411’s MMA Roundtable: WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff
Posted by Dan Plunkett on 12.18.2009
The WEC comes back to Las Vegas for the second consecutive time. In the main event, Donald Cerrone, fresh off a fight of the year candidate in October, takes on Ed Ratcliff in the main event. Also, IFL veteran Chris Horodecki makes his WEC debut against knockout artist Anthony Njokuani. Plus, Takeya Mizugaki takes on Scott Jorgensen and Joseph Benavidez battles Rani Yahya. Check out the full roundtable for all the details!
WELCOME:
Now let's meet the staff and get to the picks!
THE STAFF:
From the Juggernaut MMA News Report, Jonathan Solomon!
From 411 Movies/TV, Games, and multiple MMA interviews, Jeffrey Harris!
From the Takedown MMA News Report, Daniel Bonnizzio!
From The Rear Naked Column, Samer Kadi!
And your host for this roundtable, from The Greatest MMA News Column, Dan Plunkett!
THE MAIN CARD:
Bantamweight Bout: Takeya Mizugaki Vs. Scott Jorgensen
Jonathan Solomon: My pick for the most exciting fight of the night. Both men can swing for the fences but Mizugaki has to have the edge if the fight stays standing. Jorgensen likes to take fights to the mat and overpower opponents there. I would be surprised if he can control Mizugaki on the floor and take away his scrambles. Mizugaki is one of the tougher bantamweights if you look at striking and I don't think Jorgensen can stand there and handle it for too long.
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki, TKO, Round 2.
Jeffrey Harris: This is the one I'm probably most looking forward to on Saturday. Mizugaki came out of nowhere and had a 5 round war with Miguel Torres in a Bantamweight title match. And the act of losing to Torres seemed to do more for his career than winning 12 times. Mizugaki followed it up with a split decision win over Jeff Curran. Jorgensen is 3-2 in the WEC, but he always brings it in his fights, so I expect this to be a great fight since there's potential title opportunity for the winner if they win impressively. I'm thinking this one goes the distance and Mizugaki comes out on top.
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki, Decision.
Daniel Bonnizzio: Mizugaki's riding high after taking Torres the full five and getting the nod over veteran Jeff Curran, but this is going to be a tough fight for him to get through. Both men love going the distance as they like to effectively smother their opponent en route to a decision win. However, I do believe Mizugaki's smothering will be better than Jorgensen's as he leaves with another win on his record.
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki, Decision
Samer Kadi: Mizugaki earned himself many fans with his gutsy and competitive effort against Miguel Torres earlier this year. Since then, he earned a somewhat controversial decision against Jeff Curan where he had to dig himself out of trouble to pull off the victory. Mizugaki is heavy handed, has one hell of a chin and a grueling top game. I don't see him having too much trouble putting Jorgensen on his back despite the latter being a capable wrestler himself. I also don't think Jorgensen poses a significant threat off of his back and Mizugaki is too heavy on top for Jorgensen to scramble back up.
Winner: Takeya Mizugaki, Unanimous Decision.
Dan Plunkett: This should be a great fight, from a fight quality perspective it's the one I'm looking forward to the most this weekend. This fight will probably be contested mainly on the ground, which makes it pretty hard to pick. Jorgensen is a good wrestler, but isn't quite as good on the ground as Mizugaki. I think that the fight will just be one big scramble, with either fighter fully capable of coming out on top. I'll pick Jorgensen here on the basis that he'll come out on top of most of the scrambles and not take a lot of damage standing.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen, Decision.
The staff picks Takeya Mizugaki, 4-1.
Bantamweight Bout: Joseph Benavidez Vs. Rani Yahya
Jonathan Solomon: The Alpha Male bantamweight takes on of the fiercest submission artists in the division. That spells awesome! Benavidez is coming off his first professional defeat and brings with him a never say die motor. It's amazing watching him fight when opponents try to take him down, it's as if he has springs on his body because he bounces back to his feet. However, if anyone can control him on the ground, it is definitely Rani Yahya. If the Brazilian Yahya gets you on the ground, you might as well tap because there is no getting out of his submission holds. Benavidez will try to use his striking to stop Yahya but the fight will be won or loss depending on if Yahya can take him down and keep him on the mat.
Winner: Rani Yahya, Submission, Round 1.
Jeffrey Harris: This is an interesting fight with a former title contender in Yahya and a potential contender in Benavidez. Yahya is riding an impressive 3 fight winstreak and he's 4-1 in the WEC overall. A win here definitely puts Yahya in the running. I also believe Yahya's sick submissions will make him the stronger and more dangerous fighter here. Yahya gets this one in the first.
Winner: Rani Yahya, Submission, Round 1.
Daniel Bonnizzio: This is a make-or-break fight for Yahya. Benavidez is coming off a loss in a fight where the word 'title shot' was thrown around (see what happened to Dominick Cruz?) Benavidez is going to come out hard to prove that he's still top of the 135 pound crop. Yahya is looking for another shot at WEC gold riding a 3 fight win streak. Benavidez is smart enough to know how to stifle more than a few submissions, but Yahya is going to be throwing more than just more than a few his way, and I wholly expect one to sink in and unfortunately for Benavidez, he will be going home on a two-fight losing streak.
Winner: Rani Yahya, Submission, RD1
Samer Kadi: I'm eagerly anticipating this fight as it could turn into a fantastic ground battle. Rani Yahya has no real striking to speak of, but he makes up for it by being an absolute wizard on the ground. Benavidez is the superior striker and wrestler although Yahya would welcome a takedown. If Benavidez fights smart, he will keep the fight standing and pick Yahya apart. But Benavidez thrives on the scrambles, much like his mentor Urijah Faber, and I'm not sure that's where he wants to be with a submission expert like Yahya. It all comes down to Benavidez' gameplan, but he hasn't shown the most disciplined fighting style throughout his career.
