Brown vs. Faber II delivers big time
Published by Zach Arnold on June 8th, 2009 in Current Events

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Mike Brown managed to spoil the party… again.

In front of an estimated 13,000+ at Arco Arena in Sacramento on Sunday, Brown successfully defended his WEC Featherweight title against superstar challenger Urijah Faber… in Faber’s own backyard. The reception Faber got was tremendous, almost a pro-wrestling like atmosphere. Brown was heavily booed, but moreso because he was “the rival of the hometown favorite” as opposed to anything he himself did to anger the fans.

While it wasn’t a perfect showing by Mike Brown, he came about as close to imposing his will and executing his gameplan for five rounds as he possibly could. He deserves a ton of credit and respect. Unfortunately, there seems to be some online reaction that indicates that people are wanting to discredit Brown’s win because Faber broke his right hand in round one of the fight.

Faber vs. Brown II was easily one of the anticipated re-matches I can recall in the last five years of MMA competition. Both men give it everything they have and you don’t hear them make excuses at all. They fight. They perform. They somehow manage to also tell a compelling story when they fight. It’s damn good television and theatre for the masses.

The storyline coming into this fight was whether we would see Faber overcome a size mismatch and use his speed & technique to get back his title. Last year, when Brown shocked casual fans with his big win over Faber, it caught a lot of people by surprise. However, for most hardcore fans, Brown’s first win was no fluke. Faber has had trouble with bigger fighters, especially those who used to fight at Lightweight (155 pounds) and made the cut to Featherweight (145 pounds). Ask Tyson Griffin. Ask Mike Brown… twice.

When Faber vs. Brown II started, it was an incredible atmosphere. Faber seemed to catch Brown off-guard with some kick attempts. Brown immediately tried to clinch and use his size advantage to slow down Faber. At times, it almost like a classic 1970s pro-wrestling in-ring storyline involving the big heel trying to slow down the speedy babyface. Noticeably during the fight, Brown would put his hands down and not leave them up. It looked like Faber would eventually catch him. He threw a few punches and tried a front neck lock, but Brown seemingly escaped every time a submission attempt was put on him. Faber managed to cut Brown over his left eye and drew some juice. Brown fired back with his own guillotine choke and then went to side control with about 30 seconds left.

During round two, color commentator Kenny Florian noticed something was going on with Faber. Faber was throwing a lot of elbows as opposed to punches. Florian’s sharp eye caught something that most fans would have taken longer to notice. Brown started to impose his strength during the round, while Faber tried for submissions but ultimately failed.

When round three started, Todd Harris and Kenny Florian clearly felt that something was wrong with Faber’s right hand. They came out and said it was broken. They ended up being right. Despite the broken hand, Faber continued to show a lot of heart and attempt submissions. However, the broken hand played a big role in Faber not being able to cinch on submissions he normally would have been able to lock in. This allowed Brown to escape and counter, which cost Faber dearly. Faber did manage to get Brown on the canvas, only for Brown to lock in a heel hook.

During the rest period between rounds three and four, the Versus production truck showed video of Faber telling his cornerman between rounds two and three that he couldn’t throw any punches because his hand was broken.

By the time round four started, both men had started slowing down. However, Brown’s attack clearly punished Faber in a big way and this was surprising to watch given what kind of high-energy, fast-paced, big-stamina level Faber brings to the table. Brown punished Faber with body shots and clinched to end the round. It wasn’t sexy, but Brown’s offense was methodical and exactly what the doctor ordered.

Faber desperately tried a flurry of offense in round five. Brown countered and took him down. However, Faber sunk in a front neck lock and nearly got a submission. However, the broken hand impacted how well the hold was cinched in. Faber went for another guillotine, but this time Brown picked him up and slammed him. As the fight came to a conclusion, Faber got on an amazing choke that looked like Brown was not going to escape. Somehow, he did escape and both men continued to fight until the end of the round.

When it was all said and done, Brown won the fight by a unanimous decision (49-46 on two scorecards, 48-47 on the third).

Not even getting a chance to celebrate his big re-match win, interviewer Craig Hummer asked Brown if he was ready to face Jose Aldo next in a title defense.

The same Jose Aldo who continues to destroy opponent after opponent in the WEC cage.

Aldo pulled a King Kong Bundy special and managed an eight-second win against Cub Swanson. A vicious flying left-right knee combo strike cut over Swanson and ended his night. Not even Bundy finished off SD Jones that fast at Wrestlemania I. For Swanson, it was terrible luck — he had previously been humbled by Jens Pulver when Pulver made his WEC debut. Now, Jose Aldo ran right over him. However, Swanson is not the only other man who Aldo has punished and made quick work of in the cage. Brown vs. Aldo will be an explosive war that will no doubt please all MMA fans.

The undercard of the WEC 41 show was pretty damn great to watch. In fact, one of the best WEC showings to date. Unfortunately, the television portion of the show started off with the aforementioned Jens Pulver losing to young phenom Josh Grispi in under a minute to a guillotine choke. Grispi was the favorite going in and he’s no longer a well-kept secret. The young man can fight. When Pulver tapped, you could hear this incredible, audible gasp from the crowd. Despite the loss, the fans showered a ton of appreciation for Pulver who hinted at retirement afterwards. Pulver could probably fight a couple of more times and lose on both occasions and the fans would still cheer him on. The WEC fans treat him like a living legend.

“Cowboy” Donald Cerrone made quick work of James Krause, using a bunch of submissions and ultimately displayed great power. With a minute left to go in the fight, Cerrone tagged Krause with a left hook and Krause was covering up the entire time. Cerrone finally got the choke sleeper on and the referee stopped the fight.

Scott Jorgensen and Antonio Banuelos had a three round war that was must-watch television. Even Chuck Liddell jumped into the cage afterwards and checked on the fighters. Banuelos won a 29-28 split decision.

Seth Dikun (over Rolando Perez) and Anthony Pettis (over Mike Campbell) demonstrated incredible submission grappling, as both men finished off their opponents early in the first round with triangle locks. Pettis went for a guillotine, then a spinning armlock, and finally the triangle to finish off a weary Campbell who was tired from escaping all sorts of nasty submission attempts.