It seems things have finally come full circle for Dominick Cruz. Around this very time three years ago he was coping with his first lost to then champion Urijah Faber. The stinging 1st round submission lost, left an undoubtable memory in the 24 year old fighter. This past Saturday in the main event of WEC 47, Cruz put that memory to rest becoming the newly crowned featherweight champion by defeating hard hitting Brian Bowles via TKO (Doctor's stoppage) before the start of the third round. It was a tough night for Bowles, who wasn't ever able to keep up with the foot work of Cruz as well as the awkward angles from the newly crowned champion. Mimicking the iconic quote of Muhammad Ali, Cruz gracefully moved in and out like a butterfly and landed bombs that spurted blood out of the nose of Bowles. A four punch combination in the first seconds of round one signaled what would become as Cruz's constant level changes would allow him to score with straight right hands and kicks to the legs that would carry over into the second round. Now bloodied but not quite beaten, Bowles would attempt to chase Cruz down in the second. He received a gift in the form of a four punch combination that would end with a kick to the leg that would knock the former champion down in the opening moments. Though he did land some heavy leather in the first, it was later revealed that Bowles had broken his hand with his first landed shot. Broken hand or not, it was Cruz's night.
With a already bleeding nose and a broken hand, Bowles was taken down in the closing moments of the second round. As the bell rung and the respective corners attended to their fighters, the doctor called off the bout after reviewing the damage that had been done to the now former champion. Boos erupted as the underdog Cruz was presented with the featherweight title. "I just had to move a lot, just like I said I was going to do. I executed the game plan," said Cruz of his strategy for the fight. It seemed the broken hand affected Bowles from the very beginning, "The first punch I threw in the whole fight, I broke my hand it threw me off. My mind starting thinking about my hand."
Benavidez gets the upset win over Torres
Call it the curse of the Miguel Angel's. With Miguel Angel Cotto, the former boxing welterweight champion cheering on friend Miguel Angel Torres on the side, it seemed everything was in the favor of the Chicago native. An apparent height and reach advantage, size and experience, odds makers had no problem touting Miguel Angel Torres as the favorite to win this fight. It is often said big things come in small packages, and Joseph Benavidez made up for his height and reach advantages with speed and heart. Cruz was able to submit Torres in the second round via guillotine choke. Torres seemed oddly out of the fight from the opening assault. He attempted to use his reach by popping jabs and leg kicks but never let his hands go. He circled around more than anything, which gave Benavidez an opportunity to cut the cage off in more than one occasion. It allowed him to score with a takedown mid way in the first. Transitioning into side control, Benavidez would end the round landing shots while in Torres' guard. With his confidence growing coming into the second Benavides landed a crisp right hook to the head and body of Torres that certainly got his attention. Moments later Torres would be on the ground and locked tight in a guillotine and eventually forced to tap. His head was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with a huge gash to make things even worse, by which was caused by a short elbow from Benavidez. With the loss both Miguel Angel Cotto and Miguel Angel Torres have a few more things in common; The two fighters have lost their last fights, with the irony being they were against opponents that were both shorter and with reach disadvantages. It remains to be seen if Torres still is the same fighter he was in the past with two back to back losses in seven months. Benavides improves to a record of 12-1, with his only blemish coming by way of newly crowned champion Dominick Cruz.
Vasquez gets the W in a must win situation
After two razor thin decision losses to L.C. Davis and Deividas Taurosevicius, Javier Vasquez was in a must win situation with mma legend and pioneer Jens Puvler. Puvler was looking at a similar predicament as well, falling short in his last six of seven fights. Two fighters would go in but only one would have their hand raised in victory and it would be Vasquez on this night. The Rancho Cucamonga based fighter would use takedowns to get the fight on the ground; an area in which he excels at. Puvler would try leg kicks to keep the fight standing but had no such luck, as kicks we caught and he was taken down. In the lead up to the final moment in the bout, Puvler was caught between a rock and a hard place. Vasquez had taken him down, gotten side control and put Puvler in a crucifix. The former UFC lightweight champion ate hammer fists but continued trying to better his position. He eventually got his arm out but Vasquez was now mounted on him and in seconds secured an arm bar to get the submission victory. Vasquez was elated with the victory, thanking his training camp and wife while praising Puvler, "I'm just as big of a fan of Jens Pulver as anybody else. It was an honor to fight him." A somber Pulver fought back tears as he hinted retirement, "It's over, I don't know how many times I can cry in front of all of you. I'll never say that (I'm retiring),but I'm telling ya'll, I love you way, way, way too much to put you through this again."
Southern California based fighters have a rough night as George and Darabedyan come up short
Socal based fighters Chad George and Karen Darabedyan both had tough losses in their respective bouts. George, who trains out of PKG/Fight Science in Los Angeles was easily overtaken in the first round by Scott Jorgensen in thirty one seconds. George shot in for a takedown and was immediately caught in a guillotine choke. George saw some air time as Jorgensen lifted his opponent off his feet with the submission hold still in place to get the quick submission victory. Darabedyan on the other hand seemed he was on his way to a victory against IFL veteran Bart Palaszewski. The Armenian born, but Hollywood raised fighter started round one gracefully moving in and out with top notch foot work. It allowed him to sneak in combinations that were landing flush on the face of Palaszewski. A heavy four punch flurry from Darabedyan set up a takedown in which Palaszewski was dumped on his back. Now in the guard, Palaszewski would stay busy working in submission attempts, eating shots but almost getting a shoulder lock and a triangle in the process. With twenty seconds left and the round all in the bag for Darabedyan, Palaszewski's diligence on the ground would pay off. An overextended punch from his opponent allowed him to grab hold of a arm and transition into a arm bar. Darabedyan struggled to get out of it and was forced to tap at 4:40 in the first round. The veteran Palaszewski saw key opportunities to end the fight and he took them, "He kept leaving those arms out my corner kept yelling at me, telling me to spin and either go for the arm or the triangle."
In other bouts:
L.C. Davis def. Deividas Taurosevicius via decision (29-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Chad Mendes def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Pettis def. Danny Castillo via KO (head kick) in R1 (2:17)
Leonard Garcia vs. George Roop declared a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
Fredson Paixao def. Courtney Buck via rear-naked choke in R1 (2:39)
Ricardo Lamas def. Bendy Casimir via KO (knee) in R1 (3:43)
Marcos Villegas
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