This is the WEC 50 live blog for Cub Swanson vs. Chad Mendes, a featherweight bout on tonight's WEC on Versus card at the Pearl in Las Vegas.
Undefeated Mendes of Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male is looking for his third WEC win. Swanson is coming off a Fight of the Night outing at WEC 44 in a win over John Franchi via guillotine choke.
The live blog is below.
Round 1: The fighters keep a distance early, neither man committing. After a minute, Mendes closes the distance and takes Swanson down. Mendes is quickly into side control, but stays very conservative offensively as Swanson just tries to tie him up. Mendes has major trouble firing off anything, and after over a minute of relative inactivity, ref Josh Rosenthal calls for a restart even though he's in the advantageous side-control position. It was a fair decision. After the restart, Swanson throws a kick, and Mendes catches it and takes him down. This time, Mendes lets him up quickly. Mendes is even getting the better of the standup. With a few seconds left, Swanson tries a flying knee. Mendes takes him down as the round ends. The round goes to him 10-9.
Round 2: Swanson comes out with guns blazing, showing several different pieces of his arsenal. Nothing seems to land solidly though. At one point, Mendes even grins as Swanson's wild strike sails past his head. After some time, Mendes has had enough and takes Swanson down again. The takedown comes easily for him in this fight. What this fight is proving is he still needs to improve what he can do once he gets the fight there. Swanson again negates most of Mendes' offense, though he does occasionally land a short elbow. The undefated Mendes does have remarkable control. Swanson tries a guillotine and uses it to get to his feet as the round ends, but Mendes still gets the round, 10-9.
Round 3: Mendes continues the same plan, taking Swanson down early. This time, Swanson wall-walks upright. Four minutes left. Swanson lands a strong left hook but Mendes changes level and Swanson finds himself on his back once again. Swanson briefly tries an omoplata before giving it up. Mendes gets to mount for a second, but Swanson recovers to guard in a flash. He's surviving but the round is fading away. With a minute left, Swanson gets to his feet, immediately goes for a flying knee, and Mendes catches him for another takedown. Mendes lets him up. Briefly. Mendes drives for another takedown with 20 seconds left and rides out the round. Mendes takes the last round and should easily take the decision.
Winner: Mendes via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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Undefeated Mendes of Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male is looking for his third WEC win. Swanson is coming off a Fight of the Night outing at WEC 44 in a win over John Franchi via guillotine choke.
The live blog is below.
Round 1: The fighters keep a distance early, neither man committing. After a minute, Mendes closes the distance and takes Swanson down. Mendes is quickly into side control, but stays very conservative offensively as Swanson just tries to tie him up. Mendes has major trouble firing off anything, and after over a minute of relative inactivity, ref Josh Rosenthal calls for a restart even though he's in the advantageous side-control position. It was a fair decision. After the restart, Swanson throws a kick, and Mendes catches it and takes him down. This time, Mendes lets him up quickly. Mendes is even getting the better of the standup. With a few seconds left, Swanson tries a flying knee. Mendes takes him down as the round ends. The round goes to him 10-9.
Round 2: Swanson comes out with guns blazing, showing several different pieces of his arsenal. Nothing seems to land solidly though. At one point, Mendes even grins as Swanson's wild strike sails past his head. After some time, Mendes has had enough and takes Swanson down again. The takedown comes easily for him in this fight. What this fight is proving is he still needs to improve what he can do once he gets the fight there. Swanson again negates most of Mendes' offense, though he does occasionally land a short elbow. The undefated Mendes does have remarkable control. Swanson tries a guillotine and uses it to get to his feet as the round ends, but Mendes still gets the round, 10-9.
Round 3: Mendes continues the same plan, taking Swanson down early. This time, Swanson wall-walks upright. Four minutes left. Swanson lands a strong left hook but Mendes changes level and Swanson finds himself on his back once again. Swanson briefly tries an omoplata before giving it up. Mendes gets to mount for a second, but Swanson recovers to guard in a flash. He's surviving but the round is fading away. With a minute left, Swanson gets to his feet, immediately goes for a flying knee, and Mendes catches him for another takedown. Mendes lets him up. Briefly. Mendes drives for another takedown with 20 seconds left and rides out the round. Mendes takes the last round and should easily take the decision.
Winner: Mendes via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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