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WEC 41: Mike Brown 'a force to be reckoned with' against a bulked up and 'cautious' Urijah Faber

WEC 41: "Brown vs. Faber 2" is set to take place from the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California on June 7 and will air live on the Versus network beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET on fight night.

WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown will defend his 145-pound title for the second time against the man he originally captured it from Urijah Faber in one of the most anticipated rematches in WEC history.

Fortunately for us, we don’t have to wait until this Sunday for the battle to begin.

Headlining this week’s episode of MMAmania.com’s exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio, both Brown and Faber stopped by the show to give us their take on Sunday’s title fight.

Faber gave his thoughts and props on Brown’s dominating destruction of Leonard Garcia which served as Brown’s first title defense at WEC 39 this March.

"It looked like he’s just really composed, and he’s obviously got a strong punch. Leonard Garcia is a guy that’s known for taking hits and getting hit a lot in his fights and kind of firing back with heavy punches and he just didn’t really get a chance in that one. Mike Brown is a force to be reckoned with, that’s for sure."

Star-divide

He also stated that he doesn’t expect to go out the same way as Garcia, and that he won’t be overzealous and try to be flashy -- like with the failed elbow attempt that cost him the title to Brown in their first outing back at WEC 36 last November.

"I don’t plan on taking a solid fully extended punch to the right side of my head, I jumped into one last time and I think I learned my lesson."

Despite Faber’s preparation for the first bout not being a factor in the outcome, he stated he did switch a few things up in his training, which includes making weight lifting an active part of his routine which surprisingly was absent from his preparation for past bouts.

"I’m basically going to be a little more cautious because I necessarily don’t think it was my preparation for that fight but more of a mistake I made during the fight that cost me the fight. But I’ve also made some changes just to do it. I’ve added some explosive weight workouts a couple of nights a week, to get a little bit more size on, I’ve put on a couple of pounds. I also brought in a another boxing trainer just to get another fresh perspective."

Brown later dropped by and talked about the pressure of defending his title for the first time, trying to silence any critics or doubters that fought he wasn’t worthy of the belt and the way he won it.

"I felt like in the back of my head I had to prove to people that it wasn’t a fluke and that I’m really a legit World Champion. But at the end of the day every fight is a fight, I get nervous for all of them and I want to win every one of them so bad no matter who it is or when it is. Whether it’s in my backyard, my front yard, on the Moon, Texas, Florida or wherever you know?"

He also seemed please with the newfound respect a lot of people have for him now after the annihilation of Leonard Garcia at WEC 39.

"With the media, or the fans and all the forums and stuff like that. I read what people are talking about. And a lot of them were…80 to 90% of the people were like "Oh Brown got lucky, Urijah will kill him in a rematch." But now a lot of people are saying I’m going to kill Urijah. I read what people are writing but at the end of the day were going back in there, were fighting again. All that matters is the performance on that night. So I understand that’s all just talking and stuff. But it’s nice to have people believing in you. It’s pretty cool…but they’re not fighting for you."

And for the people who still claim the outcome of the first showdown between Brown and Faber was a "lucky punch" and to Faber saying he "Just got caught," Brown had this to say…

"I don’t care what they call it, if I got lucky or grinded out a boring decision it doesn’t matter how it happens or what it is. I’ll always be a World Champion, that’s all I care about in my heart. It’s a great accomplishment. It’s a goal every fighter wants to achieve it and I did it. I don’t care how it happened or what happened or how it is. It’s done! And every fight is a new fight. I‘ve got a battle ahead of me. Urijah Faber for the second time around, we’re going to see what we can do with him."

However it ends, no question it’s going to be an exciting fight.

Don’t miss it.

For the complete audio replay of their appearance click here.

0 recs  |  Comment 22 comments

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Brown Is going to win, but off topic a little, How can I watch strikeforce this weekend ? Showtime, or PPV, does anyone know ?

by Lesnar-Rashad-Marquardt-GSP-Sherk on Jun 4, 2009 12:30 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I think it’s just on showtime. Someone might know a way to watch it over the web?

by LJ on Jun 4, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

no clue, iwas just wandering if you were going to change your name again since rashad and sherk got beat, especially rashad.

by buttcrack obama bin laden on Jun 4, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

NVM It’s gonna be on showtime. And yea rite.

by Lesnar-Rashad-Marquardt-GSP-Sherk on Jun 4, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

its on PPV as well…$39.99 I think

by McArthur on Jun 4, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

i work for comcast in Cali and i think its a bit ridiculous if theyre doing a PPV for 39.99. you can order showtime for just 19.99 a month if you just call ur provider

by wingblade on Jun 4, 2009 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

just download sopcast and watch it for free…

by RoB on Jun 4, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

justin.tv someone always has it broadcast on there to my knowledge it is a showtime card i don’t think strikeforce would do a ppv with no title on the line

by randy murders on Jun 4, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Faber
Aldo
Cerrone
Grispi
Manny

Official WEC 41 JJ picks. I’m makin’ some money this weekend.

:-)

Lame-ass TSN is showing the NBA game instead of the fights. Canada doesn’t get to see the event until Monday night.

As the wise and thoughtful entity we call War Machine would say: Fuck a basketball.

by Jeremyjackson on Jun 4, 2009 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

LOL @ As the wise and thoughtful entity we call War Machine would say: Fuck a basketball.

Brown
Aldo
Cerrone
Pulver
Franchi

by Alpha Male 360 on Jun 4, 2009 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I hope Faber wins so we get a rubber match. :-)

by Dragon on Jun 4, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Me too, but I think it’s going to be tough. Brown is a stud.

by LJ on Jun 4, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don’t condone nor endorse these sites lol but here are a few places you could check.

channelsurfing
sopcast
justin.tv

by rydinlow on Jun 4, 2009 1:07 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

ya justin.tv is where i saw a free live broadcast of ufc 97 so it’s a good site

by hamsterwheel on Jun 4, 2009 1:41 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

JustinTV is one of the little carriers on ChannelSurfing.net. I’ve watched some of the NBA on it.

by PW on Jun 4, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Brown is gonna give Faber the beatdown.

by Khaos_Warrior on Jun 4, 2009 3:46 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I will be interested to see if this gets into the championship rounds. Brown is a huge 145 pounder and there’s nobody in MMA that can match Urijah’s pace for 25 minutes. The longer this fight goes, the more likely we will see Urijah choke Brown.

by Sacto on Jun 4, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Exactly

by DirtbagHtr on Jun 4, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

after watching what brown did to garcia and faber, i don’t know who is going to beat him.

by chris on Jun 4, 2009 7:20 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Faber by decision.

by mikehunt on Jun 4, 2009 7:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

You could also just download it via torrents…
http://fullcontactzone.tv/
I did not write this :P

by TheEder on Jun 4, 2009 11:30 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

The only thing Brown needs to worry about is the giant butt crack on Faber’s chin. I see it swallowing him in the 2nd round.

by chrisTX on Jun 4, 2009 11:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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