC 41 results were:
- Mike Brown (c) def. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
WEC Featherweight Championship
- Jose Aldo def. Cub Swanson via KO (flying knee) — Round 1, 0:08
- Donald Cerrone def. James Krause via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:38
- Josh Grispi def. Jens Pulver via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 0:33
- Manny Gamburyan def. John Franchi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rafael Rebello def. Kyle Dietz via submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:55.
- Anthony Pettis def. Mike Campbell via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:49
- Antonio Banuelos def. Scott Jorgensen via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Frank Gomez def. Noah Thomas via submission (arm triangle choke) — Round 2, 3:12
- Seth Dikun def. Rolando Perez via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 2:30
[Pictured: Mike Brown]
Tags: Anthony Pettis, Antonio Banuelos, Cub Swanson, Donald Cerrone, Frank Gomez, James Krause, Jens Pulver, John Franchi, jose aldo, Josh Grispi, Kyle Dietz, Manny Gamburyan, mike brown, Mike Campbell, Noah Thomas, Rafael Rebello, Rolando Perez, Scott Jorgensen, Seth Dikun, Urijah Faber
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rubber match Faber never won the first match-up it would just be a clean sweep for brown if they went again and by the way Jose aldo will kill him
I think it remains to be seen just how good aldo and brown are. It very well could be that Brown is like whoa good and that aldo is just as good as faber, that is to say very good but not on Browns level.. Before Brown, Faber ran through the division and very well could still beat everybody. I’m very interested in a Faber vs. Aldo fight. I know ill have to wait for Brown vs Aldo fight first but heres to Brown winning to i can see this fight.
Great night (and weekend) of fights. Brown vs. Aldo should be a war.
I 2nd the motion for this war…am also all for it.
Thats right Eric, great all around weekend of fights.
Faber would win the 3rd fight if he stuck to his style, the hand didn’t help, but he looked intimidated as soon as the bell rang
Anyone but me Think the smaller promotions have been putting on better cards than the UFC lateley?
i don’t think the cards have been better. I think the fights have been better though. Last night’s wec fights were all entertaining and pretty much everyone finished they’re fight in a great way. There were like 4 or 5 subs in the first. We RARELY if ever see that in the ufc. If that’s what you mean, then yes i do agree. Some of these other cards have been better.
I like brown. Although he wasn’t given credit by urijas hometown, he went to war dude and showed he’s got a big heart. I honestly think faber would have won the fights if he hadn’t borken his hand. That’s a shame dude, but still it was an ok fight.
Happy to see swanson defeated fast but i feel for pulver dude. It must be hard to accept his career as a fighter has come to an end.
I couldn’t believe the loss after I watched the Jorgensen fight last night, so I watched it again when it re-aired. I still think he got the wrong end of that shaft. Banuelos gassed far too quickly and didn’t do anything, really after the 2 minute mark in the second.
I’m with you there, I like Banuelos but I did not think he did enough to win that fight.
There was a time when I thought that Urijah Faber, and not Anderson Silva or Fedor or GSP was the best P4P MMA fighter out there. After his first loss to Brown I still believed that. Everyone gets caught, no real shame in that in this sport. However last night even before his hand injury Faber didn’t look like Faber. Before the first Brown fight Faber basically tore ass through his entire division, and looked world-class while doing it. At WEC 41 Faber looked tentative from the get-go, and never seemed quite like himself.
I really like the guy, and hope he returns to form after he heals up. I do think it’s hard to come back after a guy has beant you in 2 straight, but if anyone can do it, Faber can. If I had to bet cold cash on it, I would bet that Faber will again be world champ by the end of 2010 or so, which is probably a minority opinion in light of how this weekend unfolded.
And congrats to Brown for sure on a tough win in Faber’s backyard.
Aldo’s knee was sick. I was rooting ro Swanson,but man, his eye looked jacked up. I feel sorry for the dude,but i could have been worse. I think that Aldo is a dangerous dude that has the potential to dominate that division for a while.
I give Brown lots of credit for going into Faber’s town and coming out on top. Of course Faber’s broken hand played a part in costing him the fight, but at least he was able to hang in there all five rounds. I don’t know where this puts Faber’s WEC carrer,i think he should give 155 a try and go to the UFC.
betting odds for #3 will be outta whack
brown is2-0
but has a very slim chanse of beating urijah faber
very slim i dont know he has beat him 2 times ya he broke his hand but i dont know it probably would have had the same outcome i dont know but ya aldo vs brown will be good but its kinda like rashad-lyoto and aldo is lyoto
I just rewatched Banuelos and Jorgensen, I still think Jorgensen got robbed. Just an observation.
DOES ANYONE REALLY THINK brown could have survived 4+ rounds against faber if he had 2 f’ed up hands?
while i loathe the pound for pound discussions for being all APPLES AND ORANGES, if there is such a discussion i think it’s crazy to not include faber