Gamburyan earned $36,000 for his decision win over fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia in the WEC 44 co-main event, while Aldo scored $26,000 (and the featherweight title) for his second-round knockout of champ Mike Brown in the event’s headliner.

The official salaries for WEC 44 were:

• Jose Aldo ($26,000 – includes $13,000 win bonus) def. Mike Brown ($15,000)
• Manny Gamburyan ($36,000 – $18,000 win bonus) def. Leonard Garcia ($14,000)
• Karen Darabedyan ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Rob McCullough ($20,000)
• Shane Roller ($24,000 – $12,000 win bonus) def. Danny Castillo ($9,500)
• Kamal Shalorus ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Will Kerr ($2,000)
• L.C Davis ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Diego Nunes ($5,000)
• Cub Swanson ($18,000 – $9,000 win bonus) def. John Franchi ($4,000)
• Antonio Banuelos ($12,000 – $6000 win bonus) def. Kenji Osawa ($6,000)
• Ricardo Lamas ($8,000 – $4,000 win bonus) def. James Krause ($2,000)
• Frank Gomez ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Seth Dikun ($3,000)

Remember, the salaries listed above are simply those reported by the WEC to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and do not represent a fighter’s actual earnings.

In addition to their salaries above, Aldo, Roller, Swanson, and Franchi each earned a $10,000 “fight night” bonus for their performances at the event.

For more WEC 44 coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s WEC 44 section.

Also on the Versus-televised main card, Manny Gamburyan topped fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision, newcomer Karen Darabedyan scored a split decision win over former lightweight champ rob McCullough, Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo with a third-round rear naked choke, and Kamal Shalorus knocked out Will Kerr in the opening round.

The complete results for WEC 44 were:

• Jose Aldo def. Mike Brown (c) via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:20
  WEC Featherweight Championship
• Manny Gamburyan def. Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Karen Darabedyan def. Rob McCullough via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
• Shane Roller def. Danny Castillo via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 3, 3:32
• Kamal Shalorus def. Will Kerr via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:26
• L.C. Davis def. Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
• Cub Swanson def. John Franchi via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:50
• Antonio Banuelos def. Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ricardo Lamas def. James Krause via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Frank Gomez def. Seth Dikun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Pictured: Jose Aldo

The Versus-televised event, which was originally rumored to take place on November 21, is now expected to take place in Las Vegas on November 18 and features a main event between featherweight champ Mike Brown and Jose Aldo.

Both former UFC lightweights, Garcia (13-4) bounced back from a loss to Brown with a split decision win over Jameel Massough in August, while Gamburyan (9-4), the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 5, rebounded from back-to-back defeats in the UFC to top John Franchi in June in his 145-pound debut.

For the latest WEC 44 news and WEC 44 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Manny Gamburyan

Pulver, a former UFC lightweight champion who suffered his fourth-straight loss and likely retired at the event, took home an event-high $31,253 for his first-round submission loss to Josh Grispi.

Gamburyan, the runner up on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter 5, surprisingly out-earned both Brown and Faber with his unanimous decision victory over John Franchi on the WEC 41 preliminary card, scoring $26,960 for his debut win.

Brown and Faber took home nearly identical purses, with Brown earning $25,256 (including a $13,000 win bonus) for his main event victory while Faber received $25,790.

WEC 41, which aired live on Versus, attracted a WEC record live crowd of 13,027 for a WEC record live gate of $818,415.

The official WEC 41 salaries, as reported to the CSAC, were:

• Mike Brown ($25,256 – includes win bonus of $13,000) def. Urijah Faber ($25,790)
• Jose Aldo ($17,625 – includes win bonus of $11,000) def. Cub Swanson ($8,940)
• Donald Cerrone ($17,682.54 – includes win bonus of $9,000) def. James Krause ($1,692)
• Josh Grispi ($17,381 – includes win bonus of $9,000) def. Jens Pulver ($31,253)
• Manny Gamburyan ($26,960 – includes win bonus of $14,000) def. John Franchi ($3,108)
• Rafael Rebello ($3,650 – includes win bonus of $2,000) def. Kyle Dietz ($1,840)
• Anthony Pettis ($3,302.10 – includes win bonus of $2,000) def. Mike Campbell ($2,950)
• Antonio Banuelos ($9,840 – includes win bonus of $5,000) def. Scott Jorgensen ($5,530)
• Frank Gomez ($3,962.41 – includes win bonus of $2,000) def. Noah Thomas ($2,630)
• Seth Dikun ($3,940 – includes win bonus was $2,000) def. Rolando Perez ($2,890)

The total disclosed payroll for the card was $216,222.05.

