Hit&Run
03-04-2010, 12:54 PM
Any fight fan who knows his foot from Royce Gracie knows the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, ushers in some quality MMA. This year, the WEC is upping the ante by dropping Saturday's WEC 47 right in the middle of the Arnold Sports weekend.
Airing live on Versus from the Nationwide Arena, the headliner features reigning bantamweight kingpin Brian Bowles taking on the fleet fists of Dominick Cruz. Backing up that main-event manliness is wolf-cut connoisseur Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber protégé Joseph Benavidez in a bout that likely will decide the next challenger for the bantamweight strap.
Throw in up-and-coming Armenian face smasher Karen Darabedyan, Jens Pulver's flatlining left hook and a batch of prelims that will have everyone jonesing for some speedy main-card bouts, and there clearly is no reason you shouldn't sacrifice your Saturday evening to the Fight Gods.
More from Sherdog.com
Want the complete WEC 47 main-card preview? Sherdog has you covered.
Brian Bowles versus Dominick Cruz
The breakdown: The number of people outside of Bowles' immediate family who expected him to knock Miguel Torres into another dimension can be counted on one hand. The fact is, however, he's the new bantamweight standard-bearer and a walking target for everyone who once was locked on to Torres. Cruz will be the first man to try to cash in Bowles' bounty in a fight that is inexplicably an assumed win for Bowles, according to a great many MMA cognoscenti.
Counting out a guy with a telescoping jab and the takedown defense of a skyscraper is never a good idea. Cruz proved the versatility of his striking repertoire in his bout with Joseph Benavidez at WEC 42. Although Bowles has the edge in pure power, getting inside on Cruz's reach will be about as much fun as a New Jersey Nets game.
Not fun at all, but not impossible, either. Bowles knows when to ditch studied savvy in favor of wild-eyed aggression. Swarming like an army of bee-eating wasps is a Bowles specialty, and Cruz will have to be careful about getting into extended exchanges that favor power over reach.
The other big concern for Cruz is staying off the mat for five rounds. He hasn't finished any fights in the WEC, and staving off takedowns for 25 minutes is a grueling exercise that might be beyond the limitations of his gas tank, especially considering Bowles will press the pace every chance he gets.
If Cruz does end up on the floor, he'll do well to get upright in a hurry because Bowles is an underrated grappler with a guillotine choke that he rents out to the local fire department as the Jaws of Life. The point here is that working a conservative game plan and picking up three-round decisions is one thing; trying the same in a five-round championship fight is another.
The bottom line: Cruz is a tough fight for anyone at bantamweight, and Bowles is hardly the exception. That said, Cruz is no Pernell Whitaker. He relies more on his reach to frustrate opponents than he does any real defensive talents. Bowles is eventually going to drag Cruz into the phone booth, and he won't let him out until everyone is clear about who runs the show at 135 pounds.
[+] EnlargeDave Mandel/Sherdog.com
It's never a good time to fight Miguel Torres, but he might have extra motivation Saturday after seeing his 17-match win streak ended in his last fight.
Miguel Torres versus Joseph Benavidez
The breakdown: The other big-money bantamweight bout of the evening pits Benavidez's rib-crushing top control against Torres and his armory of high-powered offense. Safely ignore Benavidez's starching of Rani Yahya at WEC 45 because he isn't going to do well trying to drop telegraphed overhands on Torres' dome.
Unfortunately for him, Benavidez won't do well trying to gorilla-press slam Torres, either, as his submission defense has never been tested to the degree that it will be by Torres. There likely isn't a bantamweight alive who wants to try to win a grappling match with Torres, already considered one of the best guard players and submission artists in the game today. And that includes Benavidez.
For all the complexities of MMA, it becomes remarkably simple when one fighter doesn't have a leg to stand on come fight time. That is the altogether unenviable position Benavidez finds himself in: He doesn't have any tools Torres isn't fully capable of taking away. Unless Benavidez times a perfect doom-bringer overhand, he'll have to choose between trying his hand against Torres' reach and versatility on the feet or the incredibly painful grappling lessons Torres gives out on the mat.
