WEC 48: Aldo vs Faber flashed across Pay Per View sets all over the country on April 24, 2010 for the first time.  It showcased the power and the action that is World Extreme Cagefighting to the hard core UFC fans.  It’s success proves that the little guys will provide us with entertainment that is worth paying for.  Unfortunately for us cheapskates, they may have done their jobs too well.  I think seeing the action in these fights will bring up the paydays for these hard working “everymen.”  I like these bouts because they feature the Regular Joe type frames that are walking our streets.  You could see yourself stepping into one of these fights and doing battle.  Of course, you and I would get owned by these guys but it isn’t altogether inconceivable…  I’m glad that Manny Gamburyan did well.  I’ve always thought that he was robbed of much MMA love ever since he lost to Nate Diaz in The Ultimate Fighter 5.  Maybe now the MMA gods will take notice and give him a shot in the big leagues.

Uriah Faber didn’t do too well this bout.  Is it because he’s pushing 30 and at this size that really means that he’s losing a step to the youngsters?  It could be.  Aldo had him in check with his sound kicking technique.  Faber is by no means washed up yet but if he lands on his face a few more times a la  Jens Pulver, it may be time to go into surfing or coaching.  Heavyweights can last well into their 40s because it usually takes brute strength to win their battles while lightweights rely on their blistering speed and flexibility.  You don’t have that in your 30′s and beyond like the 20 year old punks.

So, Yay! and Boo! to a successful WEC or whatever this was 48 because we may not see as many freebie main events in the future or even a WEC.  It’s possible that Dana White and Zuffa will reabsorb the little freaks back into UFC.  We’ll see.  For now, here are your results:

No Wanna See You Card:

* Bantamweight bout:  Takeya Mizugaki vs. Rani Yahya
Mizugaki fooled the judges and beat up Yahya via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28).

Drunk on the Couch or Pub Spike TV Fights:

* Featherweight bout:  Leonard Garcia vs.  Chan Sung Jung
Garcia fooled the judges and beat up Jung via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).

* Lightweight bout:  Alex Karalexis vs.  Anthony Pettis
Pettis choked the fight out of Karalexis via submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:35 in round 2.

* Featherweight bout:  Chad Mendes vs.  Anthony Morrison
Mendes choked the fight out of Morrison via submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:13 of Round 1.

Main PPV and/or Drunk at the Pub Fights:

* Featherweight Championship bout:  Jose Aldo (c) vs.  Urijah Faber
Aldo fooled the judges and beat up Faber via unanimous decision (49–45, 49–45, 50–45) to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship.

* Lightweight Championship bout:  Ben Henderson (c) vs.  Donald Cerrone
Henderson choked the fight out of Cerrone via submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:57 of round 1 to retain the WEC Lightweight Championship.

* Featherweight bout:  Brandon Visher vs.  Tyler Toner
Toner put the hurt on Visher via TKO (Elbows) at 2:36 of Round 1.

* Featherweight bout:  Mike Brown vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Gamburyan layed the smack down on Brown via KO (Punches) at 2:22 of round 1.

* Bantamweight bout: Brad Pickett vs.  Demetrious Johnson
Pickett fooled the judges and beat up Johnson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28).

* Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani vs.  Shane Roller
Roller choked the fight out of Njokuani via submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:21 in round 1.

* Bantamweight bout:  Antonio Banuelos vs.  Scott Jorgensen
Jorgensen fooled the judges and beat up Banuelos via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

The Sports Zone!

* Lightweight Championship unification bout:  Jamie Varner vs.  Ben Henderson
Henderson defeated Varner via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:41 of Round 3 to become the undisputed WEC Lightweight Champion.

* Featherweight bout:  Urijah Faber vs.  Raphael Assuncao
Faber defeated Assuncao via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:49 of Round 3.

* Lightweight bout:  Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Shalorus defeated Jansen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

* Featherweight bout:  Mike Brown vs.  Anthony Morrison
Brown defeated Morrison via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:54 of Round 1.

* Featherweight bout:  Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevičius
Taurosevičius defeated Semerzier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Preliminary Card

* Bantamweight bout:  Charlie Valencia vs.  Akitoshi Tamura
Valencia defeated Tamura via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

* Bantamweight bout:  Wagnney Fabiano vs.  Clint Godfrey
Fabiano defeated Godfrey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

* Featherweight bout:  Mark Hominick vs.  Bryan Caraway
Hominick defeated Caraway via submission (triangle) at 3:48 of Round 1. This bout, although preliminary, was aired on the live broadcast.

* Bantamweight bout:  Eddie Wineland vs.  George Roop
Wineland defeated Roop via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27).

