MMA Hangover: Talking Points for the Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber PPV

By Michael Ford

Zuffa’s latest PPV effort featured a Urijah Faber Championship effort, as well as a whole supporting cast of Featherweights, Lightweights, and Bantamweights looking to ply their craft in the eight-sided cage, and step out of anonymity into superstardom. When the dust settled, there were a number of talking points on everyone’s mind:

1. Jose Aldo stepped up as a serious Pound for Pound contender – If we didn’t already know before, we know now: the #1 featherweight in the world is a beast. However, what we saw in the main event was a different breed of domination, as Aldo used his quickness and technical precision to break the will of the previously unflappable California Kid. This was not a counter knockout which capitalized on Faber’s impetuousness and flair for the flashy, nor a close decision win that could have gone either way; this was Aldo destroying Faber’s legs, taking away his mobility, altering his stance, eliminating his ability to employ takedowns, and generally reducing the challenger to helplessness. This was a 25-minute showcase which might not have satisfied the Finish Fetishists, but for fans looking to see the next great fighter announce his arrival, it offered the opportunity to assess an elite fighter’s strengths in all areas, and marvel at his apparent invincibility. To borrow a Roganism, the “Jose Aldo Era” is upon us. Be warned.

2. Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung was the Featherweight Griffin-Bonner. UFC fans should have been familiar with Leonard Garcia for the way he took a spirited ass-kicking at the hands of Roger Huerta, a fight which landed them both on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But just as getting posterized doesn’t make one feel good about making it to Sportscenter, I’m sure that Garcia wanted to stand tall in his moment of recognition. His fight with the debuting “Korean Zombie” was that moment, the showcase fight on a SpikeTV PPV lead-in show, in front of what is sure to be around a million viewers. And the fight delivered, three rounds of nonstop action, with Garcia bringing more overhands than the average major league pitch count, and Sung Jung bringing the kind of relentless assault that we’d expect from the flesh-craving undead. Make no mistake about it: this was no technical exhibition of skill and high-level execution of strategy by high-level athletes; this was an adrenaline shot right into the heart of an already wound-up fanbase. It was so good that the Powers that Be saw fit to append a encore performance of the fight to the PPV main event, and no one complained about the rerun. What was worthy of complaint, however, was the decision. Garcia may have fought gamely, but his opponent landed the crisper shots more often, while Garcia’s haymakers typically whiffed more than they connected. That being said, it was tough for the bad decision to mar the spectacle of such balls-to-the-wall two-way offense, compressed into 15 minutes. Fight of the Year so far in my book.

3. Despite his opponent’s nickname, Shane Roller was in fact “No Joke” – After a number of Knockout of the Night finishes, Anthony Njokuani was fast becoming the hot prospect in the lightweight division, and most analysts expected him to bust out something flashy against the Team Takedown prospect, en route to a potential rematch against the winner of Henderson-Cerrone. T’was not to be, as Roller in a nod to his team’s name, scored the takedown, then methodically passed guard to mount, taking the Nigerian’s back, before finishing the fight with a Rear Naked Choke. Now Roller will most likely get a shot at rematch redemption, as he came closer to finishing the current champion than anyone in his promotion’s lightweight division, and relishes the opportunity to compete for the championship, and possibly become the first Team Takedown titlist.

4. Manvel Gamburian is your next Featherweight title challenger – Whether you call him “the Pitbull” or “the Anvil,” the Armenian sparkplug is undefeated at Featherweight. However, it was last night’s win over the #2 Featherweight, former champion Mike Thomas Brown, that was his most impressive to date. And in an impassioned speech, Gamburian dedicated the win to the memory of the Armenian Genocide, which is generally believed to have begun on that date in 1915. Perhaps the former TUF runner-up was empowered by fighting for his people’s honor. Or perhaps Manvel has turned a corner in his development as a fighter. Or maybe MTB just took Manny lightly? In any event, in addition to a hefty rankings bump, Gamburian’s reward will most likely be a date with Featherweight wunderkind Jose Aldo, and we’ll find out what he’s made of then.

