By Dustin Lee DePue
Broomfield, CO—Jose Aldo made it look easy Thursday night at WEC 51 as he knocked out challenger Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their championship fight and further solidified himself as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Also on the card, Donald Cerrone got his revenge over former lightweight champion Jamie Varner and Miguel Torres got back in the winner’s circle with a strong performance over Charlie Valencia.
In the main event, Jose Aldo took his time through the first round, studying his Gamburyan’s movements while ripping him with several withering low kicks. Gamburyan answered with the occasional lunging punch but Aldo was able to keep his distance and avoid any danger, including a takedown attempt from Gamburyan in the final seconds of the round which Aldo easily stuffed. His patience paid off in the second round as Aldo found an opening, hurting Gamburyan with a right hook as the two traded punches. Gamburyan instinctively shot for the double leg but was met with an uppercut from Aldo that left him on all fours. Aldo then got behind Gamburyan and blasted him with a series of powerful punches that knocked Gamburyan out at 1:32 of the second round.
The bad blood served to stoke the fire in one of the most entertaining fights of the year as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone defeated Jamie Varner by unanimous decision. Cerrone showed significant improvement from the pair’s first meeting. In addition to his pin point punches and deadly knees, Cerrone mixed in several takedowns to keep Varner off balance. In a blistering first round, Cerrone rocked Varner with a knee to the chin. Varner survived and returned fire, landing a left hook and an uppercut. Cerrone then scored the first of several takedowns. Cerrone kept the pressure on for much of the round but Varner battled back, landing several hard hooks in the final seconds.
Cerrone mounted an attack on Varner’s lead leg in the second round, repeatedly hammering it with hard low kicks. Varner answered with a pair of one-twos to the head and body before getting taken down again. Varner managed to avoid several takedowns in the third round but was hurt by a kick to the head. He answered with a solid right hook but Cerrone shrugged it off. After a second big punch from Varner, Ceronne scored a final takedown, this time managing to keep Varner on the mat long enough to land several short elbows to the face. It was a heated dogfight from bell to bell but Cerrone was clearly the superior fighter, taking the decision by three scores of 30-27. After the fight, Cerrone offered a rubber match on Varner’s home turf of Arizona.
Miguel Torres returned to form with an impressive stoppage of veteran Charlie Valencia. Coming off of back to back losses for the first time in his career, Torres came out cautiously stalking Valencia around the cage with his chin tucked behind his left shoulder and his right hand planted firmly to the side of his face. He kept a low base and threw feeler jabs. Valencia landed a few leg kicks but there was little action until the end of the round when Valencia appeared to get dropped with a punch. Torres pounced, dropping a barrage of punches as he tried to finish the fight before the bell but Valencia survived. Between rounds, announcer Stephan Bonnar suggested that a replay showed that Valencia had slipped. Either way, Torres took the round and came out for the second round with the confidence needed to pursue a destructive finish.
He wasted little time in the second, stinging Valencia with a punch and dropping him with a wicked kick to the body. Valencia worked back to his feet but was quickly dropped again by a knee to the head. This time, Torres wouldn’t let Valencia escape. He took Valencia’s back, locked in a body triangle, and patiently worked in a rear naked choke for the finish at 2:25 of the second round.
George Roop put the Korean Zombie Chang Sung Jung back into the grave with a devastating knockout. Throughout a fairly even first round, Jung fought with his hands held low. Roop made him pay in the second round. He scored early with a high kick that didn’t illicit so much as a blink from the Zombie, however, a follow up head kick moments later caught Jung right on the chin and knocked him out cold. No follow up punches were needed as Jung crumbled to the mat at 1:30 of the second round.
The show kicked off with a battle of boxer vs brawler as Mark Hominick’s technical mastery and speed bested Leonard Garcia’s power and aggression. Showing little fear of being taken down, Hominick stalked Garcia for much of the fight, staying in the pocket and using his expert defense to slip and parry Garcia’s power punches while countering with stiff jabs, sneaky right crosses, and short hooks. After a close first round that saw both fighters land, Hominick started to wear down his opponent, his relentless jab keeping Garcia off rhythm.
He picked up the pace in the second round, landing several sharp counter hooks. Refusing to be drawn into a brawl, Hominick maintained his composure throughout the bout and stayed safe while scoring at will. Garcia, as always, was game. He continued to wing big punches from bell to bell but was overmatched by Hominick’s precision and speed. Despite a performance that seemed clearly dominant, Hominick had to settle for a split decision victory, winning by scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
WEC 51 Televised Results
Jose Aldo def Manny Gamburyan by KO 1:32 2
Donald Cerrone def Jaime Varner by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def Charlie Valencia by Rear Naked Choke 2:25 R2
George Roop def Chan Sung Jung by KO 1:30 R2
Mark Hominick def Leonard Garcia by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29. 29-28)
Tiequan Zhang def. Pablo Garza via submission (guillotine choke) - R1, 2:26
