WEC 36: Mike Brown Shocks Urijah Faber With Stunning First-Round TKO

Posted Nov 05, 2008 9:49PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: WEC

World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber lost a stunning first-round TKO to Mike Brown tonight at WEC 36 in one of the biggest mixed martial arts upset of the year.

Faber, a huge favorite and the most recognizable name in the WEC, came in with a couple of hard strikes in the first round. But Brown leveled him with a right hand, got on top of him on the ground and rained blows down on him until the referee had to stop the fight at 2:23 of the first round.

"I made a small mistake and he capitalized on it," Faber said after the fight. "Congratulations to Mike Brown."

Faber was classy as always in defeat, but his loss has to be considered a major disappointment for the WEC, which had big plans for moving to pay-per-view in 2009. It's hard to see how that can happen now.

Still, the future is bright for the WEC featherweight division. In addition to Brown and Faber, the division has a great wealth of talent including Leonard Garcia, who beat Jens Pulver on tonight's undercard, and Wagnney Fabiano, the Brazilian who just signed with the organization.

Faber, who ranked No. 5 on our most recent list of the top pound for pound MMA fighters in the world, fell to 21-2 in his MMA career. Brown, who was No. 23 in our pound-for-pound rankings, improved his record to 20-4.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-05-2008 @ 10:13PM

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 said...

I hate to ever say that an MMA fight ended in a lucky shot but that was damn near the definition of a lucky punch. Urijah was being reckless and he got hit with a shot on his temple/ear.

The entire night was weird. From pulver getting knocked out by Garcia (whom only had one career KO), Fihlo acting extremely strange (high?) in his fight and Faber getting caught by a lucky punch.

What a strange fight night. Check that - What an AWFUL fight night. None of the fights were any good.

11-06-2008 @ 1:28AM

sean said...

very disappointing! seeing the phenominal urijah faber lose like that was shocking. i havent seen an upset like that since matt serra defeated georges st pierre. hopefully faber will rise back to greatness and regain his title in the same fashion as GSP. good luck to faber. he will regain the title.

11-06-2008 @ 1:21AM

1 Left Hook Away From Taking Ur Soul said...

lucky punch? no way! more like exploiting a wild elbow. The Definition of a lucky punch would be that tool that beat kimbo!

11-06-2008 @ 1:33AM

Wade said...

Doesn't a fight like that show how this sport is different from boxing? There is no playing it safe in MMA, you can get caught anytime.

11-06-2008 @ 1:50AM

bruce said...

Luck ? not sure Urijah is always being reckless that is why he is so fun to watch but was it luck that he was caught not really Brown is a solid pro had plenty of time to see and study the fact Urijah attacks from unusual positions thus the suprise was Urijah's when he tried the back spinning elbow or fist now i do agree it was a strange night of fights now it would have been awful if all the fighters acted like Paulo missed weight and seemed content to let Sonnen win because the title is his forever now but it is very rare in MMA that someone does not go all out hope they put a astric in the record Books

11-06-2008 @ 11:41AM

Flip said...

Did anyone also see a resemblance to Andrei Arlovski’s defeat to Tim Sylvia? He left himself open for a shot then had fight called while being hit on the hand and arm. I thought the fight was called way too soon. Those punches to his hand were not doing anything to him. Herb Dean Got in trouble for calling the Arlovski – Sylvia fight too soon for not looking where the punches were landing. If the ref would have seen this and let the fight go on longer Faber would have finished what he started on Brown’s rib. I did not like the stoppage and think they should fight again in a few months. Faber said on the post fight interview that he would give Brown another shot on the following Saturday if he could make some money. That knee to the rib that made Brown need help out of the arena was the only harm done in the fight. That ref needs to be sat down and talked to.

11-06-2008 @ 12:25PM

MARKOS said...

