World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion
Mike Thomas Brown and top contender
Jose Aldo shook hands in a mutual show of respect as they met face-to-face one last time before it counts.
Brown tipped the scales at 145 pounds for his showdown with Aldo (145) in the
WEC 44 “Brown vs. Aldo” main event on Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The 18 other fighters on the card -- including co-headliners
Leonard Garcia (146) and
Manny Gamburyan (146) -- also made weight without an issue at Tuesday’s official weigh-in.
Brown will carry a 10-fight winning streak into the match. The 34-year-old American Top Team stalwart has emerged as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport since he debuted with the WEC in June 2008, twice defeating promotional poster boy
Urijah Faber. Brown has never been knocked out in 26 career bouts and holds other notable victories against the world-ranked Garcia, Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace
Jeff Curran and ATT teammate
Yves Edwards.
No man’s stock has risen faster than Aldo’s. Rooted at the respected Nova Uniao camp, the 23-year-old featherweight has posted five consecutive finishes in the WEC. Aldo last appeared at WEC 41 in June, when he smashed through the highly regarded
Cub Swanson in a mere eight seconds with a beautiful flying knee and follow-up punches. A decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he has yet to unleash his ground game inside the WEC cage.
Garcia, meanwhile, looked quite mortal in his split decision victory over
Jameel Massouh at WEC 42 in August. Gamburyan, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 runner-up, has lost two of his past three fights and has not competed since an uninspiring decision win against
John Franchi five months ago.
Mike Thomas Brown vs.
Jose Aldo
Leonard Garcia (146) vs.
Manny Gamburyan (146)
“Razor”
Rob McCullough (155) vs.
Karen Darabedyan (156)
Danny Castillo (156) vs.
Shane Roller (156)
Kamal Shalorus (156) vs.
Will Kerr (155)
Diego Nunes (146) vs.
L.C. Davis (146)
Cub Swanson (146) vs.
John Franchi (145)
Antonio Banuelos (136) vs.
Kenji Osawa (136)
Ricardo Lamas (155) vs.
James Krause (156)
Seth Dikun (136) vs.
Frank Gomez (136)
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