This is the final WEC show and based on the fights they’ve put together, it should go out with a bang. Let’s just get right to it.

1. Kamal Shalorus vs. Bart Palaszewski

Shalorus had a nice throw and some good ground work. He also landed the bigger punches, but Palaszewski used leg kicks well. Shalorus also used leg kicks. Shalorus won the round fairly easily.

The second round was a tough one to score. Palaszewski had a much better round, scoring twice with high kicks, but then Shalorus took him down near the end of the round, and stayed on top of him.

Palaszewski landed the best shots of the fight in the last minute of the round. Shalorus got tired and took some punishment. If this fight was a little longer, Palaszewski had a chance to really do some damage.

Winner: Kamal Shalorus

The scores were 30-27 for Shalorus, 29-28 for Palaszewski, and 29-28 for Shalorus.

2. Chris Horodecki vs. Donald Cerrone

Cerrone looked great and it was a pretty one-sided round. Horodecki was able to get inside and throw strikes, but couldn’t do much else. Cerrone got a takedown and quickly got mount. Horodecki was able to switch the position, but didn’t want to be in Cerrone’s guard. He toyed with him near the end of the round, getting his back as the round sounded.
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Jason (aka dadrrtywhyteboi on Twitter) and I preview UFC 123 which features Lyoto Machida against Rampage Jackson as the main event, even though Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn III might be the bigger fight.

We also discuss:

- Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito
- Why boxing fans need to watch Sergio Martinez this weekend
- The plight of MFC fighter Jesse Juarez
- Whether Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir is the next fight for both
- WEC/UFC merger and some of the negatives around it
- UFC 122 and how the merger should help bland events

Right click to download or stream below.

Stephan Bonnar is with Todd Harris tonight for the second to last ever WEC card. They talk a little about the adjoining of the two brands. I’d expect the next show to be a bit more of a goodbye show.

Urijah Faber could use a nice win heading into UFC. He’s so marketable, but needs to win this fight. I’d love to see he and Miguel Torres face off and maybe even do a The Ultimate Fighter season as coaches.

1. Demetrious Johnson vs. Damacio Page

If you scored by takedowns, Page would win three to one. And if you scored by velocity of takedowns, Page would be winning handily too. He slammed Johnson down hard. On the last one, I thought Johnson may have injured his back, but he was ok. Page also got the mount after the first takedown.

Johnson shinned him right in the package. Even with the package shot, the round was all Johnson. He got two big takedowns and stayed on top of him most of the round. He was pretty active on top too. I have it tied at the end of two rounds.

The round started much like the second with Johnson all over Page. He started to set Page up for a submission and had a front face lock until he was able to get Page to sit back and held the guillotine from the top position. Page tapped.

Winner: Demetrious Johnson by way of third round submission

2. Wagnney Fabiano vs. Joseph Benavidez

Benavidez pushed the pace and set the tone. It was almost comical watching the much shorter Benavidez walk down Fabiano. Fabiano landed a couple of body kicks that landed well, but Benavidez threw many more strikes and was in control.

Benavidez took advantage of a slip by Fabiano and started to leg kick him. He sunk in two different guillotines that looked tight, but Fabiano was able to get out both of them. Bonnar thought the fight was over twice. And then, all of a sudden, he sunk in another, this time without the arm in and Fabiano tapped out. That was excellent stuff by Benavidez.

Winner: Joseph Benavidez by way of 2nd round submission

3. Francisco Rivera vs. Erik Koch

This is Rivera’s first fight in the WEC and I guess technically, his last.
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GSP wants to change the training for the guys. Since they’re in the quarterfinals, he wants to improve the tactical and not do so much of what they’ve been doing like sparring. He doesn’t want them to overtrain, but also wants them to be hungry when they get in the cage.

Josh Koscheck wants Sako to make sure that he doesn’t give Jonathan Brookins his back.

Jonathan Brookins vs. Sako Chivitchian

Sako shot in and Brookins underhooked him and threw him down. Then Brookins immediately went for his back just like they predicted. After struggling, he sunk in the rear naked choke and it was over. Wow.

