Date: 08/05	7:59 PM
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The waiting is over and the time is now. WEC is LIVE on Versus and we've got two title fights for you tonight! This show eminates from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the commentary team for tonight. Mir puts over Carlos Condit v. Brock Larson and Paulo Filho v. Joe Doerksen. As always three judges score the bouts, three rounds non-title, five rounds of five minutes for a title fight - and the 10-point must system IS in effect. Jeff Curran v. Steven Ledbetter is on the card. Paulo Filho v. Joe Doerksen is on the card. And of course Carlos 'The Natural Born Killer' Condit versus Brock 'I'm From Minnesota But My Name's Not Lesnar' Larson. We go to commercial and a three round Jamie Varner v. Sherron Leggett is up next! Both fighters weigh in at 156 so this is about as evenly matched as you can get.

* Jamie Varner v. Sherron Leggett

Highlight clips put over Leggett as fast and explosive, focusing on his body slam and big kicks. Varner is making his WEC debut and they show highlights of his chokes and how he likes to finish fights quick. A clip from the weigh-in shows Leggett and Varner getting nose to nose trying to intimidate each other. Hopefully the fireworks in this fight will be similar. Leggett is one inch taller at 5'9" but Varner has a three inch reach advantage at 72". Time for the lightweights to get it on! Joe Martinez is here to make the introductions. Leggett's record is 16-1-1. Varner's record is 12-2-1. The referee in charge is Steve Mazzagatti.

First round of WEC live is underway, "BRING IT ON!" Leggett and Varner circle around and test each other's reach. Leggett tries to shoot in but Varner easily gets away. Instead it's Varner who comes in and catches Leggett off guard, scooping his legs up and bringing him down HARD to the mat. Varner has the mount and looks like he's searching for a choke but Leggett brings it back to the feet. They wrestle around for position and Varner scoops him up and drops him right on his head and shoulder. Mazzagatti warns him about blows to the back of the head when he gets up, Varner ignores him, so Mazzagatti stops the fight. ONE POINT DEDUCTED FOR VARNER.

Three minutes to go in the round and Varner comes with two high kicks, but on the second one Leggett grabs the leg and they end up in the cage wall. Varner grabs the single leg and slams Leggett to the ground again. He's flat on his back now and Varner has side control. Two minutes to go. Varner gets the full mount with ease and Leggett rolls to his back to escape. Varner rolls to his back and tries to find a choke but there's nothing. Leggett rolls again so Varner takes the full mount and starts reigning down punches and elbows. Leggett rolls to his back again and Mazzagatti finally decides Leggett can't defend himself and stops the fight with 51 seconds to go. VARNER IS YOUR UNOFFICIAL WINNER AT 4:09 OF R1. Commercial break, then the official announcement is next!

We're back at The Joint with Joe Martinez. The official time is 4:08 and Varner gets the win via TKO. Varner gets a round of applause and Frank Mir asks whether the one point deduction affected him. "I wasn't trying to hit him in the back of the head, I was trying to stop him and get the win. Maybe the stoppage gave him a chance to get his breath but I knew it wasn't going out of the first round. I'd like to fight the winner of Razor Rob but if they want to give me another FLUFFER, I'll take it." Mir congratulates the winner and Versus promotes WEC WrekCage and a new episode of TapouT featuring BJ Penn next Wednesday. Needless to say we get a shot of the TapouT crew at ringside but now it's time for another fight!

* Tiki v. Blas Avena

Tale of the tape. 6'0" for both. 171 pounds for Tiki to 169.5 for Avena and 72" reach for Tiki to 70 for Avena. Avena has a 4-1 record. Tiki's record is 9-6 and he's from Tito Ortiz' homeground of Huntington Beach. Yves Lavigne is our referee. "Protect yourself at all time, obey my command at all times. If you want to slap gloves do it now." Here we go!

