Mosley likes his Margarito shaken, stirred and on the rocks

Saturday night's fight between Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley was a collision I was looking forward to for a long time. I viewed plenty of their old fights as I tried to play out scenarios in my head for how their meeting would transpire. I decided it would end with a ninth round knockout after a close fight for the first five rounds.

I was right...but also completely wrong. The fight ended with a ninth round knockout, but it was Mosley who walked away with the welterweight championship after one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen in a boxing ring. 

"Sugar" Shane looked good as new and implemented one of the most brilliant gameplans. I thought Mosley would need to jump in close, fire off a combination and jump back out to make Margarito chase him. 

Instead, Mosley let Margarito walk right in. And when the Tijuana Tornado would start to close the distance, Mosley would double or even triple up his jab and then unleash lightning fast combinations with plenty of power behind the closing shot. 

The fight may have been Mosley's best performance and the Los Angeles crowd knew it. The crowd was extremely pro-Margarito, but Mosley slowly won the crowd over. Exchanges at the end of the third, fifth and eighth rounds were some of the most dramatic moments of the fight. 

Mosley knocked down Margarito in the eighth round right as the time was expiring. Margarito barely got to his feet and then smiled at Mosley as if to say he knew his title was slipping away. At the beginning of the ninth, Mosley came out and got Margarito on the ropes. Margarito stood and accepted his defeat as Mosley unleashed one last combination as the towel was thrown in. 

Mosley looked unstoppable and I am confident saying he is the true champion in the welterweight division. It was one of the best fights in recent years and if you get a chance to check it out, do so immediately. 

One Punch Wonders

For all the weeks of intense training top-level mixed martial artists go through to prepare for a big fight, there is still a chance a fight could last no longer than a few seconds. Affliction 2 was a perfect example of what can happen with one punch. The two best fights of the night were ended with one big shot. 

In the main event, Fedor Emelianenko retained his WAMMA Heavweight Championship with one perfectly placed right hand to the chin of Andrei Arlovski. The Freddie Roach-trained Arlovski displayed beautiful boxing, using a crisp jab and good angles to keep the unbeatable Emelianenko off balance. 

Arlovski stunned Emelianenko early with a good right and stayed patient, making sure not to rush into a powerful shot from the champion. Later in the round, Arlovski had Emelianenko stumbling again with a powerful kick to the body, but this time "The Pitbull" rushed in. Arlovski went airborne, looking to score with a superman punch, but a quick right hook from the champion landed right on the chin and Arlovski went to sleep immediately. 

Clearly, Arlovski trained hard for this fight and looked great. But one punch can get the job done and Fedor Emelianenko continues to build his legacy to mythological proportions. 

Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort also showed the power of the punch with his very impressive win over Matt Lindland. Belfort showed his hand speed with a beautiful left jab, right hook combination that landed cleanly on Lindland. "The Law" hit the canvas and it took one more punch for Belfort to get the win. 

Belfort looked tremendous Saturday and a middleweight title shot should be in the works for him as he seems to have returned to form. Lindland had a scary moment as he struggled to get to his feet and seemed totally disoriented, but I give credit to the great medical staff on hand as they tended to Lindland immediately and kept him safe. 

Three strikes and he's out?

Featherweight powerhouse Urijah Faber and MMA legend Jens Pulver met for the second time Sunday night and unfortunately for "Lil Evil," the result was the same. 

Faber showed why he is considered the best featherweight in the world (even though he lost the title to Mike Brown in November) by putting Pulver away with efficient striking and a guillotine choke. 

The loss means Pulver has now lost three consecutive fights in the WEC, which would make one think how much he has left. Pulver is a 34 years old, which is still fairly young, but he has fought 31 times. I think there are still good fights left in "Lil Evil," but I don't think he will ever be champion. If he is satisfied to just compete, he should continue. If he wants to be champion, he should probably walk away and focus on coaching since he is a natural in that aspect.

The other main event for WEC on Sunday night was Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner vs Donald Cerrone. Let me just say, Cerrone must be built of granite. I had no idea he could take that type of punishment and I don't think Varner did either. 

Varner retained his championship after a split decision, but there will definitely be a rematch. After an unintentional knee to the side of the head, Varner was awarded a 5-minute recovery period. The champion said he could not see, so the fight was stopped and it went to the scorecards where the judges awarded Varner the decision. 

