Breaking Down WEC 52: Erik Koch vs. Francisco Rivera, Joseph Benavidez vs. Wagnney Fabiano

Added on Nov 10, 2010 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Featherweights:

Erik Koch vs. Francisco Rivera

Koch was originally set to face Josh Grispi in this fight, but he got the call that he would be getting the title shot at UFC 125 against Jose Aldo. That means Riviera is taking the fight on somewhat short notice, and it just so happens he is fighting in the WEC for the first time.

Josh Grispi is walking into this fight with experience, and thats putting it lightly. Grispi is 10 and 1, with his one loss being to the undefeated Chad Mendes. His wins are over Bendy Casimir and Jameel Massouh. Although he has no problem throwing punches, seven out of his ten wins are by way of submission.

The undefeated Rivera is only five fights deep into his career, and is stepping up to fight on the second to last WEC card. Three of his wins come by way of knock out, and the other two went to the judges score card.

This is the grappler vs striker match. Rivera has a mean upper cut, and has no problem throwing a lot of them. He needs to keep his distance, and pick Koch apart. Koch will want to close the distance, and pull Rivera to the floor. As long as Koch is careful while he is closing the distance he should be able to stay conscious. I expect Koch to be able to do this most of the fight, and ground out a decision win.

Bantamweights:

Joseph Benavidez vs. Wagnney Fabiano

This will be my pick for the fight of the night. I expect a lot of action from these two, as both of them seem to be able to bring it every fight. With 11 fights between them, neither really has an experience advantage, and so they will both need to rely on their skills.

Joseph Benavidez, fighting out of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male, only has two losses. They both belong to Dominick Cruz, who after beating Joseph, has become the Bantamweight champion. He has wins over Miguel Torres, Rani Yahya, Jeff Curran, and Danny Martinez. He has 3 knock outs, and 7 submissions.

Wagnney Fabiano, who is fighting out of Brazil, is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt who has plenty of experience. The former International Fight League featherweight champion who is five fights deep in his WEC run. He only has one loss to Mackens Semerzier, and after that fight he moved to Bantamweight. He also has 7 wins by way of submission, and he has a REALLY slick triangle choke.

This has a chance to be a stalemate on the ground, and that means we might get an ugly stand up fight. I don’t think that will happen though. Benavidez is slick on the floor, and he will most likely win a lot of the scrambles and end up on top. Fabiano knows how to do work from his back, and like i mentioned, Benavidez needs to look out for that triangle choke. He has to be VERY careful playing around in Fabiano’s guard, and it will be interesting to see if Fabiano can neutralize Benavidez ground and pound. If Benavidez can avoid a guillotine choke, or that triangle choke, he should get the close decision.