Winner: Jonathan Brookins by way of 1st round submission

Sako says he didn’t follow the game plan. Koscheck says he just made a mistake.

Nam Phan is fighting Cody McKenzie and Josh is training Nam strictly on guillotines. Koscheck says if Nam gets guillotined in this fight, he’s hitting him over the head with a chair. Jeff Hardy just smiled while Ken Anderson grimaced.

Nam says that McKenzie’s techniques aren’t necessarily correct, but they work for whatever reason.

Cody McKenzie vs. Nam Phan

This was a weird round. McKenzie just kept shooting in and not being able to take Pham down, except one time. Pham was fighting against the cage, keeping him off all round as Koscheck was screaming at him. Then McKenzie looked tired, or was playing possum so he could get Pham in closer. Pham landed some punches near the end of the round.

Pham just started unloading in the second. He landed right hands that rung McKenzie’s bell, but actually knocked him down with two body shots. He finished him on the ground and the ref stopped it.

Winner: Nam Phan by way of 2nd round TKO

Dana White said that while it’s nice to guillotine choke guys in the first round, you don’t get the rounds and experience underneath your belt.

Koscheck was whooping and hollering and said it was personal because of how much he didn’t like McKenzie.

Looks like Aaron Wilkerson and Kyle Watson are fighting while Bruce Leroy and Michael Johnson are paired and both fights are on next week’s show.

When Dana White announced that the UFC and WEC would be one organization, I immediately sought out my FGB crew for their reaction to the news.

Here are our thoughts about the WEC and UFC being one:

Alan:

I suppose this was something that was always going to happen sooner or later. With that in mind, I find it hard to be too suprised or upset. Personally, I will really miss the WEC shows and their unique feel but I think for the fighters themselves (particularly the bigger WEC names) this is very good as they will get more exposure and have the opportunity to cash some more handsome cheques.

I LOVE that the Henderson/Pettis winner gets a title shot against the Edgar/Maynard winner, and I think that’s a great way to kickstart the merger. Don’t write off ‘ol Benson coming out of that as undisputed champion either. I think he’s got a better chance than most may peg him for. Another positive is that this may really freshen up the UFC shows, which is much needed in my opinion. New names to the cards, faster paced fights – it should be cool.

Finally, it sounds like all the WEC staff are being retained which is good news. Hopefully they let that WEC play by play guy (who’s name I will NEVER remember) call a few smaller shows as he’s actually very very good.

Duan:

Personally, I’m disappointed to see WEC go. The overexposure of UFC has already become quite smothering. Historically, it has always been difficult to maintain two separate brand identities under one banner. I really admired how Zuffa kept a sense of authenticity to WEC. It never felt like UFC lite. The WEC shows on Versus were a breath of fresh air, and for my money at least, they on average blew UFC PPV’s away.

It’s a business at the end of the day and I guess it just no longer makes financial sense for WEC to run shows. The UFC name is the biggest single draw in MMA. In truth, an extra four or five substandard UFC cards will likely net Zuffa five times what WEC brought in in a full year. It’s a shame, but that’s the sad reality of the situation.

GG:

I know that most of the WEC stars will heavily benefit from being on UFC shows. Their pay will increase as will their marketability. It was a near crime that Urijah Faber and Jose Aldo weren’t drawing huge buy rates for the UFC and netting several hundred thousand dollars rather than tens of thousands of dollars.

My worry is that many of the middle of the road 155ers will get swallowed by the UFC and be looking for jobs. Heck, unlike Alan, I’m not sure if Ben Henderson is a top 7 lightweight in the UFC.

But how fresh is it going to be to see some of these guys on PPV, rather than plodding former TUF fighters? In fact, I hope they quickly dump the current TUF format of having to find 185 and 170 guys who are more scrubs than stars, and replace them with 135 and 145 guys. There are stars in that division out there to be found. Get Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres as coaches on that show soon.

Dana White’s big announcement was that the WEC brand would be no more.

From Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline:

WEC is merging with UFC, eliminating the WEC brand after the 12/16 show. They are adding the bantamweight and featherweight titles to the UFC.

This means a new deal with Versus, four UFC fights in 2011.

Ariel Helwani has an interview up with Dana White which confirms everything.