By Dustin Lee DePue
Las Vegas, NV—Team Alpha Male made a clean sweep at WEC 52 tonight with Urijah Faber (pictured), Chad Mendes, and Joseph Benavidez all winning their respective fights. In the second to last event before the WEC folds into the UFC, Faber made his transition from 145 pounds to 135 pounds a successful one, submitting the highly regarded Takeya Mizugaki in the first round. It was the quintessential WEC event, with four out of five of the main card fights ending inside of the distance.
In the main event, Mizugaki did a good job keeping the fight on the feet, stuffing a pair of takedowns from Faber and scoring a left hand and a punch combination in a bout where few strikes landed cleanly. Faber answered with a hook to the body but it was in the clinch where he seemed most comfortable. He clinched several times, pressing Mizugaki against the cage and landing short punches and knees to the body. It was a fairly even fight heading into the final thirty seconds when Faber went for a standing guillotine from the clinch. Before he could come close to wrapping up the neck, Mizugaki dropped to the turtle position to defend it. Faber saw his opening and exploded, moving around Mizugaki’s body and taking his back in one fluid motion. Faber quickly attacked the neck, sinking in a rear naked choke. With the final seconds ticking away, Mizugaki fought in vain to escape the choke. Refusing to tap but unable to escape, Mizugaki lost consciousness and the fight was stopped with just ten seconds left in the first round.
Chad Mendes improved to 9-0 with a unanimous decision victory over veteran Javier Vasquez. Mendes put the pressure on Vasquez early, blitzing him with a flurry of punches before taking him to the mat. On the bottom, Vasquez used his rubber guard and repeated oma-plata setups to stymie Mendes’s ground and pound while also scoring with short elbows to the side of Mendes’s head. Mendes picked up Vasquez and slammed him but was unable to score much outside of the initial takedown.
Mendes came out aggressive again in the second round, landing a flying knee to start and following it up with powerful hooks that prompted Velasquez to pull guard. Velasquez looked to utilize his rubber guard again but this time he wasn’t able to stop Mendes from scoring with elbows and punches. Mendes punctuated his dominance in the round by attempting a summersault guard pass. He didn’t pass but he kept his position while entertaining the fans.
In the final round, Mendes ran away with it. He landed a head kick early, scored another takedown and spent the rest of the round wearing Vasquez down with ground and pound, earning a unanimous decision victory by three scores of 30-27.
Joseph Benavidez bounced back from his recent loss to Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz by submitting BJJ black belt Wagney Fabiano. Benavidez’s speed and power advantage were evident as he chased Fabiano around the cage with powerful hooks and kicks to the head. He caught Fabiano with several submission attempts in the fight, including a tight Peruvian necktie and a guillotine choke that would likely have finished a lesser opponent. Instead, Fabiano patiently worked himself free and in one instance reversed to side control. His time on top would not last though as Benavidez exploded out from the bottom. In the ensuing scramble, Benavidez locked up Fabiano’s neck in a tight guillotine and squeezed until Fabiano tapped out at 2:45 of the second round.
Erik Koch took out Francisco Rivera in brutal fashion with a high kick followed by ground and pound to earn a quick TKO victory. As Rivera threw a left hook, Koch countered with a head kick that landed flush with the shin, sending Rivera crashing to the mat. Koch followed up with several hammerfists to seal the TKO stoppage at 1:30 of the first round.
In the opening fight, Demetrius Johnson and Damacio Page fought tooth and nail for two rounds until Page gassed in the third and Johnson was able to capitalize by sinking in a guillotine choke for the tapout at 2:27.
Televised Results
Urijah Faber def Takeya Mizugaki by Rear Naked Choke 4:50 Rd 1
Chad Mendes def Javier Vasquez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joseph Benavidez def Wagney Fabiano by Guillotine Choke 2:45 Rd 2
Erik Koch def Francisco Rivera by TKO (Strikes) 1:30 Rd 1
Demetrius Johnson def Damacio page by Rear Naked Choke 2:27 Rd 3