Brown, Faber, Aldo, and Dikun all took home additional $10,000 “fight night” bonuses for their WEC 41 performances.

Check out MMAFrenzy.com’s recap and official results for WEC 41 here.

[Pictured: Urijah Faber]

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]

The event’s preliminary card is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm ET with the main, Versus-televised card, headlined by a rematch between WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown and former title-holder Urijah Faber, getting underway at 9pm ET.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com all night for live results, plus stop by after the fights for extensive post-fight coverage.

WEC 41: BROWN VS. FABER 2 RESULTS

• 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 and Urijah Faber]

Brown and Faber came in under the 145-pound limit for the championship matchup, both tipping the scales at 143.5 pounds.

Bantamweight Frank Gomez, who is scheduled to fight late-replacement Noah Thomas on the WEC 41 preliminary card, was the lone fighter to miss weight, weighing in 1.5 pounds over the 136-pound division limit. He has up to two additional hours to make weight.

The WEC 41 weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• Mike Brown (c) (143.5) vs. Urijah Faber (143.5)
  WEC Featherweight Championship
• Jose Aldo (144.5) vs. Cub Swanson (144)
• Donald Cerrone (155) vs. James Krause (155)
• Josh Grispi (145.5) vs. Jens Pulver (144)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• John Franchi (145.5) vs. Manny Gamburyan (144)
• Kyle Dietz (134) vs. Rafael Rebello (134.5)
• Mike Campbell (155) vs. Anthony Pettis (156)
• Antonio Banuelos (135.5) vs. Scott Jorgensen (134)
• Frank Gomez (137.5)* vs. Noah Thomas (134.5)
• Seth Dikun (136) vs. Rolando Perez (135.5)

* After missing weight on his first attempt and given an two additional hours to make weight, Gomez made weight on his second attempt.

Manny Gamburyan

Manny Gamburyan, the lightweight runner up on The Ultimate Fighter 5, is likely to make his WEC and featherweight debut against John Franchi at WEC 41 on June 7th at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California, according to MMA Madness.

After losing to Nate Diaz at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale due to a shoulder injury, Gamburyan (8-4) picked up back-to-back victories over Nate Mohr and Jeff Cox. However, he most-recently dropped two-straight bouts to Rob Emerson and Thiago Tavares that resulted in his drop to featherweight and move to the UFC’s sister promotion.

Fanchi (5-0) in undefeated in five professional bouts, most-recently defeating Mike Budnik via split decision in his WEC debut earlier this month.

WEC 41 is headlined by a featherweight championship rematch featuring title-holder Mike Brown against former champion Urijah Faber and airs live on Versus.

For the latest WEC news check out the MMAFrenzy.com WEC category.

Manny Gamburyan

In the world of MMA, when a fighter runs into a road block they often change weight classes. If they’re small for the class they’re in they usually shed the extra weight, eat a little less junk, and cut a little more weight on weigh-in day. “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ runner-up Manny Gamburyan recently told MMAWeekly that he will be joining the ranks of fighters dropping down in hopes of getting back on track, after a little pressure from the brothers Fertitta that is:

Last summer, Gamburyan said UFC co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta wanted him to make the leap to the WEC’s marquee division after taking on Rob Emerson at UFC 87. But Gamburyan lost, and revised the plan. He would defeat Tavares, challenge two fighters he felt he had unfinished business with (likely Nate Diaz and Sean Sherk), and cut the weight.

