Urijah Faber defeats Jens Pulver with a choke hold in the first round at WEC 38.  Urijah hurt Pulver in the first round with a body shot that had Jens backing up.  Urijah pounced and locked in a choke hold that had Pulver tapping very quickly.

We are still watching the other bouts at WEC 38.

Probably not the best phrase to use for MMA.  Anyway.  Check out this article on Sherdog.  They talk about the UFC bringing back old matchups of UFC Fighters that have already been paired up and proven who the best of the two fighters are.  An example is the possibility of a matchup between Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, a fight we have seen three times and don't really need to see a fourth.

Sherdog also touches on the idea of Faber Vs. Pulver II in the WEC, a rematch of a fight from just a few months ago, a fight that was convincingly won by Faber.  I touched on that rematch in a previous article myself.

The point is, the UFC needs to make some new stars instead of recycling popular previous matchups.  There are definately enough mixed martial artists out there ready and willing (and capable) of getting into the Octagon with these veterans and putting on a good show.

I do have to say I'm looking forward to Rampage Jackson Vs. Wanderlei Silva III at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008, despite Wanderlei having destroyed Rampage in their two previous matchups in PrideFC. I believe Rampage has a better shot at earning a decision against Wandy in the UFC.  Although I would never come right out and suggest that Wanderlei would lose.  )

Urijah Faber, who is looking for a rematch against Mike Brown for the WEC Featherweight Title, may face Jens "Lil' Evil" Pulver instead in the WEC's January fight card.

Faber recently lost the Featherweight Title to Brown at WEC 36.  Mike Brown capitalized on a reverse flying elbow manuever by Faber with a stiff right hand that knocked down Faber and ultimately did him in.  This was Faber's first loss in three years.

Jens Pulver fought against Urijah Faber at WEC 34 in what may go down as the MMA fight of the year.  Urijah dominated the judges scorecards, however, winning a uninamous decision and winning every round.  Pulver definately had Faber rocked a few times during the bout and Faber is presented with a challenge in having to go into another war with the hard hitting Pulver.

It's probably not the best matchup for either Pulver or Faber at this point.  It would be good for both fighters at this point to regress a bit in competition and face some up-and-comers, however, this may be the best fight for the WEC.  Faber Vs. Pulver 1 was a huge success for the company and was an all around awesome match.  Both fighters gave their all for five full rounds and put on a great show.  We should expect nothing less from a possible second match but it's probably to soon.  Jens Pulver needs some solid wins to get back in to contender status and Urijah Faber should be put in a position to showcase his skills against other contenders.

This weekend saw the first-ever live MMA event on network TV with EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights on CBS.  Also that night, the UFC aired a 3 hour long special on Chuck Liddel and capped it off with the Liddel-Silva fight from back in December.  But the best MMA of the weekend came from the WEC Sunday wIth the main event seeing Urijah Faber defending his title against Jens "Lil' Evil" Pulver.

The night started off with Rob McCullough def. Kenneth Alexander via split decision.  That was a fairly boring fight but the show only got better from there.  Hometown boy Mark Munoz TKO'd Chuck Grigsby in the first round in the next matchup.

In the nights first title defense, Miguel Torres went three rounds against Yoshido Maeda in what some are calling fight-of-the-year.  Those guys pounded each at a very fast pace for those three rounds and probably would have gone five rounds if Maeda's face could have stood up to Torres' left hand.  Maeda's face was a mess after the third round and he was deemed unable to continue.

The main had Faber once again defending his featherweight title, this time against Jens Pulver.  In previous title defenses, Faber has relied on his ground game to come up with submissions making the rest of the 145lb. division look like amatuers.  In this matchup he stood with Pulver for the bulk of five rounds exchanging punches and kicks.  Faber showed us a right hand that he had yet to demonstrate in previous matchups but he could not finish "Lil' Evil."

I was very impressed with Urijahs standup.  He is definately one of the top-ten pound for pound fighters in the world.  Pulver had no answer for Fabers speed.  After five round the judges gave the match to Faber unanimously.