Donald Cerrone Vs Ed Ratcliff
Lightweight bout
Round 1
Ed Ratcliff starts off the fight very strongly. After switching positions against the cage, Ratcliff trips Cerrone but he is unable to keep him down. Both fighters get back to their feet and Ratcliff rocks Cerrone with a left hook. The cowboy recovers quickly, but Ed Ratcliff keeps up the pace with some solid leg kicks and good knees to the body. Ratcliff looks really sharp tonight and is very explosive, especially with the counters out of the clinch. Now unfortunately, this is when things start to turn sour in the fight. Cerrone knees Ratcliff a couple of times in the crown jewels towards the end of this round. It’s unintentional, but the referee has to deduct a point for the second illegal blow. Both fighters have a great exchange towards the end and Cerrone manages to take Ratcliff down.
Round 2
Cerrone starts strongly in this round with brutal leg kicks, a body kick, and some great combos and clinch knees. Once again as Ratcliff closes the distance in the clinch, Cerrone inadvertently catches Ratcliff in the cup. Ouch!! Ed Ratcliff’s mom is really getting mad outside the cage! Cerrone apologises to her, Ratcliff “recovers”, and Cerrone gets another point deducted. Ratcliff could of quite easily given up at this point and nobody would of blamed him, but he shows true warrior spirit and continues. The round ends with Cerrone attempting a couple of submissions. The standing guilotine at the end looks tight but Ed Ratcliff is saved by the bell.
Round 3
Cerrone knows he has to win this round convincingly due to the 2 point deduction. I thought he was going to get a 3rd point deducted after he grabbed the cage to gain mount, but the ref only gave him a warning. Cerrone seems really fired up now and connects with a lightning quick straight right. The Jiu Jitsu Donald Cerrone showed next was truly amazing. He gets Ratcliffs back and locks him in a reverse triangle. 9mm tries to escape but gets caught in a leg lock which looked like it was going to rip his hamstring.
Cerrone ends up getting his back again and locks him in a body triangle, where he wins via rear naked choke submission at 3:47 of round 3.
Frank Mir says “Ed had no choice but to tap before he ended up losing consciousness, which is a very admirable way to go. Instead of….. ahhh you know, looking silly out there.” What a pop at Cheick Kongo! 
Brad Pickett Vs Kyle Dietz
Bantamweight Bout
I was looking forward to seeing Brad Pickett’s WEC debut and he didn’t disappoint. Brad Pickett shows a solid ground game and has top position for much of the 1st round. He connects with some explosive elbows but he needs to watch out for Kyle Dietz’ up kicks when posturing up.
In the 2nd, Pickett catches a kick and takes his opponent down. Again he connects with some good elbows. Dietz defends himself well in the rubber guard and his up kicks look dangerous. Once the fight goes back to standing both fighters clinch, but Pickett manages to get Dietz in a front head lock, and then pulls off the submission of the night at 4:36 of the 2nd round via Peruvian Neck Tie Submission!!! An awesome WEC debut.
Chris Horodecki vs Anthony Njokuani
Lightweight Bout
Anthony is a huge 6’2″ at 155 lbs. They truly look like different weight classes, but Chris Horodecki has a great professional record coming into his WEC debut.
Anthony Njokuani comes out in the first round making full use of his reach advantage. He keeps extending his jab, but Chris Horodecki seems comfortable with it staying on the feet. The breakthrough in the round seems to be with a left knee to Chris Horodecki’s body, which hurts him. From then on, Njokuani controls the pace. He takes down and mounts Horodecki, but is unable to finish the fight on the ground. The fight ends with a great TKO. Njokuani catches Horodecki with a high kick, while Chris is running from the action and then finishes him with some heavy ground and pound at 3:31. I’m really impressed with Anthony Njokuani and he’s one to look out for in the 155 division.
Brandon Visher VS Courtney Buck
Featherweight Bout
These two featherweights came out hitting like heavyweights! Visher looks explosive and takes down Courtney Buck early on, but is unable to capitalise. Both get rocked towards the middle of the round; Visher gets hurt from 2 knees in a thai clinch, but then goes on to hurt Visher with a right hook, left kick combo. Visher’s combo is the turning point of the fight. He takes advantage of his downed opponent by mounting him and then taking his back from the top position. Buck makes the mistake of rolling to his side, instead of taking guard and Vishers loads up a brutal hammer fist for the KO at 4:45 of the 1st round!!
Joseph Benavidez vs Rani Yahya
Bantamweight bout
This fight was over quick. Both fighters seemed to have very different game plans and styles. Yahya was concentrating on strong leg kicks and picking his shots and extending his jabs. Joseph Benavidez on the other hand was swinging for the fences, which paid off when he catches Yahya with an overhand right. Yahya drops to the canvas and Benavidez finishes him by KO on the ground at 1:35.
Takeya Mizugaki vs Scott Jorgensen
Bantamweight bout
A right punch drops Takeya within seconds of the 1st round. Just as it looks to be over, Takeya recovers and the fight goes back to standing. Both fighters exchange good knees in the clinch. Scott Jorgensen dominates the rest of the round, with multiple takedowns, GNP, control in the clinch and another punch which rocks Takeya Mizugaki. A great 1st round for Scotty!
The 2nd round is once again dominated by Scotty Jorgensen. He has some awesome takedown timing, and brilliant control in the clinch with some good short elbows and dirty boxing. By the end of the round, Takeya’s nose is blooded and he has to do something special in the final round to get the W.
The final round begins with great boxing from both fighters. Scott’s avoiding most the strikes with great footwork and head movement, while still timing his takedown attempts very well. However, Takeya gets his 1st takedown of the fight, and shows why he is highly rated on the ground and constantly tries to improve his position. Scott Jorgensen does well to escape a crusafix position, and gets back up. Once again, Takeya takes down his opponent into side control. Scotty does well to minimise damage while the clock runs down. A good round by Takeya Mizugaki, but not enough to win the fight. All judges score it 29-28 for the winner Scott Jorgensen.
