WEC 39 took place in Corpus Christi, TX and was headlined by a featherweight title bout between the reigning champion Mike Thomas Brown, who was set to make his first title defense against Leonard Garcia. The card was rounded out by a handful of lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight fights. Notably, Frank Mir was absent from his usual position in the commentator’s booth, replaced for the night by Jens Pulver. The televised broadcast began with a matchup between the former lightweight champion ‘Razor’ Rob McCullough and former title contender Marcus Hicks.
Rob McCullough vs. Marcus Hicks (155 lbs)
The lightweight bout started out very tentatively, with the opponents circling and clinching for the majority of the first round and no significant offense from either fighter. Hicks threw jabs and an occasional overhand left; McCullough responded mainly with leg and body kicks. Early in the second, Hicks landed a left hand that knocks McCullough down; Marcus latched on to one of his patented guillotines but was not able to finish, and ended up on his back when McCullough escaped. Hicks got back to his feet and received a barrage of strikes from McCullough to finish out the round; Marcus was reeling on his feet by the end of the second.
The third round had even less action than the first, causing the referee to warn both fighters that he will call the bout a no-contest if they do not engage. The pace picked up a bit after the warning, but both were still tentative, making for a very tedious fight. One of the ringside judges called the fight a draw, while the other two saw McCullough as the winner, giving ‘Razor’ Rob a majority victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-29). A disappointing start to the event.
Fight Grade: 2/5
Jose Aldo vs. Chris Mickle (145 lbs)
Mickle came out aggressively with strikes, using a very awkward stance with his head forward and chin up in the air. Aldo landed a knee to the body that badly hurt Mickle, then attacked Mickle with punches against the fence until the referee decided to stop the bout. Mickle looked very out of place in his WEC debut, a total mismatch.
Fight Grade: 2/5
Marcos Galvao vs. Damacio Page (135 lbs)
In a preliminary fight, Page made very quick work of Galvao, dropping him with a combination then following up with several strikes on the ground. It took Galvao a long time to recover from the brutal knockout.
Fight Grade: 3/5
Ricardo Lamas vs. Bart Palaszewski (155 lbs)
Ricardo Lamas was a last-minute substitution on this card, stepping in for an injured Richard Crunkliton. Despite the short notice, Lamas performed admirably against a much more experienced opponent. Lamas utilized a perfect gameplan, consistently taking Palaszewski down and landing effective strikes from guard. Palaszewski clearly won the standup portion of the bout, and threatened submissions off his back, but his inability to keep the fight standing cost Bart a unanimous decision loss in his WEC debut.
Fight Grade: 3/5
Champion Mike Thomas Brown vs. Leonard Garcia (145 lbs title bout)
In the main event of the night, Mike Brown was very impressive in his first title defense, dropping Garcia with a right hook and following up with brutal ground-and-pound. Garcia survived the assault, but found himself defending a rear naked choke next. Garcia escaped again but Brown maintained dominant position and transitioned to an arm triangle choke, which forced a tapout from Garcia. It looks like Brown will rematch the former champion Urijah Faber next.
Fight Grade: 5/5
Not a great event, considering the high expectations I’ve come to have for the WEC.