Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone

Lightweight sensation Donald Cerrone will be taking on former WEC lightweight champion ‘Razor’ Rob McCullough

‘Razor’ Rob McCullough (16-4) is a five-time world Muay Thai champion with KO power.  He is coming off a less than stellar split decision victory over Kenneth Alexander at WEC 34.  He will definitely need to give a better performance against Cerrone to win.

McCullough lost the lightweight title against Jamie Varner in February by TKO, so he is looking for a big win to get a crack at Varner to retain the bel he feels belongs to him.  McCullough will need to be careful and work on his submission defense against Cerrone.  He will need to keep this fight standing and look to box Cerrone.  McCullough does have good take down defense and a very good clinch which he may have to use in this fight.

Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (8-0) is also a highly skilled Muay That practitioner with excellent submission skills.  He has pulled off a submission is all 8 of his professional fights.  I will give McCullough the advantage standing, so I think Cerrone would want this fight to go to the mat.

In WEC 30, Cerrone’s debut with the WEC, was a win over Kenneth Alexander that was later counted as a not contest.  This was due to Cerrone testing positive for a banned diuretic.  NSAC suspended Cerrone for 9 months.  He then came back and submitted Danny Castillo with an arm-bar in WEC 34.

Cerrone has a slick ground game and can use his hands, but should avoid a slug fest with McCullough.  Cerrone submitted Alexander, who McCullough had trouble against.

I am going with Cerrone in this fight by a split decision.

Event: WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown

Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Venue: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Florida

Time: Live at 9:00 p.m. E.T. on Versus

Main Event

• Urijah Faber (21-1) vs. Mike Brown (19-4)  (Main Event)
• Paulo Filho (16-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (22-9-1)
• Jens Pulver (22-9-1) vs. Leonard Garcia (15-3)
• Rob McCullough (16-4) vs. Donald Cerrone (8-0)

Under card 

• Nissen Osterneck (5-0) vs. Jake Rosholt (4-0)
• Jose Aldo (10-1) vs. Jonathan Brookins (8-2)
• Alex Schoenauer (14-9) vs. Steve Steinbeiss (4-1)
• Ed Ratcliff (6-1) vs. Danny Castillo (5-1)
• Johny Hendricks (3-0) vs. Alex Serdyukov (12-4)
• Rani Yahya (12-4) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-5-2)

Urijah Faber

• Nickname-                     ”The California Kid”
• Born-                                Isla Vista, California, USA
• Age-                                  32
• Height-                             5’6″ (168 cm)
• Weight-                            145 (65 kg)
• MMA Record-                  25-5
• Fighting out of-                Sacramento, CA
• Strengths-                        Wrestling, strong, well rounded
• Team/Association-         Team Alpha Male

Last 11 fights

• Loss against Dominick Cruz via unanimous decision
• Win against Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision at UFC 128
• Win against Takeya Mizugaki via rear naked choke at WEC 52
• Loss against Jose Aldo via unanimous decision at WEC 48
• Win against Raphael Assuncao via rear naked choke at WEC 46
• Loss against Mike Brown via unanimous decision at WEC 41
• Win against Jens Pulver via guillotine choke at WEC 38
• Loss against Mike Brown via TKO at WEC 36
• Win against Jens Pulver via unanimous decision at WEC 34
• Win against Jeff Curran via guillotine choke at WEC 31
• Win against Chance Farrar via rear naked choke at WEC 28

Mike Brown

• Born-                                Maine, USA
• Age-                                  35
• Height-                             5’6″ (168 cm)
• Weight-                            145 (68 kg)
• MMA Record-                  24-6
• Fighting out of-                Coconut Creek, FL
• Strengths-                        Wrestling, submissions, boxing
• Team/Association-         American Top Team

Last 10 fights

• Win against Cole Province via TKO at WEC 51
• Loss against Manny Gamburyan via KO at WEC 48
• Win against Anthony Morrison via rear naked choke at WEC 46
• Loss against Jose Aldo via TKO at WEC 44
• Win against Urijah Faber via unanimous decision at WEC 41
• Win against Leonard Garcia via arm triangle choke at WEC 39
• Win against Urijah Faber via TKO at WEC 36
• Win against Jeff Curran via unanimous decision at WEC 34
• Win against Manny Reyes Jr. via rear naked choke at PXF
• Win against Eben Oroz via TKO at HooknShoot