The fighters circle to start before Avena shoots in on Tiki and wrestles him to the ground then gets the mount right away and rains down a FURIOUS series of blows. Tiki immediately gives up his back and Avena sinks in a choke deep but somehow Tiki escapes! Avena stays on his back and sinks in another choke and Tiki taps out! UNOFFICIAL TIME OF 1:02 FOR BLAS AVENA IN R1! We go to the official announcement right away - this one's over so fast there's no time for a commercial. Joe Martinez declares this ending at 1:01 via tap to the rear naked choke. Blas 'The Disciple' Avena is the winner! Avena also works security at the Hard Rock so the crowd is really happy. Avena tells Frank Mir this was a great fight at 170 and he didn't mind the weight at all. "I didn't think I'd take him down so fast but my natural reaction was to go for the takedown. Hometown support gave me the courage and the strength and everything came out good." Commercial break!

We come back to the Hard Rock with a Lion's Gate movie clip for a new action film called War debuting August 24th. The protagonists are Jet Li versus Jason Statham, and for the fight sequences alone (if they're all like this clip) I might want to see it. Next up though is more MMA action!

* Jeff Curran v. Stephen Ledbetter

Tale of the tape from Curran to ledbetter: 5'6" to 5'9", 145 to 146 pounds, 66" to 72" reach. Ledbetter is 6-0 and is making his WEC debut and fights out of Athens, Georgia. Curran is 30-8-1 and fighs out of Crystal Lake, Illinois. Our referee in charge is Yves Lavigne once again. They touch gloves and hit the corners, let's get it on!

Curran and Ledbetter feign punches early but don't really connect. Curran takes a shot from Ledbetter but smiles and shrugs it off. For the first minute almost nothing happens. Jeff Curran connects with a big right about five seconds after I say that! Ledbetter is stunned but survives. Curran doesn't immediately capitalize and it's a big mistake. The two end up grappling along the cage wall trying to hit knees to the body. Two minutes in now and it's a war of position as they keep rolling back and forth. Ledbetter gets a takedown but Curran doesn't appear to be in any danger, and Lavigne warns them that he'll stand it up if necessary. Ledbetter's corner is yelling at him to keep Curran flat, but he doesn't have a chance as Lavigne stands it up. Curran tries a straight right hand and shoots in when Ledbetter backs away. Ledbetter ends up on top and Curran tries to work some of his Gracie jiu-jitsu but can't find anything. 20 seconds left to go and even Frank Mir says he'd like to see more from Curran's guard. Both men get to their feet and the first round comes to a close.

Here we go with round two! First 30 seconds is all on the feet as they circle and look for strikes. Curran goes for a flurry and Ledbetter takes him down to the ground. Ledbetter is smothering him and Mir keeps saying that Curran needs to open up his guard and do more. I wonder how long it will take before the crowd will start booing this - they're already so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Curran gets back to his feet but Ledbetter has his hooks in and keeps working the knees and jockeying for another takedown. With 2:40 to go they're just rolling along the cage wall and they finally break away at the midway point of R2 and go for strikes on the feet. Curran is shooting out kicks, including a nice sidekick, and Ledbetter is trying to find a punch that will connect or a big kick. Ledbetter shoots in for a single leg and Curran just sprawls away and ends up on his back, and briefly has his head in a choke before letting go. Ledbetter is on top again but he's still smothering him and doing nothing. This crowd could GIVE A SHIT LESS. 30 seconds left and suddenly Ledbetter makes a rookie mistake and ends up in a leg triangle and Curran is trying to finish but Ledbetter hears the sticks and hangs on for the last 10 seconds without tapping. On to round three!

More circling and searching for strikes to start R3. Curran is possibly ahead 10-9 on both rounds for doing more and getting more near finishes, but Ledbetter could always steal one round in a judge's eyes for takedowns - it's just he's not doing anything with them. Ledbetter connects with a left and Curran responds with a strong left kick to the ribs, forcing Ledbetter to take two steps back. Ledbetter gets the takedown and Mir says it may actually be very close just because of the takedowns - hmm, didn't I just say that? Anyway it's the same old story for Ledbetter - he has the mount but he's not really doing anything with it. Every move, Curran has a counter move. Lavigne tells them to keep working as we pass 2:45 gone in the round and with just two minutes left he's had enough and stands it up. This time it's Curran who shoots in but Ledbetter sprawls out of it. Nonetheless Curran gets the dominant position and has a reverse triangle locked on, with Ledbetter trying to punch out of it to no effect. Curran has it in deep and Ledbetter may be in deeper trouble as Curran has him worn down and now is looking for a kimura. Ledbetter tries to reverse but can't get anything. Triangle is in and Ledbetter is fighting for all he's worth and once again survives the end of the round. It's all up to the judges now but I'm thinking Curran should get a unanimous decision either 30-27 or 29-28.

