WEC 44: Aldo New 145-pound Boss

A 23-year-old Brazilian virtuoso emphatically took the mantle of the promotion’s top featherweight at WEC 44 on Nov. 11, as Jose Aldo Jr. shut down Mike Thomas Brown en route to a sound second-round TKO.

Aldo, a product of the city of Manaus, a city in the Amazonas state known for its large forestry, looked down at his feet during the entire pre-match histrionics in The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. But once the fight started he came to life, catching Brown with sudden strikes and using exceptional balance to counter takedowns.

Brown fell back off a takedown attempt in the second, allowing a window for Aldo, a Nova Uniao black belt, to seized back control as Brown turned over. Aldo stuck to Brown like glue, firing off punches as the American Top Team ace fruitlessly squirmed for position. The referee stepped in at 1:20. Aldo shed tears as the belt was strapped around his waist. Brown appeared to struggle to reconcile the outcome in his mind at a post-fight press conference.

Aldo earned a $10,000 “Best Knockout” bonus on top of his $26,000 in disclosed pay. It turned out to be an opportune time for a Brazilian to capture WEC gold. WEC 44 was the first WEC event broadcast in Brazil under a new television deal with the Globostat network. It aired on a channel called "Combate Brasil," which also broadcasts UFC and boxing fights as well as an MMA news magazine show.

A bout that could conceivably set up Aldo’s first challenger saw “Ultimate Fighter” alumnus Manny Gamburyan take a unanimous decision over Leonard Garcia by dodging most of Garcia’s wild strikes and working takedowns and slams. Along with Aldo, Gamburyan emerged the night’s highest earner with $36,000 in disclosed pay.

The WEC's lightweight picture also took shape on the card. Perennial contender and former champion Rob McCullough lost a split decision to newcomer Karen Darabedyan in a kickboxing-heavy affair. And after two and a half hard-fought rounds, Shane Roller used a waistlock takedown to back mount to sink in a rear-naked choke that tapped Danny Castillo. Roller earned a promotional bonus for best submission.

The night’s undercard packed some fireworks. Cub Swanson and John Franchi collected bonuses for having the night’s best fight in a scrap that resulted in a third-round submission for Swanson. It was the only fight of the preliminaries not to go the distance. Lightweight newcomer Kamal Shalorus rocked Will Kerr with a crushing right hook for a first-round knockout that ended up making the Versus telecast.

Also picking up wins at WEC 44 were L.C. Davis (unanimous decision over Diego Nunes); Antonio Banuelos (unanimous decision over Kenji Osawa); Ricardo Lamas (unanimous decision over James Krause); and Frank Gomez (unanimous decision over Seth Dikun).