THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009
SPORTS
21
COMMENTARY
Extreme cage fighting provides weekend fun
At present, the wind is whipping the shit out of my apartment's windows like it has an old score to settle. Behind us now, as quick as it began, is another weekend in the world of sports.
Plentiful offerings were to be bad. That is unless your event of choice was to be broadcast on the glut of channels blacked out by a despicable outage at Sunflower Broadband Sunday.
All told we had a series that, save for one brief success, saw the Royals continue their annual (albeit delayed) spiral into mediocrity. Greinke is even getting roughed up these days.
The Belmont Stakes were run Saturday in what will be horse racing's last camp under the spotlight this year. If it gets major publicity between now and the next Kentucky Derby, something bad has probably happened.
The NBA and NHL Finals looked prime for a swift conclusion at weekend's end.
And Roger Federer captured his elusive French Open title, stoking further discussion of his credentials as the sport's king. He grabbed that title, however, not at the expense of the world's No.1 player, Rafael Nadal. Now that would have been a contest everyone would have been desperate to see — as much as, if not more than, the Kobe-LeBron rivalry that isn't.
In hand-to-hand combat, however, such a bout was to be seen. Two competitors at the top of their class bleeding the best out of one another.
World Extreme Cage fighting
featherweight champ Mike Brown retained his strap with an Instant Classic five-round unanimous decision against Uriijah Faber Sunday night at WEC 41 in Sacramento, Calif. The night before, Strikeforce was in St. Louis, Mo. for a Showtime card with equal electricity, albeit the kind that arrives in short, violent bursts.
Let us first speak on Brown-Faber 2. Broadcast free on VERSUS, this bout would've netted its fair share of pay-per-view buys alone. Brown (22-4) stopped Faber (22-3) last November for the belt after catching him off a failed spinning elbow attempt.
Each with an additional successful match under their belts before tonight, the two combined for the company's, and likely the division's, most anticipated fight. It delivered.
Faber returned to his hometown with a chorus of jubilation and expectations of regaining his title via a storybook scene. Brown arrived to a Arco Arena that rained boos and ill
will as if it were filled with 10,000 beasts with hate in their eyes.
The first round began explosively, with Faber taking the opener. Faber connected on several stiff blows, kicks and elbows, immediately cutting Brown's right eye but also delivering himself a fatal blow.
The fight went all five rounds but the broken right hand Faber experienced between the first and second round dealt the challenger an adversity he couldn't overcome. Faber was forced to rely exclusively on elbows - which he landed with marked success - and kicks but when it went to the mat for the umpteenth time by the fifth round, Faber's shattered hand could not allow him the choke hold he so desperately needed.
Twenty-five minutes of excruciating pain for Faber. A continuing emergence of Brown as one of the sports' premier fighters. A rivalry that, title or no title, by the time Faber is healed deserves to produce a trilogy.
Check out Kansan writer Stephen Montemayor's blog for updates on sports.
The FULL MONTY
Up next for Brown will likely be Jose Aldo (15-1) who flew out of his corner and crushed a bent knee into the face of Cub Swanson (13-3) to end the fight before the last echoes of the opening bell could dissipate.
The opening bout at WEC 41 was a tough-to-watch 34-second submission of the legendary Jens Pulver (22-12-1) and Josh Grispi (13-1). The loss was Pulver's fourth straight and if generations of fading boxes is any indication, these legends exit stage left with equal difficulty.
No, not that Triomphe
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Switzerland's Roger Federer smiles in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris June 8. Federer defeated Sweden's Robin Soderling, in their men's singles final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium on Sunday.
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