World Extreme Cagefighting 51: Aldo vs Gamburyan recap
The final fight on the card for World Extreme Cagefighting 51 was for the WEC featherweight title held by the 17-1 Jose Aldo. Aldo’s opponent was Manny Gamburyan who brought a record of
11-4 into the octagon for the bout.
Aldo has started to get some mention as of late in the best pound-for-pound fighter debate as he has dominated in all of his WEC fights. Many mixed martial arts pundits have him as one
of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in MMA. The other two fighters mentioned as his competition on this list are Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Aldo went into this fight, his second title defence as a heavy favourite. For many it was not a matter of if he would finish Gamburyan, but when and how he would finish him. The fans were
looking for an exciting fight from Aldo and he did not disappoint.
The title fight started off with Manny being the much more active fighter as far as movement and footwork goes. Aldo was moving as well, but in a much more deliberate and focused manner.
He was clearly comfortable and looking to impose his will on Gamburyan.
The second round saw Aldo deliver a huge uppercut that dropped Gamburyan to the ground, and sensing blood in the water, Aldo jumped on his opponent's back and rained punches down upon
his head and body. Gamburyan had no defence and the referee, Herb Dean, was forced to stop the fight 1m32s into round two. In the end it was another dominating effort from Aldo.
With his performance Aldo left little doubt that he is clearly the best fighter in the WEC featherweight division. His next opponent will likely be either Josh Grispi or Chad Mendes.
Both Grispi and Mendes will fight on the WEC 52 card in November.
If Aldo fights one of the above fighters and is a dominant winner he may find himself in a position where the WEC featherweight division does not offer him the quality of opponent that
will challenge him.
To continue his growth in MMA, Aldo, who was named the 2009 fighter of the year by Sherdog.com, may need to consider a transition to the UFC lightweight division where he could compete
against the likes of Evan Dunham, Kenny Florian, B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk. A fight between Aldo and any of these fighters would be a huge draw for the UFC.
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