WEC: ALDO vs FABER - Apr. 24, 2010 *SPOILERS*

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 4/11/2010 11:18am

World Extreme Cagefighting: Jose Aldo Vs. Urijah Faber
Apr. 24, 2010
Arco Arena
Sacramento, California

In one of the most explosive mixed martial arts events ever, featherweight champion and Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo makes the first defense of his title when he takes on former world champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber. If one title fight wasn’t enough, lightweight champion Ben Henderson takes on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a rematch of their 2009 Fight of the Year. Plus, former featherweight champion Mike Brown battles judo ace Manny Gamburyan. ALDO vs. FABER, Saturday, April 24, live on Pay-Per-View from Sacramento, CA.

Jose Aldo Vs. Urijah Faber - Featherweight Title Fight
Ben Henderson Vs. Donald Cerrone
Mike Brown Vs. Manny Gamburyan
Anthony Njokuani Vs. Shane Roller
Antonio Banuelos Vs. Scott Jorgensen
Leonard Garcia Vs. Chan Sung Jung
Alex Karalexis Vs. Anthony Pettis
Brad Pickett Vs. Demetrious Johnson
Mackens Semerzier Vs. Anthony Morrison
Takeya Mizugaki Vs. Rani Yahya
Brandon Visher Vs. Tyler Toner

Picks?

**GirlJock** · Posted On: 4/11/2010 6:24pm

Looking forward to the Henderson fight. Also hope we get to see Leonard Garcia.

**Ka-Bar** · Posted On: 4/12/2010 12:14am

I swore I'd never attend another MMA event at Arco, but I'll be there. I should get press credentials and get paid to suffer the douchebaggery. That said:

Jose Aldo Vs. Urijah Faber - Featherweight Title Fight
Ben Henderson Vs. Donald Cerrone
Mike Brown Vs. Manny Gamburyan
Anthony Njokuani Vs. Shane Roller
Antonio Banuelos Vs. Scott Jorgensen
Leonard Garcia Vs. Chan Sung Jung
Alex Karalexis Vs. Anthony Pettis
Brad Pickett Vs. Demetrious Johnson
Mackens Semerzier Vs. Anthony Morrison
Takeya Mizugaki Vs. Rani Yahya
Brandon Visher Vs. Tyler Toner

**Conde Koma** · Posted On: 4/12/2010 3:10am

this card is so full of fireworks it's not even funny.

Faber over Aldo, it's time for the champ to reclaim his throne!
Henderson over Cerrone, he's already done it before.
Brown over Gamburyan, former champ should make it look easy.

**foxd** · Posted On: 4/12/2010 10:29am

This should be a welcome change after the last UFC. WEC is always ridiculously exciting, especially with who's headling.

**Valiss** · Posted On: 4/13/2010 3:15pm

Ka-Bar, what's up with Arco? Is it not worth buying tickets cause the seating sucks or what? And can you get us a press pass as well (hey, it's worth a try)? :)

**Ka-Bar** · Posted On: 4/13/2010 9:57pm

Originally Posted by Valiss

Ka-Bar, what's up with Arco? Is it not worth buying tickets cause the seating sucks or what? And can you get us a press pass as well (hey, it's worth a try)? :)

There are a couple of problems, some of which is not limited to Arco.

I've been to every UFC and WEC card at Arco, but I've also been to a Strikeforce card at HP Pavillion in San Jose, a Gladiator Challenge card at Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento a "Rebel Fights" card at the Placer County Fairgrounds, so I've seen MMA at its peaks and its valleys.

The first problem is live MMA itself. Unless you're in the perfect seating area, which I would argue is the first two or three rows in the lowest elevated section, right behind the floor seats (and this is true wherever I've been) you can't see ****. When the fighters are standing up, half the time, some fatass cameraman in all black is blocking the action, and when it goes to the ground, you're at a really poor angle to see what's going on, not to mention too far away to see the details. I pay $150 bucks for a ticket and wind up watching 90% of the fights on the big screen and see exactly what people are watching at home. Some places are better than others, HP Pavillion has seating at an angle that made for a better view of the fight, even though they were pretty much the equivalent of where we'd sit at Arco.

Now you're saying, "Ka-Bar, live sports are about the energy of the crowd and the cameraderie." And I would say that you're right for most other sports. If I go to a Kings, Giants, Sharks, Niners game, being there is half of the excitement. Yes, the view is not as good as the TV broadcast, but you're surrounded by people rooting for your team, who love baseball/hockey/whatever and make for good neighbors, for the most part. The problem with most MMA audiences I've encountered is that they're full of assholes. Everyone is wearing a Tapout shirt, screaming for a knockout and calling fighters fags when it hits the ground. When I watch a fight at home or at a friends house, I'm watching them with people who know what's going on. When I'm watching a fight at Arco, I'm surrounded by people who think they could do it better.

By the way, did you know everyone that goes to an MMA event is a badass cagefighter who will "get the rear naked" and "umaplata" my ass in the parking lot if I don't watch my mouth?

I'm a fight nerd and I got into MMA for the strategy, the footwork, the techniques, the ZHOO-ZHITSU. Yeah, knockouts are cool, but there's a lot of other exciting stuff going on. It's like going to a baseball game, getting pissed that there were no homers and missing the 4-3 double play.

The other problem is that Arco sucks. Whether you're at a Kings game, a concert or a WEC card, it's just a logistical nightmare. Even if you park right next to the goddamn arena, it's a 10 minute walk from your car to the entrance. Once you get inside, the concourse is maybe big enough for 3 fat people to walk next to each other. This is fine if you're getting to an event before it's started, but God help you if, once it's started, you have to use the bathroom, get a beer, or get the **** out during a fire. This makes it very interesting when you're leaving an event.

Crowded spaces + Tapout shirts + beer + adrenaline = a lot of scuffles.

Even getting outside the arena doesn't mean you're safe. Getting your car out of the parking lot in one piece is an adventure in itself. An adventure that takes at least 30 minutes. By contrast, at HP Pavillion, parking was extremely easy, the arena itself had a huge wide-open feel to it, leaving little chance of shoulder-bumping and the crowd was, as a result, much less on-edge.

In conclusion, I would say that it's worth buying tickets if you've never been to a live MMA event, especially one of the bigger promotions. Or if you're able to go with a group of friends for a "guys night out" and the fights are just one part of the evening and you add in some dinner and some clubbing or some strippers. I'm only going because it's my brother's birthday.

As far as a press pass goes, I'm hoping internationally-respected and renown martial arts website Bullshido.net will appoint me their Sacramento field correspondent.