URIAH'S NOSE WAS EXTREMELY SWOLLEN IN THE POST FIGHT INTERVIEW AND HE WAS HIT SQUARELY IN THE FACE WHEN HE WAS ON THE GROUND AT LEAST TWICE.
I WON A BET ON THIS FIGHT. A BOXER THAT IS NOT AFRAID TO GET OFF FIRST WINS EVERY TIME.
LOOK HOW TIGHT MIKE BROWN THROWS HIS PUNCHES.

11-06-2008 @ 2:40PM

Eric said...

Urijah was acting cocky and he tried to land a "pee-a-boo" elbow ... and he got floored by a big right. Some of the punches on the ground were getting through, and Faber wasn't recovering ... I have no problem with the stoppage.

Brown is no joke ... the guy has a few losses, but he has won 8 straight and has never been KOed.

11-06-2008 @ 7:48PM

Ray said...

I missed the Pulver fight, almost missed the Faber fight! It was weird, with Faber falling down, then getting hit hard just before he tried the elbow punch. He was wide open for that right punch, and it caught him solid! I'm suprised it didn't knock him out. He looked lackluster, no spark, not mentally prepared. He'll be back though, perhaps this will take away some of his cockyness.

11-08-2008 @ 5:21AM

Amy said...

Glad Faber lost. Only wish that he would've gotten pounded more. Arrogant bitch. lol

11-07-2008 @ 4:42PM

peter p. said...

markos, you said it man. brown was looking to land a solid hook and did just that. that hook was tight and crisp. with a fighter like brown, you have got to stay on the outside......and hope you can wear him down and start landind some shots.

11-20-2008 @ 6:16PM

Michael said...

Even in defeat, Urijah responded with class. Give the guy a break. He had 21 consecutive wins. Mike Brown paid very painfully for his victory too. No matter how big and bad you think you are, there's always someone out there bigger and badder. Think of Buster Douglass beating Tyson. No one expected that either. Brown will meet his match too.

11-12-2008 @ 1:22PM

mike said...

You're only the best until someone better comes along

11-13-2008 @ 5:17PM

Brown didn't win, FABER LOST! He got a little wild and clumsy and Brown took advantage of it.
REMATCH!

11-13-2008 @ 5:15PM

Brown won ... and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win the rematch.

I just watched the fight again ...

Brown landed at least 2 good shots before the "big" right that had Faber backing up, and Faber couldn't do anything with him in the clinch.

Anyone saying that the shots on the ground weren't landing just need to watch Fabers hair thrashing about as he gets nailed over and over.

Brown is a very solid 145 pounder.

11-15-2008 @ 7:43PM

Brown won Yes, but he paid dearly with either bruised or broken ribs. Urijah put a knee so hard into his chest it's a wonder that Brown didn't drop then and there. After that, he was on pure adrenalin until after the fight when the pain set in. Brown limped away in severe pain, belt or not.
Urijah is no joke either.

11-21-2008 @ 9:21AM

Urijah got nailed because he got wreckless. He said it himself. We'll see what happens in the rematch

11-21-2008 @ 9:01AM

The torn rib cartilage was most likely done to himself by twisting ... it's very common in wrestling, and rarely has to do with strikes being landed.

I never said that Urijah wasn't a great fighter. Let's hope there is a rematch on the horizon soon. The problem that I see is that Urijah did nothing in the first fight to show any dominance what-so-ever. That is why I think he will lose the rematch!

11-24-2008 @ 11:27AM

Eric, You're right. Urijah was moving but seemed somewhat apprehensive. I know that he has always sized up his opponents before every fight. Mike Brown was probably the only real threat in his weight class. I know that their are some up coming kids at 145 who are devestating too so age is definitely a factor. This defeat reminded me of his fight with Tyson Griffin. I would be looking past fighting, if it were me. Your body can only take so much punishment, which comes back to haunt you later in life. Urijah is still a classy guy and people still love him. Who knows? Someday he may own something very big in MMA. Look at George Foreman now. I have a lot of respect for him too.