WEC 36: Kids, Bad Boys and Just a Lil' Evil

Can you believe we get to watch Urijah Faber for free, crazy right? But then you look at the rest of the card and you realize why not even the most hardcore MMA fan would pay $50 for it. This card is no different. Unless you factor in two of the best fighters in the world and a feisty veteran looking to get back into the picture, then you've got a pretty good looking card.

Now for those of you looking for an in-depth look at all of the fights on this card, I'm sorry to say I'm only going to cover the fights that people are actually going to watch. With all that said, lets dive in.

Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver VS Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia

Jens Pulver comes in to this fight at 22-9-1 with only one of those losses in the featherweight division. I think we all know who that was to. Jens looked pretty impressive for a "has-been" don't you think? Now in order to see Faber/Pulver 2, we need Jens to come out of this one with a W.

Leonard Garcia is another UFC veteran that decided to try his luck in a division more suited to his abilities. Most of us that know who this kid is, will remember his very impressive performance against Roger Huerta albeit in a Unanimous Decision loss. That fight definitely turned some heads, until he lost to Cole Miller last year. Since then, he's gone on to get a KO victory in his first WEC fight, and is looking to further his title chances with a huge win against Jens.

I definately expect some leather to fly in this one. Hell, if it weren't for Urijah being on the card, I might just call this one my early pick for Fight of the Night. Then again if Urijah weren't fighting, I probably wouldn't be watching. Leonard has shown that he has one hell of a chin and has never been KO/TKO'd. I don't expect that to change.

Garcia has earned 9 of his eleven wins by submission. I don't see that one happening either. Jens has only been submitted 3 times in his career, and before his second contest with BJ, hadn't been submitted in 7 years. So what does that leave us with? Jens by submission? Don't hold your breath.

Although these guys have gone to just 10 decisions combined, that's what I'm leaving it to. Jens has only lost one decision whereas Garcia has never won one. Guess which guy I'm picking here.

Paulo Filho VS Chael Sonnen For The WEC Middleweight Championship

Chael Sonnen will come into this fight at 20-9-1 and a win in his last fight. Yes, Chael has already fought since his controversial loss to Paulo in there first encounter. That fight was against the then undefeated Bryan Baker, a fight in which Chael looked like a Pro, whereas Baker looked high-school JV at best. Sonnen is an excellent wrestler that will look to avenge his loss to the undefeated champ.

16-0. Thats pretty impressive. Paulo Filho is being hailed as the heir to the UFC middleweight throne when the king steps down. Or better yet, the man that throws his superior off of said throne and goes on to a reign to match that of the former King. Just because he looked horrible in his last fight against Chael. Lets not discount the fact that he won, and is still undefeated.

Could you imagine if Paulo didn't check into rehab and this fight went down on schedule? It was supposed to happen at WEC 34, a card that will go down in history as one of the best, if not the best card I have ever seen. Enough of my rambling, lets jump into some analysis.

Paulo looked absolutely overmatched by Chael in there last encounter. Filho looked fearful of striking with the much taller Sonnen, and was continuously taken down. If not for some cage grabbing and a little bit of stupidity on Chaels part, Chael Sonnen may very well be our champion right now. But lets not get ahead of ourselves here, Paulo is a pretty good fighter.

I expect Paulo to come out a little more confident this time around, and maybe even move in and strike a little. Unfortunately for Paulo, one of his biggest strengths, is also a huge strength of his opponent. Paulo is known for his pitbull like stature and his ability to take down and submit opponents, but he's not going ot be taking down Chael.

If Sonnen learned anything from the first fight, it's that he should not be going for takedowns. Chael was absolutely tormenting Paulo on the feet and had he continued to do so, he would have won. Sonnen got a little overzealous and tried to put Paulo away on the ground. The problem with that was, Paulo was not going away.

I'm sorry Paulo, I'm taking Chael Sonnen in this fight. Gasp! Yeah I know. Paulo is supposed to be the next UFC middleweight champ. Paulo is supposed to be the the guy to beat Anderson. I don't care what Paulo is supposed to be. Paulo has never met a fighter with the wrestling credentials of Chael. Nor has he ever had to fight a guy with as big a reach advantage as Sonnen has over him. I expect Chael to learn from his mistakes and chip away at Filho until the judges turn in their scorecards.

Fast Fact- Anderson Silva faced his biggest challenge against Dan Henderson and lost the first round of that fight with Henderson in much the same manner as Sonnen/Filho. Filho trains with Silva and Chael trains with Hendo. In fact, Hendo cornered Chael in the first fight and will probably do the same on Novemeber 5th.

"The California Kid" Urijah Faber VS Mike Thomas Brown

What can I say about Urijah Faber that hasn't already been said? At 29 years old this guy has won 21 of his 22 professional fights. How did he acquire those wins? 7 TKO/KO victories, 10 submission wins, and 3 decisions. This guy does not have a specialty. You can't categorize him as a certain type of fighter because he has it all. He may just be the most complete fighter in the world.

Mike Thomas Brown. At 33 years old Brown is getting his first shot at a title. At 17-4 Brown hasn't lost in nearly three years and has won seven straight fights. With good boxing and wrestling, it's a wonder how he gets most of his wins by submission. In fact, 9 of his 12 stoppages have come via submission, none of which have been verbal. He loves the rear naked choke, so if you're placing a bet for Brown by submission, go ahead and say it will be by RNC.

As much as I want to really analyze this fight and weigh the possibilities for each fighter, I find it pointless. Here's an MMA checklist to prove my point

• Wrestling-Faber
• Striking-Faber
• Ground Game-Faber
• Submissions Faber

Honestly, the only way I see this fight going for Brown, is if Faber pulls a Cote and suffers a freak injury to the extent that he can't compete, Faber fails his drug test, or Faber comes in at 250 pounds and Brown refuses to fight and the belt is given to him. Sorry MTB, I call it how I see it.

As always I urge you to voice your opinion and ask any and all questions. I'll try to get back to as many as possible. As soon as you do, go out and vote. I'm only 16 so I can't but I urge all that can to do so.