WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez – The Morning After

Added on Aug 19, 2010 by Bill Jackson in

UFC & MMA

Last night, reigning WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defended his title for the first time against Joseph Benavidez in a rematch of their 2009 battle. The bout looked very similar to the first one, with both trading strikes on the feet and Cruz’s takedowns making the biggest difference.

The entire card was yet another spectacular show put on by the WEC, who seem to be becoming the most consistently entertaining MMA promotion in the business. Whether it is low expectations from us fans, the little guys just loving to go at it, or the WEC putting something in their fighter’s food, their card’s are rarely devoid of non-stop action.

The only exception at last night’s event was the featherweight bout between Chad Mendez and Cub Swanson. Mendez is clearly a talented athlete, but a fighter he is not, at least not yet. He is still young and has plenty of time to develop, but at the moment he is very green and doesn’t seem to have a fighter’s instincts.

Swanson has proven himself to be little more than an opponent, but at least he always comes to fight. Mendez was unwilling to strike with Swanson and relied on holding Swanson down and doing little to no damage for the extent of three rounds and winning a decision.

It was the first two fights of the televised portion that really got the blood flowing. Bart Palaszewski’s war with Zach Micklewright seemed like an early fight of the night candidate after the first round, but Bart was able to stop Micklewright early in the second by TKO.

Scott Jorgenson battled Brad Pickett in the second fight in what turned out to clearly be the fight of the night, and one of the most action packed fights you will ever see in the sport. Jorgenson rarely isn’t involved in a dramatic brawl, and the same can maybe now be said for Pickett.

Jorgenson never wilted to any of the hard shots Pickett was landing and began to wear his man down with his own onslaught. By the end of the fight, it was clear Jorgenson was the winner, but the 30-27 scorecards all around are a bit misleading. Pickett was in that fight, and probably should have been given one of those first two rounds. It was a tremendous win for Jorgenson and should be enough to propel him into a title fight with Cruz.

Anthony Pettis submitted Shane Roller with just 10-seconds left in the third round of a slightly sloppy, but entertaining, brawl. It was confusing seeing the decorated wrestler Roller being taken down or reversed and held there numerous times throughout the fight. Pettis called out WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson after the fight, but I don’t think he is there yet. Maybe let Pettis rematch Palaszewski for a shot at the title.

Fight Payouts:

Dominick Cruz: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
def. Joseph Benavidez: $17,500

Anthony Pettis: $22,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus, $10,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Shane Roller: $16,000

Chad Mendes: $11,000 (includes $5,500 win bonus)
def. Cub Swanson: $11,000

Scott Jorgensen: $35,000 (includes $12,500 win bonus, $10,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Brad Pickett: $15,000 (includes $10,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Bart Palaszewski: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Zach Micklewright: $3,000

Javier Vazquez: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Mackens Semerzier: $4,000

Maciej Jewtuszko: $16,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus, $10,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Anthony Njokuani: $7,000

Ricardo Lamas: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
def. Dave Jansen: $4,000

Fredson Paixao: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
def. Bryan Caraway: $4,000

Danny Castillo: $19,000 (includes $9,500 win bonus)
def. Dustin Poirier: $3,000

What did we learn from WEC 50?

Wow, the guys in the WEC work hard for pennies. Zach Micklewright put on a gutsy and entertaining show only to make 3 grand for getting knocked out in the second round. Not to mention, champion Dominick Cruz getting paid less to show than the challenger Benavidez.

Bart Palaszewski is legit. He now has four WEC wins in a row and deserves to be in a bigger fight against maybe the winner of Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner.

Though some might feel he was a little biased in favor of Dominick Cruz during the main event, Stephan Bonnar did a fine job of commentating. He doesn’t slip on his words and he offers the perspective of someone that has been in wars inside the cage. It goes to show that fighters make better color commentators in MMA than stand up comedians.

Good lord, give Scott Jorgenson the next title shot. I can only imagine how shocking a bout between him and Dominick Cruz would be.

Anthony Pettis is a tremendous prospect, but he is a prospect. Despite a great win last night, he has plenty to work on, including learning how to move his head when a blatant right hand is coming straight at it.

Dominick Cruz can not continue to give up his height so impulsively. A fighter closer to his size will take advantage of it, and all the footwork and head movement in the world won’t do anything about it.

The judges just don’t seem to get much better in MMA. That one judge gave the main event to Benavidez is a travesty. I don’t understand why when a judge makes an error that big, he isn’t put on a suspension list or even fired. They are a detriment to the sport and should be dealt with.