The crowd booed Varner for being unable to continue, as the knee seemed to barely graze his head and many believe he stopped the fight because he could not throw his punches as effectively after he broke it earlier in the fight. Varner is tough as nails and so is Cerrone. The two will meet again and I expect another war. Hopefully Varner will be ready for another go by June. 

San Diego Slugfest

Last night the city of Los Angeles was rocked with two great fighting events. Tonight, San Diego will host another mixed martial arts event when World Extreme Cagefighting presents a double feature with the rematch between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber and a lightweight title fight between champion Jamie Varner and red hot Donald Cerrone.

This is not as strong of a card as recent WEC events, but that is understandable since this is the first time it will not have any middleweights or light heavyweights on the bill. The card is still interesting enough for the top two fights and a few prospects filling out the undercard.

The main event of the evening pits Faber against Pulver in a rematch of their classic featherweight title fight back in June. The California Kid displayed tremendous striking against Pulver throughout all five rounds. To Pulver's credit, he was able to take everything Faber had to offer, but it was still shocking to see such a feared striker get picked apart on his feet. 

Faber's win over Pulver was convincing enough to make me believe that there is no way he is going to lose this fight. He just lost his title to Mike Brown in a shocking knockout loss, which will make him even more hungry to prove he is still the most dominant 145 pounder in the world. 

Pulver, on the other hand, has lost four out of his last five bouts. He is still young at 34 years old, but he doesn't seem to have the same aggressiveness he once possessed. He has never lost three fights in a row in his career, but this fight will probably make that happen. I don't know if Pulver will walk away from the cage if he loses, but if he does, he is going to be a great coach. 

While I am certain Faber will win, I am still interested in how it will play out. In the last fight, the two pretty much slugged it out for five rounds, but since Faber just got knocked out, I think he might opt to use his tremendous wrestling to take Pulver to the mat. 

The explosive first fight was great to see, but I think a competition on the ground could be just as exciting and would give the matchup a fresh look. However, the only way Pulver could win is by hitting a one-hitter quitter much like Mike Brown did to Faber. Pulver still has pop in his punches, but I just don't see it happening. 

Faber wins via 2nd round TKO stoppage

The other main event is a five round matchup between WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner and Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone. These two guys love to stand and bang and both of them never seem to lose. This could be an instant classic if it goes all five rounds. 

Varner is 15-2 and is riding a four-fight win streak with all three of his WEC bouts ending in a TKO. Cerrone is 9-0 in his blossoming career with eight of those wins coming via submission despite his preference to trade leather. 

Both fighters are red hot right now, which means the winner will be determined by the fighter that sticks with the correct gameplan and doesn't get suckered into turning the fight into a brawl like many young fighters do. Cerrone is going to want to stand and trade, but he should be looking to jab and then shoot all night long. 

If Cerrone puts the fight on the ground, his chances of winning are significantly higher. If he gets caught up in the moment and the adrenaline and opts to box with Varner, then he will come out on the losing end. 

Varner is so crisp with his jab and his footwork that most opponents, especially opponent's in their first title fight, cannot hang with him. Cerrone has power, but he keeps his hands low and throws wild punches off balance. Varner will pick him apart all night if he tries to box. 

Varner is also a decent wrestler though, and if it does hit the ground, I expect he would be able to scramble to his feet. I think Varner wins by knockout or decision and if Cerrone hopes to walk home with the gold, he needs to go for the submission and get the fight on the ground.

Varner retains title via 4th round knockout

In the undercard, WEC regular Charlie Valencia will welcome Seth Dikun in his debut. Valencia has been losing a lot lately, and at 5' 3" tall he is a little too short to keep competing a featherweight division that keeps getting tougher and tougher. Dikun seems like a good athlete and I expect him to pull out a nice win in his debut. 

Hiromitsu Miura is back in action after his great title fight with Carlos Condit. Look for Miura to rebound with another crowd-pleasing performance over Edgar Garcia.

The other two prospects to keep an eye on are Dominick Cruz and Jose Aldo. Cruz is a promising featherweight at 11-1 and has a slightly tougher test against the gritty Ian McCall. 

Aldo, a lightweight, brings a 12-1 record into his match against Rolando Perez and has looked good in his first two WEC appearances.