WEC 44: Jose Aldo, the New King of the Featherweights
Published by Jim Genia on November 19th, 2009 in Current Events

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here’s a new 145-pound king on the throne, and if his performance at WEC 44 is of any indication, his reign may last quite a while. Taking on incumbent champ Mike Brown, a man who’d defeated superstar Urijah Faber twice and wrecked Leonard Garcia in a title defense, Jose Aldo definitely should have had his work cut out for him. But Aldo, a Nova Unao-trained jiu-jitsu black belt, had the momentum of a string of dominant performances going for him, and that, plus his dangerous striking, unearthly speed and unbridled aggression, made for a featherweight championship match-up that on paper could have gone either way. Reality turned out to be much different.

From the outset it was clear the two shared a certain level of respect for each other, with Brown working to create an opening for a takedown against the cage and Aldo remaining focused and patient, a restrained tornado of flying knees and low-kicks and punches. Neither imposed much of their will in the first round – a testament to Brown’s ability to avoid receiving a Brazilian bolt of lighting on the noggin and Aldo’s ability to keep the fight standing. And yet, almost in the blink of an eye, everything changed in Round 2. Unleashing enough hell on the feet to send the American Top Team fighter prone to the canvas, Aldo wasted no time affixing himself to Brown’s back and flattening him out, and when Brown had no answer for the barrage assailing his head, the referee wisely stepped in. Not once did Aldo appear in trouble. Not once did it seem like Brown had the upper-hand. It was akin to an assassination, and now Aldo, the WEC’s newly-minted 145-pound ruler, is more than just “the man to beat”. He’s “the man who looks like he can’t be beat”.

When Manny Gamburyan and Leonard Garcia met in the cage, there were an awful lot of hard but wild punches thrown – the only kind Gamburyan seems to know how to throw, and for sure the kind that has enabled Garcia to rack up wins. But victory in this one centered around the Armenian pitbull’s tenacious takedown attempts and the various times he was successful in getting Garcia down. Though they fought hard, no one got knocked out, no one got caught in a submission and no one got dominated. Instead, it was an issue of points, and when time ran out Gamburyan had enough to get the unanimous decision.

We all knew Rob McCullough could strike – he’s a former Muay Thai champ, after all. But if there was a question mark hanging over Karen Darabedyan’s head prior to his WEC 44 bout against McCullough, it took only a few seconds of action in Round 1 for the world to see that the Armenian grappler could bang. From the opening bell to the final ten seconds, Darabedyan fed his opponent punch after punch to the face, stringing together quick combos that both scored points and looked painful. It was, however, a close fight, and though Darabedyan managed a couple takedowns and dinged McCullough up with elbows, McCullough nearly gave about as good as he got. When time ran out Darabedyan took the split decision.

Shane Roller and Danny Castillo waged a pitched battle for nearly all three rounds, the momentum shifting back and forth like an undecided voter on election night. Scoring with takedowns and a few punches that managed to penetrate Roller’s defenses, Castillo seemed to edge ahead. Yet all that went out the window in Round 2 once Roller got on Castillo’s back and peppered him with knuckles, so it was anyone’s fight going into the third – and with another visit to Castillo’s back and a tight rear naked choke, Roller made sure there’d be no decision. Castillo tapped out latter half of the round, capping off a very impressive scrap.

The train never really had a chance to leave the station for lightweight New England fighter Will Kerr. Meeting Kamal Shalorus’ big punches head on – literally, he met them with his head – Kerr ate fist after fist. And though Kerr attempted to snag a leglock when the match hit the ground, it wasn’t enough of an offense to stem the tide of the Iranian’s onslaught; the first-round TKO came when Shalorus landed a right hand that knocked the already-stunned Kerr down to all fours.