Urijah Faber and
Mike Thomas Brown won their bouts, but that doesn't mean that 2010 hasn't already had some featherweight shake-up.
After 2009 prominently put the 145-pounders on display, 2010 continued the trend. At WEC 46 in Sacramento, Calif., Faber notched a late submission over a sterling opponent in
Raphael Assuncao to earn himself another crack at the WEC featherweight title, now around the waist of
Jose Aldo. Elsewhere, Mike Thomas Brown quickly hustled tough Philadelphian
Anthony Morrison in under two minutes to get back on the winning track.
However, not all has been status quo in the division. The event also saw the first career loss dealt to 2009 upset darling
Mackens Semerzier, who dropped a unanimous verdict to tough Lithuanian
Deividas Taurosevicius. Semerzier's loss came less than two weeks after Sengoku champ
Masanori Kanehara authored an upset of his own at K-1 Dynamite on New Year's Eve, where he bested Japanese superstar
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto by unanimous decision.
Not all recent headlining performance have been stellar, though. The night after Faber and Brown impressed with their submissions, would-be UFC title challenger
Gray Maynard took to the cage for his "Fight Night" headliner against
Nate Diaz. Fifteen minutes and a controversial split decision later, Maynard kept his undefeated record intact, but his underwhelming offering effectively handed
Frankie Edgar -- whom he defeated in April 2008 -- the next shot against
B.J. Penn come April.
Printer Friendly
