Mixed Martial B0nes

With the WEC:Outside the Cage coming up tomorrow night, some of us newbies are wondering, “What the heck is WEC?” WEC(World Extreme Cagefighting) has actually been around for a long time. It was started 2001 by Scott Adams and Reed Harris. They lasted as owners for about five years. During this era, the cage was pentagonal(five sided for you non-math geeks). The main events were also staged in California. It featured all weight classes from bantam and flyweight to super heavyweight.

In 2006, UFC‘s current owner Zuffa, bought out the WEC and with that ushered in a new era for the MMA world. They got rid of the pentagon cage and went with the octagon, albeit a smaller one than the UFC model. They also made the emphasis on smaller fighters by getting rid of the heavy and super heavyweight divisions. All of their main events are based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The rules of engagement are the same as UFC and most other MMA organizations following the New Jersey and Nevada Athletic Boards rules. Since the fighters are of a smaller weight class and the fighting area is smaller, the matches tend to be more action packed. Less looking and dancing around going on. Thank goodness!

Tomorrow should be interesting to TUF5 fans as Jens “Little Evil” Pulver will be making his WEC debut vs. Cub Swanson. This will be a big challenge for Pulver since he has been fighting at the heavier weight of 155 and doing poorly. He claims that he is back at his normal fighting weight of 145 and that his success at that weight will continue. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Jens is just part of the large undercard. There are three title defenses:

Urijah “California Kid” Faber vs. Jeff “Big Frog” Curran will be the main draw. Frog is a 31-8-1 fighter with experience all over the world. Faber is 19-1 and the current Featherweight champion. Curran will be quite a handful for him.

Doug “The Rhino” Marshall vs. Ariel Gandulla will pit brute strength against brute strength in a Light Heavyweight match sure to feature a few crunches and body slams.

Finally, Paulo “Eli” Filho will defend his Middleweight championship belt against Chael Sonnen. They are both grappling and submission specialists. The ground game should feature big in this match. Look for a tap out or “sleepy time bye bye” moment in this one.

I’m going to give WEC a try. MMA is more than just UFC and these fighters look like they’re the real deal.