One of the strange aspects of spending one’s time reading internet forums and the like is that one often sees a bizarre representation of reality. The reaction to the WEC as a sort of “major league” is an excellent example of that. Clearly, it isn’t. The ratings, live gates, attendance, hell, really everything point to it not being one. Its expulsion of most of the divisions it shared with the UFC didn’t necessarily change that, either. For years, Shooto promoted and sanctioned fights among the best athletes in the world below the weight classes that the UFC and PRIDE were most interested in, and saw most of the world’s best talent from 185 and below as a result. That fact did not make Shooto any closer to the major leagues just as the various top women’s MMA shows have failed to be so. So it is with World Extreme Cagefighting. That does not diminish, however, the quality of fighters, nor the quality of fights.

Additionally, there may be legitimate questions about why I would personally group Bellator alongside of the WEC for the sake of this review. My answer is simple: Do you really believe the WEC has a better lightweight division? Seriously, think about it. Bellator’s best lightweight is Eddie Alvarez, a guy who most have floating around the top 5. The best lightweight in the WEC is Jamie Varner, who floats around, oh, #15 or so generally. Next best in the WEC is Donald Cerrone. Next best in Bellator is Jorge Masvidal. Not much of a difference in class, is there? The rest of the folks in both shows are journeymen and prospects. Truth is, why wouldn’t you group them together when analyzing?

Well, the one thing the WEC definitely had over Bellator was the strength of the headliner. Its unlikely we’ll ever get a Fight of the Year from the newest startup in this sport, but the WEC likely provided just that this past weekend.TORRES vs. MIZUGAKI:

First, an honest moment: I didn’t give Mizugaki a chance. What I had seen was a totally ordinary fighter fighting much less than ordinary fighters on tape, and instead of playing the opponent role, he came to win. Mizugaki elevated himself to just short of the highest level of the sport, further legitimizing Cage Force’s tournaments as talent builders in a losing effort. He fought at an incredibly high pace, easily matching Torres for much of the first 3 rounds and causing an ugly, almost fight ending cut with his crisp counterpunching. He found a flaw and did his best to exploit it, but it wasn’t enough to win. That flaw? Torres’ striking. When on offense, Torres never doubled the jab and telegraphed his lead leg kicks. Mizugaki repeatedly timed the right hand to counter and would occasionally follow up with the left hook. The combination would have won him the fight on my card if it was a 3 rounder. 

Unfortunately for Mizugaki and fortunately for us as fans, it wasn’t. Down the stretch he faded: He hadn’t done such a great job blocking the body kicks, and when Torres was able to close the difference, his superior size helped greatly in controlling the clinch. When there, Mizugaki was impotent offensively, whilst Torres volleyed knees to the body and dirty boxed like his name was Couture. Torres also learned that forcing Mizugaki to take the lead made the fight much easier; Mizugaki’s footwork was terrible moving forward, and while his stance and rational strategy seemed to indicate that he might know how to box, he displayed no jab whatsoever. Those deficencies only grew as the fight progressed. What we know is that Torres can certainly be beaten, and while some tightening up in the gym may be all he needs, what we have at the moment looks like a blueprint for success. Now you just need to find someone good enough to stay with the gameplan that can also hit hard enough to hurt Torres. That may take longer than it will for Torres to learn how to shoulder roll.

-UNHERALED PROSPECTS GETTING IT DONE-

You gotta love it when someone comes virtually out of left field and shocks everyone. For the WEC, big wins were recorded by a trio of significant underdogs against longtime gatekeepers. Anthony Njokuani may never have recorded a win over a big name before, but his stop of IFL “star” Bart Palaszewski after absolutely dominating the fringe contender raised his profile exponentially. Similarly, Ben Henderson capitalized on his shot at the main card thanks to Shane Roller’s absurd WEC contract (which guaranteed the Team Takedown fighter with TV fights). Roller never had a chance to properly adjust to his foe and ended up getting “rolled on” himself. Matched with wins against former UFC fighter Diego Saravia and the newly relevant Njokuani, and Henderson is probably a fight away from a title shot in the WEC’s tragically weak lightweight division.

Trumping all of their combined efforts however was the undersized Joseph Benavidez. His unanimous decision win over ticket seller Jeff Curran in Curran’s hometown surprised locals and bookies alike, as he displayed crisp (albiet not thunderous) striking, a solid wrestling base that often countered Curran’s vaunted grappling background, along with excellent grappling skills of his own that reversed Curran’s positioning and allowed him to control the majority of the fight. With his third straight loss, one has to wonder where Curran will turn to, as a return to the WEC seems like an increasingly minimal possibility. For Benavidez, a 125lb weight class cannot come soon enough.

-BETTER TO BE LUCKY THAN GOOD….-

Eddie Alvarez is a guy hardcore fans fawn over, myself included. Maybe that’s why its so shocking to see him in trouble against a guy that the best thing you can say about is that he might be competitive with TUF’s pitifully weak lineup this season. Alvarez was knocked down early by Greg Loughran and was clearly in trouble for much of the fight’s early going, becoming immediately fearful of future exchanges and finding the larger man to be tough to take down. Once Alvarez picked the foot out from under Loughran and put him on his back, Alvarez’s finishing instincts proved solid with him jumping on the guillotine opening. Loughran tapped twice; the first occasion being missed totally by the ref, allowing the fight to continue a few more seconds until he tapped again.

-….BUT ITS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE GOOD-

The main event on the Bellator card was the matchup of two Bodog vets in Nick Agallar and Jorge Masvidal. This was not the plain mismatch its been made into since; Agallar’s 21-5 record had wins over Matt Wiman, Eiji Mitsuoka, and Joe Jordan listed on it. He may not be an elite fighter, but he’s a competent journeyman who’s competed everywhere from the boardwalk in New Jersey, to the beachfronts of Costa Rica, and in the cages of Japan. Masvidal just happens to be, well….better. Agallar tried to throw him off with movement, but Masvidal calmly cut the cage down and then closed the distance far faster than Agallar or I expected him to be able to. Masvidal is battle tested with wins over IFL champ Ryan Schultz, Yves Edwards, David Gardner, Steve Berger, and Joe Lauzon. He’s still growing as a fighter, and brings entertainment every time he steps in the cage.

Over in the WEC, Raphael Assuncio translated his clear gap in skills into a W with far less exciting results, as his fight with unheralded and future free agent Jameel Massouh resembled something more akin to a hard sparring session than an all out war. Assuncio dictated all arenas of combat while the virtual nobody Massouh did little more than survive without attempting much in the way of offense. Its assumed that Rani Yahya, Akitoshi Tamura, Wagnney Fabiano, and Dominic Cruz all saw similar successes over opponents they towered over on paper, but we didn’t get to see any of those legitimate contenders and former titlists/title challengers. Thank gawd for Wreckage, amirite?