World Extreme Cage Fighting 31 Recap & Results

Tonight’s top mma news. Here are my thoughts on the fights from WEC 31.

Doug Marshall def. Ariel Gandulla – Wam bam thank you mam that was ridiculous. I wasn’t sure about “The Rhino’s” ground skills but he sure did enlighten me. I have only seen him knock out his opponents but he’s not dumb. I am sure he trained his jiu-jitsu knowing the wrestler was going to take him down asap. That was a nice transition to the armbar. His jiu-jitsu looked really solid not that it was really tested. I definitely thought Gandulla would put up more of a fight than that. It was a bad night for him. Marshall sure was excited. He jumped out of the ring and started running into the crowd giving high fives and flexing. I bet Ariel liked that.

Charlie Valencia def. Ian McCall – Well so much for revenging the loss of his friend. Valencia made quick work of McCall with a thunderous right hand to the jaw which turned out to be the beginning of the end for Ian McCall. After that he punched him some more and practically suplexed him out of the cage. That was a great throw. He threw him around like a rag doll. Ian hung in there like a champ taking several more blows until Charlie walked over to him literally like the terminator and punched one more time and sunk in the guillotine for the finish. Ian just got outclassed in this mma fight.

Paulo Filho def. Chael Sonnen – It was a tough loss for Chael Sonnen. Sonnen dominated the whole fight. He came out with good boxing taking full advantage if his reach. He slams Filho and practically knocks him out. He was actually screaming to the ref he’s out, he’s out. The ref never stopped it. Chael smelled the blood and attempted to finish “the pitbull” but Filho kept his composure eventually making it through the round after some nice ground-n-pound, and coming very close to an armbar. Second round Chael takes him down and is working some nice ground-n-pound once again. Paulo is tired and looks like he is fading. He has Paulo up against the cage. the refs are talking about how he can’t move his hips a certain way and boom armbar. He dislocates Sonnen’s arm, Chael screams in pain but does not tap. The ref stops it anyway giving the win to Paulo Filho. The mma champion remains undefeated in 16 fights.

Jens Pulver def. Cub Swanson – “Little Evil” makes quick work of Cub Swanson. There was a lot of heated talk between these two fighters and Jens backed it up. He looked calm and collective as he entered the ring. You could tell Cub was nervous as he was trying to pump himself up by screaming at the top of his lungs. Pulvar looked liked the experienced vet that he is being undefeated in all of his featherweight fights. There was no feeling out process in this fight as Cub immediately went for a single leg but was denied and immediately put into a guillotine. Pulver then cranked it and transitioned into a d’arse and finished him on the ground. It was a good night for Jens having lost his last two UFC fights in a row.

Brian Bowles def. Marcos Galvao – This fight was basically a boxing match. There was a bit of a feeling out process at first and then both fighters started swinging. Brian Bowles seemed to be the better striker as he was landing some nice blows. Galvao was paying the price because he was backing straight up and putting his hands down. Galvao did land a couple of nice kicks and a right hand that looked like it might have broken Brian’s nose because he tried to re-adjust it right after he got hit. Second round Brian came out more aggressive and was landing some nice right hands. He finally rocked Marcos and took him down. Marcos regained his composure but never fully recovered and was eventually dropped with a right hand to end the fight.

Urijah Faber def. Jeff Curran – Totally insane mma fight between two very well rounded fighters. First round was good for Curran as he took Faber’s back early in the first round. But Faber was too game and wasn’t about to let Jeff choke him out. Jeff never even got his arm around his neck. Faber finally reversed and got on top. He threw some nice elbows and that was it for the first round. Second round they clinched Faber threw some more vicious elbows. He was doing stuff I had never even seen before. Crazy moves like Passing Jeff’s guard and as he was jumping over him throwing a flying elbow that was so fast you couldn’t even see it. Eventually they scrambled and Urijah got Curran in a standing guillotine choke and finished him on the ground. That brings the “California Kid” to 20-1. I don’t know who is going to stop this kid but I think Curran had a better shot than Jens Pulvar who requested his next fight be with the champ.

John Alessio def. Todd Moore – Decision (Unanimous) Fight was not televised.

Ed Ratcliff def. Alex Karalexis – TKO (Strikes) Fight was not televised.

All in all it was a great night of mma fights and a brilliant display of world class mixed martial arts at it’s finest. Congratulations to all the fighter’s and better luck next time Curran it was a great effort. In the end all three champions ended up defending their titles.

I went 9 out of 10 with my predictions. Based only on win or lose. Stick around for more top MMA news.