5. Chad Mendes chewed up “Cheesesteak,” then spit him out – Chad Mendes showed the dynamic skillset that had people thinking that he was the hier apparent to Urijah Faber in the Featherweight division, and now that the California Kid has once again fallen short, it might be time for “Money” to start drawing interest at 145. Next, i’d like to see him against the Don Quixote of the windmill punch himself, Leonard Garcia. If nothing else, it will be a scrappy,entertaining affair, but it should also further test Mendes’ mettle against named opposition. As for Anthony Morrison, he has been done no favors in the matchmaking department, but the Philadelphia native probably won’t get another chance within the promotion.

6. Benson Henderson, Top 10 lightweight? He’s doesn’t have the resume of a BJ Penn or Frankie Edgar, but the man called “Smooth” keeps getting better and better, and with two straight upset victories via Guillotine choke, the time for taking him lightly is over. He has 11 straight wins, the last 5 against major opposition, and at this point, is worthy of consideration as a Top 10 fighter at 155 pounds. The question going forward will be the quality of the champion’s opposition; who will line up as opponents that he hasn’t defeated before?

7. OMG! Jake Shields! There’s a certain kind of guy who will steal your girl, not because he likes her, but because he can, and because he knows that she is your girl. That guy wil make it his business to be seen with her in public, with her as his arm candy, and might even make a very public display of affection, except it isn’t true affection, because right afterwards, he’ll give this look, this grin, one that says, “I don’t even really like her, but tonight, I am going to fuck the girl that you love, and she will love it, and it will break your heart, which pleases me very much.” THAT look is the look that Dana White gave the camera when he was spotted at cageside with free agent, Strikeforce middleweight titleholder, and top Pound-for-Pound fighter Jake Shields. And Scott Coker may as well be left making mixtapes.

8. What is next for Urijah Faber, Cowboy? The promotional poster boy certainly knows how to move a crowd, as the thousands of Sacramento fans who purchased “No Way, Jose” shirts can attest. And obviously, coming off of headlining a PPV, he is useful to any promotion who needs star power in its featherweight division. Problem is, with two losses to Mike Thomas Brown, and with the definitive loss to Jose Aldo, he’s in a bit of a precarious position, as far as his role as a title challenger. And with his teammate Chad Mendes getting a little bit of buzz behind him, we might see some promotional pressure on him to drop down to Bantamweight, and provide some star power to that division. Problem is, another Faber teammate, Joseph Benevides, is on the cusp of a title shot, and it’s unlikely that Faber would go to a division without a clear path to a championship opportunity. In many ways, Faber’s predicament mirrors that of Rich Franklin, particularly if Aldo becomes a dual weight class competitor, as has been rumored for some time now.

As for the Cowboy, despite a vocal fanbase, a ton of charisma, and his position as one of Versus’ signature stars (he’s a former bullrider who appeared on the network’s Tapout reality show as well as its MMA broadcasts), he has garnered a bit of a reputation for choking in big fight situatons, from the loss to Jamie Varner, to the now two losses to Ben Henderson. Donald Cerrone might have peaked at the age of 27. With a 3-3 record in his last 6 fights, he needs to rack up a winning streak before getting another title opportunity. Then again, a while back, Cerrone talked up the possibility of competing at Featherweight. If he was so amenable, the fresh start of being in a new weight division might afford him an easier road to another title opportunity. Would the Powers that Be at Zuffa be cool with booking a Urijah Faber vs. Donald Cerrone fight? Would Jamie Varner?

9. Best UFC* card of the year – Zuffa’s decision to put Featherweights on PPV, and make lighter weight fighters the focus of cards paid dividends, as they washed away the bad taste of UFC 112, and stood in stark contrast to Strikeforce’s CBS offerings, while delivering value on PPV by showing 9 fights (10 if you include the SpikeTV Prelim card). In Garcia vs. Sung Jung, fans got to see the fight of the year, while Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo demonstrated why they deserve to be wearing Championship gold, as well as be counted among the top fighters in the sport. This card had all-out brawls, nip-and-tuck decisions, and even some surprises. Even though casual fans might not have been familiar with most of the names on this card, every fighter did his best to make an impression, so that they had names worth remembering. UFC 113 has a tough road ahead, when it comes to following up on Aldo vs. Faber.

*Note: Wait, this wasn’t the UFC? Ha, ha, ha, good one.

Rate all the foghts from WEC 48.