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Round One: A Successful Debut
There can be no doubt that outside of Jose Aldo, there has been no better fighter to dominate the WEC Bantamweight Division than Urijah Faber. Urijah Faber has now moved to the WEC Bantamweight Division, where at WEC 52, choked out Takeya Mizugaki to make a successful debut in the division. Urijah Faber looked like the dominator of old when he slapped on a tight guillotine choke that left Takeya Mizugaki out cold in the first round. With one or two more victories, Urijah Faber could be finding himself in an WEC Bantamweight Title fight.
Next Round For Urijah Faber: Demetrious Johnson or Miguel Torres
Next Round For Takeya Mizugaki: Brian Bowles or Joseph Benavidez
Round Two: There’s A New Contender In The Mix
Although his style is less refined then others at the top of the WEC Featherweight Division, Chad Mendes is officially in the title hunt. Chad Mendes, at WEC 52, defeated longtime MMA veteran Javier Vazquez by unanimous decision in the events co-main event. Like Team Alpha Male teammate Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes could easily be a victory or two away from a title opportunity. As for Javier Vazquez, the veteran fighter will be regulated to the role of gatekeeper in the WEC Featherweight Division.
Next Round For Chad Mendes: Erik Koch or Manny Gamburyan
Next Round For Javier Vazquez: Francisco Rivera or Cub Swanson
Round Three: He Must’ve Wanted His Head
When it was all said and done a WEC 52, Wagnney Fabiano was probably wishing Brian Bowles was in the cage with him instead of Joseph Benavidez. The reason being is because Joseph Benavidez, who replaced an injured Brian Bowles, choked out Wagnney Fabiano with a guillotine choke in the second round of their fight. Joseph Benavidez, following his loss to Dominick Cruz at WEC 51, reestablishes himself in the WEC Bantamweight Division with the victory. What could be truly interesting is if Team Alpha Male teammates Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez have to face off in the future.
Next Round For Joseph Benavidez: Takeya Mizugaki, Mike Brown or Demetrious Johnson
Next Round For Wagnney Fabiano: Guillotine choke defense training
Round Four: That’s Not Josh Grispi
Originally at WEC 52, Erik Koch was scheduled to face Josh Grispi in a top contenders fight for a future WEC Featherweight Title fight. Instead, Josh Grispi was moved to a title fight at UFC 125 and Erik Koch was left to face WEC newcomer Francisco Rivera. Erik Koch showed why he is a top contender in the WEC Featherweight Division by defeating Francisco Rivera in under two minutes. Credit must also be given to Francisco Rivera, who accepted the fight against Erik Koch on a weeks notice.
Next Round For Erik Koch: The Jose Aldo/Josh Grispi winner
Next Round For Francisco Rivera: Mackens Semerzier or LC Davis
Round Five: Team Alpha Male Rules
Scheduled for the live broadcast of WEC 52 on Versus, there would be five fights, with three of those fights featuring Team Alpha Male members. Those three members from Team Alpha Male to compete were Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez. On this night at WEC 52, Urijah Faber defeated Takeya Mizugaki…Joseph Benavidez defeated Wagnney Fabiano…Chad Mendes defeated Javier Vazquez. While the talk of fight teams have died down somewhat in recent years in the sport, Team Alpha Male can definitely be considered a top team in MMA.
Next Round For Team Alpha Male: Plenty of future MMA title opportunities
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