The bottom line: Not to belabor a point or anything, but this is probably the worst fight in the division for Benavidez. Unless Torres fights like a straight-up dummy, he's going to tap Benavidez out and officially announce the return of the wolf cut.
Airing live on Versus from the Nationwide Arena, the headliner features reigning bantamweight kingpin Brian Bowles taking on the fleet fists of Dominick Cruz. Backing up that main-event manliness is wolf-cut connoisseur Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber protégé Joseph Benavidez in a bout that likely will decide the next challenger for the bantamweight strap.
Throw in up-and-coming Armenian face smasher Karen Darabedyan, Jens Pulver's flatlining left hook and a batch of prelims that will have everyone jonesing for some speedy main-card bouts, and there clearly is no reason you shouldn't sacrifice your Saturday evening to the Fight Gods.
More from Sherdog.com
Want the complete WEC 47 main-card preview? Sherdog has you covered.
Brian Bowles versus Dominick Cruz
The breakdown: The number of people outside of Bowles' immediate family who expected him to knock Miguel Torres into another dimension can be counted on one hand. The fact is, however, he's the new bantamweight standard-bearer and a walking target for everyone who once was locked on to Torres. Cruz will be the first man to try to cash in Bowles' bounty in a fight that is inexplicably an assumed win for Bowles, according to a great many MMA cognoscenti.
Counting out a guy with a telescoping jab and the takedown defense of a skyscraper is never a good idea. Cruz proved the versatility of his striking repertoire in his bout with Joseph Benavidez at WEC 42. Although Bowles has the edge in pure power, getting inside on Cruz's reach will be about as much fun as a New Jersey Nets game.
Not fun at all, but not impossible, either. Bowles knows when to ditch studied savvy in favor of wild-eyed aggression. Swarming like an army of bee-eating wasps is a Bowles specialty, and Cruz will have to be careful about getting into extended exchanges that favor power over reach.
The other big concern for Cruz is staying off the mat for five rounds. He hasn't finished any fights in the WEC, and staving off takedowns for 25 minutes is a grueling exercise that might be beyond the limitations of his gas tank, especially considering Bowles will press the pace every chance he gets.
If Cruz does end up on the floor, he'll do well to get upright in a hurry because Bowles is an underrated grappler with a guillotine choke that he rents out to the local fire department as the Jaws of Life. The point here is that working a conservative game plan and picking up three-round decisions is one thing; trying the same in a five-round championship fight is another.
The bottom line: Cruz is a tough fight for anyone at bantamweight, and Bowles is hardly the exception. That said, Cruz is no Pernell Whitaker. He relies more on his reach to frustrate opponents than he does any real defensive talents. Bowles is eventually going to drag Cruz into the phone booth, and he won't let him out until everyone is clear about who runs the show at 135 pounds.
[+] EnlargeDave Mandel/Sherdog.com
It's never a good time to fight Miguel Torres, but he might have extra motivation Saturday after seeing his 17-match win streak ended in his last fight.
Miguel Torres versus Joseph Benavidez
The breakdown: The other big-money bantamweight bout of the evening pits Benavidez's rib-crushing top control against Torres and his armory of high-powered offense. Safely ignore Benavidez's starching of Rani Yahya at WEC 45 because he isn't going to do well trying to drop telegraphed overhands on Torres' dome.
Unfortunately for him, Benavidez won't do well trying to gorilla-press slam Torres, either, as his submission defense has never been tested to the degree that it will be by Torres. There likely isn't a bantamweight alive who wants to try to win a grappling match with Torres, already considered one of the best guard players and submission artists in the game today. And that includes Benavidez.
For all the complexities of MMA, it becomes remarkably simple when one fighter doesn't have a leg to stand on come fight time. That is the altogether unenviable position Benavidez finds himself in: He doesn't have any tools Torres isn't fully capable of taking away. Unless Benavidez times a perfect doom-bringer overhand, he'll have to choose between trying his hand against Torres' reach and versatility on the feet or the incredibly painful grappling lessons Torres gives out on the mat.
The bottom line: Not to belabor a point or anything, but this is probably the worst fight in the division for Benavidez. Unless Torres fights like a straight-up dummy, he's going to tap Benavidez out and officially announce the return of the wolf cut.