Bart Palaszewski vs Richard Crunkilton WEC 39 fight confirmed

by James Iannotti on Jan 26, 2009 10:58 AM EST

palaszewski wec
Twelve-fight International Fight League (IFL) veteran Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski (30-11) will make his second appearance for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion against Richard "Cleat" Crunkilton (16-2) on March 1.

It's another explosive match up added to WEC 39, which is set to take place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, and it could determine the number one contender in the lightweight division if for some reason Donald Cerrone is not granted and immediate rematch against division leader, Jamie Varner.

Palaszewski debuted for the promotion at WEC 37: "Torres vs. Tapia" in December, snuffing out UFC veteran Alex Karalexis via second round technical knockout. During his time with the IFL he scored notable wins over guys like Steve Bruno, Ivan Menjivar, Ryan Schultz, Harris Sarmiento and others.

However, his last three fights with the organization were all losses. He was submitted in the second round by Deividas Taurosevicius at the 2007 IFL Team Championships and then outpointed in a split decision loss to Chris Horodecki at the IFL World Grand Prix Semi Finals two months later.

He also dropped a unanimous decision to current UFC fighter Jim Miller last April in New Jersey.

Since the IFL went out of business last year, he's won back-to-back fights by technical knockout. He stopped Jeff Cox in the first round at the first Adrenaline MMA event last June and then toppled Karalexis in December.

Crunkilton has nine fights under his belt in the WEC, dating all the way back to WEC 3 in 2002. During that span he's only lost one fight, but it was a big one. He was handed a first round technical knockout loss in a title fight against "Razor" Rob McCullough at WEC 30 in September 2007.

His other career loss was a unanimous decision to Hermes Franca at UFC 42: "Sudden Impact" in April of 2003.

This is a great fight and some very solid matchmaking.

There are two title fights scheduled for WEC 39 in in Corpus Christi. In the main event, newly crowned featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown will defend his strap for the first time against the hard hitting Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia and in the co-main event Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit will put his 170 pound gold on the line against Brock Larson for the second time.

Apparently, the WEC wants to make its debut in the "Lone Star State" a memorable one. Stay tuned for an announcement from MMAmania.com regarding the complete fight card for WEC 39 ... it's a good one.

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Comments

Is there anything to talk about today other than the wEC?

by john on Jan 26, 2009 11:25 AM EST reply actions

I like Rich Crunkilton. I’ve met him here in Daytona, hes a pretty cool guy. I hope he takes this.

And John, to give you something else to talk about, I remember a way back in one of the UFC 93 threads talking about how Shogun’s omoplata attempt at Coleman was the closest to being finished in an MMA fight. For a while that bugged me, because I wanted to argue back but went braindead whenever I tried to think about it. Today, however, I have a challenge for that. THe closest omoplata finish I’ve seen is McLovin/Burkman in the first round. That is the closest a ’plata has ever come to being finished.

Also, Shogun’s attempt was about the same level as Nover/Efrain, McLovin/Barncat, and even Franklin/Shamrock.

What you think?

by Synyster [[2009 Year of Gegard Mousasi]] on Jan 26, 2009 11:35 AM EST up reply actions

shogun has had several good omaplatas on people, watch the arona fight

by brendan on Jan 26, 2009 11:44 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I forgot about the Arona fight. Good post synyster. Cant really argue with you on this one. I will also throw in Gleison Tibau almost Omo’ed Joe Daddy, and I think he could have pulled off the 1st UFC Omo submission but he was stuck between Joe and the Cage. Had the cage not been ther he might have pulled it off.

Didnt BJ almost Gogo GSP at the end of their last fight?

by john on Jan 26, 2009 1:03 PM EST up reply actions

Yepp.. Has there been a gogo finish in the UFC? I dont think there has been. PRIDE has had a bunch right? I’m still baffled at how Brad Imes was able to get 2 gogo wins..

by Synyster [[2009 Year of Gegard Mousasi]] on Jan 26, 2009 3:29 PM EST up reply actions

Yes, BJ almost gogo’ed GSP at the very end of the fight and didn’t he almost gogo Dean Thomas as well?

by BNF on Jan 26, 2009 3:36 PM EST up reply actions

yeah, u might be right!

Yeah Pride has had gogo finishes. Diaz over Gomi for starters.

Aoki won via Aoki plata in DREAM which is basically just a gogo from the mount

Yeah, its crazy how Imes has 2 gogo wins

by john on Jan 26, 2009 4:12 PM EST up reply actions

I bet my whole “peanut bankroll” on BetUs on a Faber/Aldo parlay. Didn’t pay out all that much, but talk about another guaranteed bet for the weekend! I am trying to turn $5 into $100, and after Affliction and WEC I am well on my way!

Crunkilton is a pretty solid fighter, but he was COMPLTELY outclassed by McCullugh who is suddenly a non factor in the WEC LW division.

by ViolentMike on Jan 26, 2009 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

VM: That Parlay was a gift from the mma gods! Talk about a LOCK!!!!

by john on Jan 26, 2009 1:04 PM EST up reply actions

That pic looks like a slimmer version of Chris Jericho. Y2J baby!

by Matt on Jan 26, 2009 4:46 PM EST reply actions

Anyone know the name of the song Bart Palaszewski used to enter the ring on his March 1st fight against Rich Crunkilton?
Just saw the replay on VS. Cool dude, great fight!

by sam on Jun 2, 2009 3:04 AM EDT reply actions