WEC 52 REVIEW PART 3: THE PRELIMS

This article only contains one fight as this was the only shown on the live broadcast. Not to worry, though, this fight was so amazing that it deserves a whole review all to itself!

CUB SWANSON VS. MACKENS SEMERZIER

This fight was brilliant. No two ways about it, it was an utter blast!

Mackens Semerzier (left) vs. Cub Swanson (right) 

Both fighters didn't come out immediately swinging, but they quickly built up to something almost worthy of a high-budget, out-of-this-world Hollywood blockbuster. You could just imagine the "Enter the Dragon" sound effects watching these two. Both threw well timed punches and kicks, and mixed everything very well. At one point, Semerzier even threw what looked like a flying front kick. Neither of them were afraid to throw, and both of them could take whatever the other one would give.

The round was pretty even, and, I believe, very difficult to score, but I think that Semerzier had a slight edge in the exchanges, so I gave the round to him.

The second round starts and Color Commentator Stephan Bonnar said something interesting that I believe very much sums up this fight:

Cub Swanson throws a head kick

"See, that's what a fight is. It's constantly trying to establish dominance." Nuff said.

The second round was very much like the first, with each fighter throwing well-timed strikes at a furious pace, but neither giving in, but almost all the time getting hurt. The second round goes all the way, but one has to wonder at this point who the more dominant competitor will be? The pace seems to still be growing, or at least remain constantly furious, so the better conditioned will most probably take the match, as you can't really  have more heart than these two have already displayed.

That said, the second round seemed even closer than the first, so I have no idea at this point how to score it. Both delivered damaging blows to the other, but Swanson seemed to have thrown more this time around, so I give it to him.

Mackens Semerzier connects with a left

The third round begins and I am utterly amazed at the conditioning of these two amazing athletes! Neither of them show any sign of slowing down, and the pace remains constantly furious. The only difference is, this time, Semerzier, manages to get Swanson down on the ground and keep him there for the entire last minute of the round. He throws a tremendous amount of ground and pound, but Swanson keeps active and defends well enough to survive until the end.

With that, I easily gave the round to Semerzier, so I predicted that he would be the winner. Color me surprised when I found out that the judges scored it differently. It was a weird feeling because, prior to the fight, I was rooting for Swanson all the way, but Semerzier looked a bit more dominant so I honestly thought he should have been given the victory. Ah, well, you know what they say: "never leave it up to the judges!" Cub Swanson walks away with a split decision (29 - 28, 28 - 29, 29 - 28) victory.

Check out more amazing photos of WEC 52 at the official WEC website!