WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber Preview
World Extreme Cagefighting heads to Pay-Per-View for the first time on Saturday, April 24, for WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
Featherweight champ and rising top pound-for-pound fighter Jose Aldo headlines the card against former longtime featherweight champ Urijah Faber.
In the co-headliner, lightweight champ Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone face off in a much-anticipated rematch.
Also, former 145-pound champ Mike Brown takes on Manny Gamburyan in a fight that could possibly determine the next featherweight title contender. Anthony Njokuani squares up with Shane Roller in a lightweight fight, and Antonio Banuelos faces off with Scott Jorgensen in a bantamweight rematch.
Selected preliminary fights from WEC 48 will be broadcasted live on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, followed by the main card live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
MAIN CARD:
Jose Aldo (Champion) (16-1-0)
vs.
Urijah “The California Kid” Faber (23-3-0)
Jose Aldo burst onto the WEC scene in June 2008 and has since compiled a six-fight win streak in the organization, all by way of knockout. Aldo received a featherweight title shot against Mike Brown in November of last year, and he made the most of the opportunity, earning a TKO early in the second round to become the new champ.
Unlike Aldo, the former 145-pound champ and current challenger Urijah Faber was not able to defeat Brown on two separate occasions. He was knocked out in the first meeting, and lost a unanimous decision in the second match. However, Faber broke both hands in the second encounter, yet he refused to quit and remained competitive throughout the fight. There surely could have been a different outcome if the injuries didn’t occur.
Faber is without a doubt the most dominant featherweight champ to date, as he successfully defended the title a total of five consecutive times. His experience is certainly an advantage over Aldo.
While the speed is pretty much even, Aldo is the more explosive fighter and has the better stand-up. The wrestling edge has to go to Faber, but Aldo does possess good wrestling skills. The submission game is a big question mark for Aldo. Even though he holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he hasn’t shown much of his ground game as a result of his success in the stand-up. Until Aldo proves otherwise, Faber, who has displayed excellent submission skills, should be considered the favorite in the ground department.
Aldo’s best chance of winning is to keep the fight on the feet as much as possible and try to land some his devastating strikes. Faber on the hand needs to use his wrestling and ground game to control Aldo and look for submissions.
Ben “Smooth” Henderson (Champion) (11-1-0)
vs.
Donald “The Cowboy” Cerrone (11-2-0, 1 NC)
One of the best fights of 2009 was the five round battle between Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone, which saw Henderson earn a unanimous decision and become the interim lightweight champ. Shortly after, Henderson went on to face Jamie Varner in a lightweight belt unification match, and managed to win by submission in the third round to become the undisputed lightweight champ.
Following his loss to Henderson, Cerrone fought Ed Ratcliff in match that received Fight of the Night. Cerrone ended up winning by submission in the third round. The win has put him back in the number one contender spot in the 155-pound division, and earned him rematch with Henderson.
While both fighters are evenly matched, Henderson has the advantage in the wrestling and Cerrone has the edge on the feet. Although Cerrone has great submission skills, Henderson has proven time and time again that he is very difficult to submit.
Henderson will need to use his wrestling to control Cerrone and deliver a ground-and-pound attack. Cerrone has to try and defend the takedowns and try to outstrike his opponent. If the fight goes to the ground, which is more than likely, he needs to keep an active guard and avoid the ground attack from Henderson.
Mike Brown (23-5-0)
vs.
Manny Gamburyan (12-5-0)
This match between former featherweight champ Mike Brown and Manny Gamburyan is likely going to determine the next contender at 145. Brown is coming off a quick submission victory over Anthony Morrison in under two minutes of the first round. Gamburyan has won back-to-back fights by unanimous decision since dropping down to the featherweight division.
The only chance Gamburyan has for winning this fight is to get it on the ground and control Brown. However, that could prove to be difficult as Brown is an excellent wrestler. Brown needs to defend the takedowns and look to land one of his powerful strikes to put Gamburyan to sleep.
Anthony Njokuani (13-2-0)
vs.
Shane Roller (7-2-0)
Anthony Njokuani has been on a roll as of late, earning three straight knockouts, all of which won him Knockout of the Night honors. His opponent Shane Roller has been victorious in his last two outings, including a submission win over Danny Castillo that earned him Submission of the Night.
Roller cannot afford to stand and trade with Njokuani, or it will be a short night for him. He needs to try to bring the action to the mat and keep it there. Njokuani needs avoid the takedowns and use his tremendous striking skills.
Antonio Banuelos (18-5-0)
vs.
Scott Jorgensen (9-3-0)
In June of last year, Antonio Banuelos and Scott Jorgensen met for the first time, with Banuelos getting the nod by a somewhat controversial split decision. Jorgensen has since won three consecutive bouts and is looking to avenge the loss in this rematch. Banuelos fought only once after defeating Jorgensen, and was victorious by unanimous decision.
While the first encounter was very close, Jorgensen has been more active as of late and seems to have improved. Both fighters are evenly matched and this fight will come down to can better implement their gameplan from the opening bell.
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Featherweight: Leonard Garcia (17-5-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (10-1-0)
Lightweight: Alex Karalexis (10-4-0) vs. Anthony Pettis (8-1-0)
Bantamweight: Brad Pickett (19-4-0) vs. Demetrious Johnson (10-0-0)
Featherweight: Chad Mendes (6-0-0) vs. Anthony Morrison (15-7-0)
Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki (12-4-2) vs. Rani Yahya (15-5-0)
Featherweight: Brandon (13-0-0) vs. Tyler Toner (10-1-0, 1 NC)
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