* Bantamweight bout:  Coty Wheeler vs.  Will Campuzano
Campuzano defeated Wheeler via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

* Interim Lightweight Championship bout:  Donald Cerrone vs.  Ben Henderson
Henderson defeated Cerrone via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to become the WEC Interim Lightweight Champion.

* Lightweight bout:  Richard Crunkilton vs.  Dave Jansen
Jansen defeated Crunkilton via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

* Featherweight bout:  Rafael Assuncao vs.  Yves Jabouin
Assuncao defeated Jabouin via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28).

* Bantamweight bout:  Damacio Page vs.  Will Campuzano
Page defeated Campuzano via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:02 of round 1.

Undercard

* Lightweight bout: Nigeria Anthony Njokuani vs.  Muhsin Corbbrey
Njokuani defeated Corbbrey via KO (punches) at 1:42 of round 2.

* Bantamweight bout:  Scott Jorgensen vs.  Noah Thomas
Jorgensen defeated Thomas via KO (punches) at 3:13 of round 1. This bout, although preliminary, was aired on the live broadcast.

* Featherweight bout:  Wagnney Fabiano vs.  Mackens Semerzier
Semerzier defeated Fabiano via submission (triangle choke) at 2:14 of round 1. This bout, although preliminary, was aired on the live broadcast.

* Bantamweight bout:  Eddie Wineland vs.  Manny Tapia
Wineland defeated Tapia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

* Bantamweight bout:  Charlie Valencia vs.  Coty Wheeler
Valencia defeated Wheeler via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

* Featherweight bout:  Javier Vazquez vs. Lithuania Deividas Taurosevičius
Taurosevicius defeated Vazquez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

* Bantamweight Championship bout:  Miguel Torres vs.  Takeya Mizugaki
Torres defeated Mizugaki via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) to retain the WEC Bantamweight title.

* Bantamweight bout:  Jeff Curran vs.  Joseph Benavidez
Benavidez defeated Curran via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

* Lightweight bout:  Shane Roller vs.  Ben Henderson
Henderson defeated Roller via TKO (punches) at 1:41 of round 1.

* Featherweight bout:  Rafael Assuncao vs.  Jameel Massouh
Assuncao defeated Massouh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Undercard Bouts

* Lightweight bout: Poland Bart Palaszewski vs. Nigeria Anthony Njokuani
Njokuani defeated Palaszewski via TKO (punches) at 0:27 of round 2.

* Bantamweight bout:  Dominick Cruz vs.  Ivan Lopez
Cruz defeated Lopez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

* Featherweight bout:  Wagnney Fabiano vs.  Fredson Paixao
Fabiano defeated Paixao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

* Bantamweight bout:  Rani Yahya vs.  Eddie Wineland
Yahya defeated Wineland via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:07 of round 1.

* Bantamweight bout:  Manny Tapia vs.  Akitoshi Tamura
Tamura defeated Tapia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

* Featherweight bout:  Rafael Dias vs.  Mike Budnik
Dias defeated Budnik via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

* Lightweight Championship bout:  Jamie Varner vs.  Donald Cerrone
Varner defeated Cerrone by technical split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46) to retain the WEC Lightweight title. Cerrone landed an illegal  knee to the head of Varner while he was on the ground. Since Varner was unable to continue, the bout went to the scorecards.

* Featherweight bout:  Urijah Faber vs.  Jens Pulver
Faber defeated Pulver via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:34 of round 1.

* Welterweight bout:  Danillo Villefort vs.  Mike Campbell
Villefort defeated Campbell via TKO (punches) at 3:53 of round 1.

* Featherweight bout:  Jose Aldo vs.  Rolando Perez
Aldo defeated Perez via TKO (strikes) at 4:15 of round 1.

Undercard bouts

* Lightweight bout:  Ben Henderson vs. Nigeria Anthony Njokuani
Henderson defeated Njokuani via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round 2. Although preliminary, this fight aired on the live broadcast.

* Welterweight bout:  Hiromitsu Miura vs.  Edgar Garcia
Garcia defeated Miura via KO (punches) at 1:18 of round 1.

* Bantamweight bout:  Dominick Cruz vs.  Ian McCall
Cruz defeated McCall via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

* Bantamweight bout:  Scott Jorgensen vs.  Frank Gomez
Jorgensen defeated Gomez via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:09 of round 1. Although preliminary, this fight aired on the live broadcast.

* Welterweight bout:  Blas Avena vs.  Jesse Lennox
Lennox defeated Avena via KO (strikes) at 0:41 of round 2.

* Bantamweight bout:  Charlie Valencia vs.  Seth Dikun
Valencia defeated Dikun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)