The WEC 46 main event featured a fighter who was looking to make a
big return: Jamie Varner. He battled WEC lightweight interim
champion Benson Henderson in a bout to determine the true
lightweight champion Sunday night in Sacramento, Calif.
Varner put on the pressure early, but was unable to finish
the fight after Henderson managed to avoid a guillotine submission.
However, Varner did enough to take the first round.
Varner continued to push the pace in the second round and the
third round, but the fight remained very even. The Sacramento fans
grew restless with the lack of action, as Varner looked to box, and
Henderson looked to avoid a boxing match and utilize his superior
grappling.
However, Henderson managed to turn the boos to cheers with an
out-of-the-blue submission attempt that left Varner with no other
option than to tap utilizing a very tight standing guillotine
choke.
Henderson managed to unify the belt and become the WEC
undisputed lightweight champion, spoiling Varner’s return.
In earlier action, Mike Brown took a big step back toward
regaining his featherweight title with a first round submission
victory over WEC-newcomer Anthony Morrision.
Brown, fighting for the first time since a demoralizing loss
at the hands of devastating Brazilian Jose Aldo at WEC 44, traded
on the feet with Morrision in the early going. But Brown found
little success until he decided to bring the fight to the canvas,
where he put Morrison through a grappling and ground-and-pound
clinic.
The American Top Teamer was able to utilize his heavy hands
and superior ground game to work toward Morrison's back and locked
in rear-naked choke for the win.
However, Brown was not the only former-WEC featherweight
champion looking to make a glorious return to the blue octagon, as
long-time champion Urijah Faber took on submission ace Raphael
Assuncao.
After taking a fairly significant time away from the octagon
because of injuries sustained against Mike Brown in their
championship rematch at WEC 41, Faber was welcomed back with the
ecstatic Sacramento crowd.
The first round was a very close one, as neither fighter was
able to display a clear advantage, but the second round was much
easier to score. Faber was able to drop Assuncao with a heavy right
hand and worked very well on the ground against the world class
grappler, managing to utilize effective ground and pound and nearly
locking on a guillotine choke to end the fight.
The third round was more of the same when Faber managed to
dominate Assuncao in the stand up and on the ground. The end was
drawing near for Assuncao when Faber knocked him down for a second
time during the fight, and went in for the finish. Faber was able
to secure the back and locked in a rear naked choke, as the
Sacramento fans screamed in approval.