We're back with Randy 'The Natural' Couture in the crowd!a I can't wait to see Couture fight in three weeks. We've also got Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson in the crowd. Martinez has the decision 30-27 on the first judge, 29-28 for the other two, for the winner by unanimous decision... JEFF CURRAN! Curran says that Ledbetter was very slippery and "I'm an idiot, I should have stayed on my feet more - my wrestling is my weakest point but I'm working on it. Any time I can get a chance at Urijah I'd be honored, he's a stud." The crowd applauds respectfully. We're shown the WEC light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall in said crowd as we go to a commercial break.

We go backstage to see Carlos Condit warming up for his title defense against Brock Larson. We also see Paulo Filho getting his fists taped up while Joe Doerksen smiles for the cameras. Urijah Faber smiles in the crowd and we go to footage of Faber appearing on the Howard Stern show. Jesselyn Gliebe won a competition to be an honorary ring card girl for the night on said same show and we go to a shot of her at the event - looks like a cutie to me. Next we get a promo for the WEC Middlweight Title fight between Filho and Doerksen, which is coming up after - you guessed it - these commercial messages!

* Paulo Filho v. Joe Doerksen (for the vacant WEC Middleweight Title)

Doerksen: "Look at my record, I've choked out more people than he's fought!" Now that's some smack talking. Paulo Filho weighs in at 184.5 pounds while Joe Doerksen weighs in at 185. Doerksen comes to the cage to the strains of Audioslave's "Set it Off," which amuses me since they're censoring the music for the live broadcast. And from Rio De Janeiro, here comes Paulo Filho - and he's got an iced out grill on! Filho wants to get down with the Shop Boyz and "Party Like a Rockstar." Well let's see him rock Doerksen with some jiu-jitsu and make him see stars then! Filho steps in as we go to the tale of the tape. Filho to Doerksen - 5'8" to 6'0", and 68 to 72 inches in reach - you already know the weights. Doerksen's record is 39-9, while Filho is a perfect 14-0. 'Big' John McCarthy is our referee for this fight.

"Are you ready - are you ready! LET'S GET IT ON!!" Doerksen and Filho touch gloves and Doerksen immediately comes out striking, with Filho content to back away and let him expend energy. Filho pushes Doerksen up against the cage and picks up the single leg but is unable to slam him down and the two break apart. Doerksen hits a leg shot as Filho tries to shoot in. Filho shoots again and Doerksen is backed up against the cage, basically a repeat of what we saw earlier. Doerksen tries to fight out with a high knee but Filho finally gets the takedown he wanted and passes the guard. Filho is unable to mount up and a butterfly sweep gets both men back to their feet. Doerksen goes for a leg kick and Filho clinches and tries to stick a foot in for the leg sweep - Doerksen hops away and keeps it on the feet. They're backed up with 1:40 left to go and McCarthy tells them to work. It's back to striking on the feet. Filho connects with a series of lefts and rights and Doerksen goes down hard. Doerksen tries to grab a leg and hang on but Filho is OVERWHELMING HIM and stops it with just 52 seconds to go. UNOFFICIAL TIME OF 4:08 VIA TKO FOR PAULO FILHO, THE NEW WEC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION. Doerksen had NO answer once the leather started connecting. How about that - the jiu-jitsu specialist wins via strikes! The official decision is after this break.

Here's Joe Martinez with the announcement. TIME OF 4:07 OF R1 FOR THE UNDEFEATED AND NEWLY CROWNED WEC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION PAULO FILHO! Translator asks Filho what it's like to win the belt. Filho: "I'm very happy to fight for this organization and looking forward to upcoming challenges." More translation: "He came well prepared and defended my takedowns but thank God for my boxing coach, I let my hands go and finished the fight." Yes sir you did! We get a shot of Michael Bisping and Stephan Bonnar in the crowd, and once again "The Rhino" Doug Marshall. We've got another title fight coming up between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson for the WEC Welterweight Title, but first this break!

