By MIKE JOHNSTONWorld Extreme Cage Fighting made its debut north of the border as WEC 49 took place in front of a raucous crowd at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The event was filled with furious displays of striking, grappling and sportsmanship, and was widely regarded as an enormous success. However, the main event between Kamal Shalorus and former WEC Lightweight Champ Jamie Varner left the crowd bewildered and wanting more.
Shalorus and Varner fought to a split draw in a fight where most believed Varner should have won a decision, especially considering Shalorus was deducted a point in the second round for repeated low blows. When Varner fights, it is not uncommon for the fans to boo him mercilessly since he is often outspoken and that doesn’t sit well with every fan. But, the Canadian crowd embraced Varner’s heart and determination after he refused to quit despite three very hard, albeit inadvertent, kicks to the groin. Despite Varner’s efforts, the judges scored the bout 29-7 Shalorus, 29-27 Varner, and 28-28. The fight was to be a contender bout, with the winner facing current lightweight champ Ben Henderson. Now, it is uncertain who will get the first crack at Henderson’s title.
The fight that stole the show, though, was the co-main event between Ontario’s Mark “The Machine” Hominick and Quebec’s Yves Jabouin. The fight was eight years in the making and it lived up to the hype, even surpassing anyone’s expectation. Many are considering it a “Fight of the Year” candidate. In the first round both men displayed their tremendous speed, footwork and crisp kickboxing.
Hominick landed the better punches, but Jabouin mixed up his strikes and landed nice kicks jabs. In the second round, Hominick came out and got the better of the exchanges and dropped Jabouin with a body shot. But, Jabouin recovered and landed an counter right hand that dropped Hominick. From guard though, Hominick was able to compose himself, reverse Jabouin and ended up in full mount. Hominick then pounded away relentlessly until the ref was forced to stop the action. For lack of a better term, the crowd went bananas.
Earlier in the night Hominick’s teammate, Chris Horodecki also won in front of the spirited home crowd. “The Polish Hammer” defeated Danny Downes, who took the fight on short notice, by submission in the third round. Horodecki took control of the fight from the opening bell, mixing up his attack with takedowns, submission attempts, ground-and-pound, and crisp combinations. Downes showed true heart and never gave up, but was forced to tap from a rear-naked choke early in the third. The victory puts the Ontario native back on the winning track after losing his WEC debut in December.
In other action, Josh Grispi cemented himself as one of the best young mixed martial artists around, as the 21-year-old choked tough veteran L.C. Davis unconscious with a guillotine in the first round of their featherweight fight. The win was impressive enough to warrant giving Grispi (14-1) a shot at Jose Aldo’s title, although nothing is official. Speaking of titles, the WEC’s first ever bantamweight champ, Eddie Wineland, was victorious in a “KO of the Night” performance. Wineland defeated Will Campuzano in an exciting standup battle
The preliminary card saw Xtreme Couture Toronto product Wagnney Fabiano score a unanimous decision victory in his bantamweight debut over Frank Gomez.Here are the complete results from WEC 49:
MAIN CARD- Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus fight to a split draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28).
- Mark Hominick def. Yves Jabouin via TKO.
- Josh Grispi def. L.C. Davis via technical submission.
- Chris Horodecki def. Danny Downes via submission.
- Eddie Wineland def. Will Campuzano via TKO.
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Will Kerr def. Karen Darabedyan via submission.
- Wagnney Fabiano def. Frank Gomez via unanimous decision.
- Eric Koch def. Bendy Casimir via submission.
- Diego Nunes def. Rafael Assuncao via split decision.
- Chris Cariaso def. Rafael Rebello via unanimous.
- Renan Barao def. Anthony Leone via submission.
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