Those plans were derailed when Gamburyan suffered a split decision loss to Thiago Tavares at UFC 94 in January. Gamburyan does plan on competing at lightweight again in the future, though in which promotion that may be is, as yet, uncertain. The article went on to give some of the other details related to the decision to move down, and over to the WEC:

“There are a lot of good guys at 145 also,” he said. “Mike Brown, Leonard Garcia, Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver. But I think my ability to drop to 145 – I’m going to be a lot stronger, and quicker. At 155, my technique is my advantage, because the day I’m fighting, I’m 160, 162. The guys are outweighing me by at least 20 pounds every fight, so I don’t think that’s fair.”

Gamburyan does not have a date for his WEC debut, but expects to fight in May or June, depending on the promotion’s schedule.

Georges St-Pierre Punches BJ Penn at UFC 94

On a card dominated by uneventful decisions, UFC 94’s top two bouts delivered as Georges St-Pierre dominated BJ Penn on the ground en route to a fourth-round TKO victory while top light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida used his awkward style to remain undefeated by scoring a first-round knockout of the previously unbeaten Thiago Silva.

A sell out crowd of 14,885 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which generated a live gate of $4.3 million, erupted as St-Pierre and Penn made their entrances to the octagon for their historic main event matchup that is expected to shatter the current pay-per-view buy record held by UFC 66.

The first round saw both fighters exchange on the feet as GSP unsuccessfully worked to take Penn to the ground. Early in the second, however, St-Pierre succeeded in not only getting Penn to the canvas, but passing into side control and pounding away on Penn. After again dominating Penn on the ground in the third-round, St-Pierre poured it on in the fourth, pounding away with elbows and hammer fists that had Penn struggling to survive. Despite escaping the round, Penn’s corner had seen enough and, along with the advice of the doctor, referee Herb Dean called a stop to the contest, awarding the TKO victory to St-Pierre, who retained the UFC welterweight championship with the main event victory.

St-Pierre, who improved to 18-2 with the win, will next fight Thiago Alves, while Penn, who dropped to 13-5-1 with the loss, is likely to fight Kenny Florian next.

In the evening’s co-headliner, Lyoto Machida’s unorthodox style again proved difficult to counter as he dropped Thiago Silva twice early in the first round before putting him on the canvas with a trip takedown late in the frame. Machida pounced with only seconds remaining in the first, connecting with a perfectly-placed punch to the head that knocked Silva unconscious. A second punch sealed the knockout win as Machida delivered the impressive stoppage victory he needed to secure a likely title shot against current 205-pound title-holder Rashad Evans this summer.

Machida’s record now stands at 14-0, including six-straight wins in the UFC, while Silva’s first loss gives him a 13-1 career mark.

The two stoppage victories salvaged what was an otherwise forgettable night as the remaining eight fights all went to decision. On the main card, Jon Jones showed potential with a unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonnar, Karo Parisyan topped Dong Hyun Kim via split decision, and Clay Guida handed Nate Diaz his first loss in the UFC with split scorecards in an entertaining opener.

Jon Fitch, Thiago Tavares, John Howard, Jake O’Brien, and Dan Cramer picked up decision victories on the UFC 94 preliminary card.

After the event, the UFC announced that Howard’s victory over Chris Wilson and Guida’s win against Diaz were the “Fights of the Night” and each of the four participants earned $65,000 “fight night” bonuses. Though deserving, the evening’s $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” award went to Machida by default, who scored the only knockout on the card with his late first-round stoppage of Silva. Because UFC 94 featured no submission stoppages, a “Submission of the Night” bonus was not awarded.

UFC 94: ST-PIERRE VS. PENN II RESULTS

• Georges St-Pierre (c) def. BJ Penn via TKO (referee’s stoppage) — Round 4, 5:00
  UFC Welterweight Championship
• Lyoto Machida def. Thiago Silva via KO (punch) — Round 1, 4:59
• Jon Jones def. Stephan Bonnar via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Clay Guida def. Nate Diaz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jon Fitch def. Akihiro Gono via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Thiago Tavares def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• John Howard def. Chris Wilson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jake O’Brien def. Christian Wellisch via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)