WEC 51 Preview: Jung, Garcia, Torres all set to do battle on main card
At WEC 51, put on by World Extreme Cagefighting on Thursday night, most of attention will be going to the featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Manvel Gamburyan, and the co-main event between Jamie
Varner and Donald Cerrone.
But the rest of the main card also features three very compelling fights featuring some of the biggest stars of lighter weight classes.
Miguel Torres vs Charlie Valencia (135lb)
This is essentially a make or break fight for Torres (37-3) if he wants to stay at the top level of the bantamweight division. Once the poster boy of the WEC along with Urijah Faber, Torres had a 17-fight
win streak which saw him capture the title. He defended it three times before getting knocked out by Brian Bowles in the first round. He then lost his next fight to Joseph Benavidez by first round guillotine choke for two huge upset losses in row. He can’t
afford a third right now.
Valencia is a tough durable fighter who is still a decent threat to Torres. He’s 12-5 in his MMA career, but after going 2-3 in his first WEC fights, but has since strung together three wins in a row. Like
Torres he’s a well-rounded fighter overall with a good wrestling base, but will be coming in as a substantial underdog.
Odds: Torres 1/5 Valencia: 9/2
Chan Sung Jung vs George Roop (145lb)
Depending on who you listen to, Chan Sung Jung’s fight against Leonard Garcia at WEC 48 in April was either the Fight of the Night, Fight of the Year or Fight of the Decade. In a ridiculously high-paced three
round slugfest, the “Korean Zombie” (15-6) lost a split decision that most commentators disagreed with, feeling Jung won the fight. But his incredible ability to take punishment, amazing cardio and extremely aggressive striking earned him legions of fans.
Roop (10-6) is a former UFC lightweight who ultimately found himself too small for his weightclass. So he dropped down the featherweight, forcing a move to the WEC. There he’s fought twice, losing once to
decision by Eddie Wineland and then pulling out a draw against Garcia at WEC 47.Roop is coming in as an underdog on this one, and seems to be set up for Jung to earn the victory he deserved at WEC 48 and build the legend of the Korean Zombie.
Odds: Jung 1/3 Roop: 5/2
Leonard Garcia vs Mark Hominick (145lb)
With his controversial win over Jung at WEC 48, Garcia (14-5-1) also found his star shining brighter than ever. His gutsy performance has lent him a big name, but how well has he performed? In his last five
fights, he’s 2-2-1, but that doesn’t tell the story. Both his victories, over Jung and Jameel Massouh were highly controversial and debatable, meaning he doesn’t have a clear win since February 2008.
Hominick (18-8) has fought in an impressive list of organisations, going 2-0 in the UFC before jumping to the WEC, where he lost his first two fights. After another win in the short-lived Affliction promotion,
he’s come back and picked up two straight stoppage wins.
Odds: Hominick 5/9 Garcia 3/2
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