Jens Pulver is in the crowd for an interview. "The WEC has blown up and catapulted up into the world where they had an elite 145 pound division with great fighters and great champions. I no longer have to be the little guy. What I know about Cub Swanson is he comes forward and never stops. He's got good size, he's really smart up here, they didn't give me no slouch. I just wanna get in there and get in the mix and show how tough 145 and 155 are. This is no step down, I chose to come here!" One more commercial break and our main event is up next!

* Carlos Condit {C} v. Brock Larson (WEC Welterweight Title)

Brock Larson, "The Brainerd Brawler" heads to the cage to the strains of "More Human Than Human." Well there's ANOTHER song they're going to have to censor for the live broadcast. I'm thinking "Why bother?" It's already after 10 o'clock on the East coast and Versus is a digital tier channel in many markets anyway - I doubt someone who isn't an MMA fan is going to stumble across this channel at random. Carlos Condit comes down with a sneer on his face and an angry rock song that's echoing so loudly I can't tell who it is. Condit to Larson on the tale of the tape: 6'2" to 5'11", 170 to 168.5 pounds, 76" to 71" reach. Joe Martinez is back to introduce our main event, five rounds of five minutes each, brought to you live on Versus in association with TapouT and the movie War, with the bout sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The three judges are Adalaide Byrd, Lester Griffin and Tony Weeks. LAS VEGAS NEVADA MAKE SOME NOISE, ARE YOU READYYYYYYYYYY! Larson is 21-1 and specializes in guerilla jiu-jitsu. The challenger looks ripped and ready. Condit is a thai boxing style fighter and submission grappler with a record of 20-4. Steve Mazzagatti is the ref in charge. We know all the facts now, let's get down to business!

"BRING IT ON!" Condit and Larson stay far out of each other's reach, circling, fainting punches, not eager to engage. Condit makes the first move with a kick. Larson shoots in but can get nothing at first. Larson finally gets him down and tries to mount up on Condit but can find nothing along the cage. Condit hits an up kick as Larson tries to go over the top. Larson tries to position for the Superman punch and has nothing. He tries to throw leather but Condit sinks in an armbar when he tries to pick him up and Mazzagatti is forced to stop the fight at 2:38. IT'S ALL OVER! CARLOS CONDIT RETAINS HIS WEC TITLE!! Brock Larson's arm is all kinds of messed up. He's not happy about the stoppage but Condit would have snapped that thing off and taken it home with him, so I don't see how he can bitch. We'll have the official time after these messages!

Joe Martinez with the official decision. The end comes at 2:21 of R1 via submission by armbar for the winner and still WEC Welterweight Champion, 'The Natural Born Killer' Carlos Condit! Condit comes over and graciously gives Brock Larson a hug. Mir: "That was a great armbar from the bottom." Condit: "I didn't expect to use it but the opportunity presented itself. I definitely thought I had the advantage on my feet but I'm well rounded, I could take this anywhere he went. Technique over strength right there!" Mir: "Can anybody give you a run for the money." Condit: "Whoever works their way up, let's do it!" That's it for our live coverage, and thanks to www.Sherdog.com we have these results for the non-televised fights.

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* Steve Cantwell vs. Justin McElfresh
Cantwell landed a three punch combo that sent McElfresh face first to the mat where he covered up until "Big" John McCarthy stepped in at 0:47 of the opening period. STEVE CANTWELL DEFEATS JUSTIN MCELFRESH VIA TKO.

* Logan Clark vs. Eric Schambari
All three judges score the fight 29-28 for the WINNER BY UNAINMOUS DECISION: ERIC SCHAMBARI.

* Justin Robbins vs. Antonio Banuelos
The judges score the contest 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 for the WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: ANTONIO BANUELOS.

* Hiromitsu Miura vs. Fernando Gonzalez
Gonzalez tapped to a series of unblocked left hands at 3:35 of R2. WINNER BY TKO DUE TO STRIKES: HIROMITSU MIURA.