WEC 47 Thoughts and Ramblings

Ricardo Lamas' recent win against Bendy Casimir shows his growth as a LW prospect. After being thought of as just a wrestler, Lamas is starting to put together effective strikes with his tenacious wrestling. He is on the rise in the shallow WEC LW division.

Sweet GIF of the KO
http://urdirt.com/2010/03/09/wec-47-quick-gifs-ricardo-lamas-kos-bendy-casimir-mouthpiece-with-flying-knee/

Roop vs. Garcia wasn’t the fight of the night. Torres vs. Benavidez was. The point deduction was deserved since Roop was warned once. I had the fight scored 29-27 Roop. Neither are getting cut so I looked forward to seeing more improvement by Roop and the swinging Garcia.

Pettis has dynamic striking and can really put together offense on the feet. Castillo got caught. It happens. It’s good see both get on the broadcast and Pettis’ first win in the WEC even after dropping the controversial loss to "Bartimus".

Chad George took a bad shot and got caught in a nasty guillotine. Enough said. This should be a warning to all fighters. You can’t afford to take bad shots in MMA. Sharpen up your game.

Darabedyan was working Bart but Bart used good hips to catch him in a armbar. It was another technical mistake similar to Dany Lauzon against Cole Miller. It was good to see Bart get a finish for the second time in his WEC career.

I felt Miguel Torres forgot that it was only a three round fight. He had a slow pace which helped the aggressive Benavidez. With a 11 inch reach, Miguel should have jabbed Joe to death. He didn’t. Instead he ate shots and then got bum rushed on the ground. Getting submitted by a textbook guillotine was shocking, but it showed great improvement for not only Joseph but all the Team Alpha Male guys. Joe actually came with a game plan and submitted the WEC’s poster boy. Miguel has to go back the drawing and maybe even needs a lesser opponent to get all the rust of his game.

Cruz vs. Bowles
I’m not going to touch the “Bowles quit” conversation. I’m just going to talk about Cruz’s ability to slip, bob, weave and feint past Brian Bowles punches. He put on a clinic:how to be fluid and smooth on the feet. It’s probably the most put together stand up I’ve seen since Anderson put a hurting on Forrest. Cruz is going to be a great champion. I don’t want to see him and Joseph Benavidez rematch yet. I’d rather him and Scott Jorgensen throw down. Yes, Jorgensen is still developing but hot damn so is Cruz. I don’t think Cruz has truly peaked which is scary. The 135ers are just now starting to get some parody and that will be something WEC can bank on in the future.