Paulo Filho

• Nickname-                      ”Ely”
• Born-                                Rio de Jinero, Brazil
• Age-                                  30
• Height-                             5’8″ (173 cm)
• Weight-                            185 (84 kg)
• MMA Record-                  16-0
• Fighting out of-                Rio de Jinero, Brazil
• Strengths-                        Submissions, take-downs
• Team/Association-         Team Link

Last 3 fights

• Win against Chael Sonnen via armbar at WEC 31
• Win against Joe Doerksen via TKO at WEC 29
• Win against Kazuo Misaki via armbar at Pride- Bushido 13 

Chael Sonnen

• Born-                                Oregon, USA
• Age-                                  31
• Height-                             6’1″ (186 cm)
• Weight-                            185 (84 kg)
• MMA Record-                  24-10-1
• Fighting out of-                West Linn, Oregon
• Strengths-                        Wrestling
• Team/Association-         Team Quest

Last 5 fights

• Win against Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision at UFC 109
• Win against Yushin Okami via unanimous decision at UFC 104
• Win against Dan Miller via unanimous decision at UFC 98
• Loss against Demian Maia via triangle choke at UFC 95
• Win against Paulo Filho via unanimous deicsion at WEC 36

Jens Pulver

• Nickname-                      ”Lil Evil”
• Born-                                Sunnyside, WA USA
• Age-                                  33
• Height-                             5’7″ (170 cm)
• Weight-                            145 (66 kg)
• MMA Record-                  22-9-1
• Fighting out of-                Bettendorf, IA
• Strengths-                        Striking, KO power
• Team/Association-         Miletich Martial Arts

Last 3 fights

• Loss against Urijah Faber via unanimous decision at WEC 34
• Win against Cub Swanson via guillotine choke at WEC 31
• Loss against B.J. Penn via rear naked choke at UFC TUF 5 Finale

Notable wins

• Joe Stevenson
• Caol Uno
• B.J. Penn
• Cub Swanson
• Rob Emerson

Leonard Garcia

• Nickname-                     ”Bad Boy”
• Born-                                Plainview, Texas, USA
• Age-                                  31
• Height-                             5’10″ (178 cm)
• Weight-                            145 (66 kg)
• MMA Record-                  16-6-1
• Fighting out of-                Lubbock, Texas
• Strengths-                        Submissions
• Team/Association-         Jackson’s Submission Fighting

Last 11 fights

• Win Against Nam Phan via split decision at TUF 12 Finale
• Loss against Mark Hominick via split decision at WEC 51
• Win against Chan Sung Jung via split decision at WEC 48
• Draw against George Roop at WEC 47
• Loss against Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision at WEC 44
• Win against Jameel Massouh via split decision at WEC 42
• Loss against Mike Brown via arm triangle choke at WEC 39
• Win against Jens Pulver via KO at WEC 36
• Win against Hiroyuki Takaya via KO at WEC 32
• Loss against Cole Miller via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 11
• Win against Allen Berubie via rear naked choke at UFC TUF 5 Finale

Donald Cerrone

• Nickname-                      ”Cowboy”
• Born-                                Brownfield, CO, USA
• Age-                                  25
• Height-                             6’0″ (183 cm)
• Weight-                            155 (70 kg)
• MMA Record-                  8-0
• Fighting out of-                Albuquerque,  NM
• Strengths-                        Striking

Last 3 fights

• Win against Danny Castillo via armbar at WEC 34
• No Contest against Kenneth Alexander at WEC 30
• Win against Yasunori Kanehara via triangle choke at Cage Force 3

Rob McCullough

• Nickname-                      ”Razor”
• Born-                                Huntington Beach, CA, USA
• Age-                                  31
• Height-                             5’8″ (173 cm)
• Weight-                            155 (70 kg)
• MMA Record-                  16-4
• Fighting out of-                Huntington Beach, CA
• Strengths-                        Heavy handed, striking
• Team/Association-         Team Oyama

Last 3 fights

• Win against Kenneth Alexander via split decision at WEC 34
• Loss against Jamie Varner via TKO at WEC 32
• Win against Richard Crunkilton via TKO at WEC 30