Winner: Rani Yahya, Submission, Round 2.
Dan Plunkett: Yahya will have the advantage if the fight hits the ground, but I'm counting on Benavidez's wrestling to prevent the fight from going there. I think Benavidez will have the stand-up advantage in this fight, and I hope for my pick's sake he avoids the ground game.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez, Decision.
The staff picks Rani Yahya, 4-1.
Lightweight Bout: Anthony Njokuani Vs. Chris Horodecki
Jonathan Solomon: Njokuani is a great striker having knocked out his last two opponents in WEC. His Muay Thai background give him the edge in this fight, despite the fact he is fighting an MMA veteran in Horodecki. The former IFL star, Horodecki, is 13-1 and lost his only professional fight by knockout against Ryan Schultz two years ago. Horodecki is predominantly a striker and trains with Xtreme Couture. Unless his ground game has improved much, this fight will stay standing and give Njokuani the edge.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani, Decision.
Jeffrey Harris: Tough call for me. Both guys have very similar records. Njojuani has proven to be a strong striker and has been knocking guys out in the WEC. I don't know too much about Horodecki, so I am going to go with Njokuani by knockout for this one.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani, KO, Round 2.
Daniel Bonnizzio: The 12-year old fighter finally debuts! Horodecki saw success in the IFL, so now we just need to see if it translates into the WEC. With but one win of 13 by submission, Horodecki loves to strike. His lone loss a major upset by Ryan Schultz, Horodecki is otherwise perfect. Njokuani has only lost twice, but both of those losses were to the top of the top of the WEC lightweights as they were two Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson. This is a particularly hard fight to pick, but I feel that Horodecki will do enough to win the decision in the leading candidate for Fight of the Night (or KO of the Night).
Winner: Chris Horodecki, Decision
Samer Kadi: As a big Horodecki fan since his IFL days, I'm pretty stocked for this one. Unfortunately, this is a bad matchup for him. Njokuani is a much more refined striker with a particularly solid jab. Horodecki's reach (or lack thereof) means he will resort to his old habits and brawl mindlessly. And that can't end well against someone like Njokuani.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani, TKO, Round 2.
Dan Plunkett: Anthony Njokuani will be looking for his third consecutive knockout of the night honors here as he takes on former IFL star Chris Horodecki. Njokuani, whose name takes me a good 30 seconds to spell every time I write it, will have a nice reach advantage in this fight, which is a big advantage in a battle of two guys who are primarily strikers. The winner of this fight will end up in the lightweight title picture.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani, Decision.
The staff picks Anthony Njokuani, 4-1.
Lightweight Bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff
Jonathan Solomon: Cowboy Cerrone is back and you have to wonder whether the fact this will be his fourth fight in 2009 will impact him negatively. Hell, maybe not, he's the Josh Koscheck of WEC. Cerrone is usually the taller opponent (as he is in this fight) but he has never won an MMA fight by way other than submission. That is surprising given the fact he was 28-0 as a kick boxer. Ed Ratcliff is 7-1 with his only loss coming by way of submission (Marcus Hicks' guillotine). Ratcliff will need to win this fight with his strikes because once this fight goes to the ground, it is all Cowboy, all the time.
Winner: Donald Cerrone, Submission, Round 3.
Jeffrey Harris: I'm not really sure what's going through Cerrone's head right now. Cerrone has recently announced his attentions to drop down and compete at 145 while still wanting to compete at 155 as well. He still wants a rematch with Jamie Varner I imagine or even possibly with Ben Henderson since their amazing FOTYC interim title bout was a close fight. However, Cerrone can not afford another loss here. On paper this sort of seems like a gimme fight for Cerrone much like the fight with James Krause at WEC 41. Cerrone since his last fight has hopefully worked on his takedown defense which is one of the biggest holes in his game. But I'm not expecting Ratcliff to get the upset here.
Winner: Donald Cerrone, Submission, Round 2.
Daniel Bonnizzio: Cerrone has yet another bounceback fight here as he takes on Ed Ratcliff. Cerrone has stated he doesn't mind giving rounds away in title fights because of the length, but this isn't a title fight so I expect him to be pushing the pace right off the bat just as he did in his 11 other bids in non-title affairs. Ratcliff is good but Cerrone is just too good everywhere and I expect him to take the win home with another slick submission.
Winner: Donald Cerrone, Submission, RD1
Samer Kadi: Fresh off his fight of the year effort with Benson Henderson, Donald Cerrone returns to the cage. Awaiting him is Ed Ratcliff, an explosive fighter with flashy, almost video-gamish standup. The smart thing for Cerrone to do would be to take Ratcliff to the ground where he will likely make short work of him. However, Cerrone has shown he doesn't mind a fun slugfest, and he does have the kickboxing skills to take part in one. I see Cerrone landing an effective counter strike that will rock Ratcliff's world before finishing him on the ground with a guillotine or a rear naked choke.
Winner: Donald Cerrone, Submission, Round 2.
Dan Plunkett: I like Cerrone in this fight. Ratcliff will have a good chance to win this fight standing, but Cerrone is a good striker and is simply better on the ground than Ratcliff. Cerrone will probably stand with him for the first round, but I see this going to the ground sooner or later where Cerrone will finish the fight.
