For Mike Brown the last few months have been terrifying and frustrating in equal measure. Once the WEC featherweight champion and a staple of pound-for-pound best lists, Brown has fallen on hard times. He’s lost three of his last four, including bouts to the unheralded Diego Nunes and the seemingly overmatched Rani Yahya. The losses anger Brown, like they do all fighters who once competed at the highest level. But what really scares him, terrifies him to his core, is that his body has betrayed him.

via Former World Champion Mike Brown: Physical Problems Are Breaking My Heart – Bloody Elbow.

I’m thinking Gray Maynard will win this and be the new UFC lightweight champ.

UFC 125 looks like it should be a great show with some good fights. My picks are:
Gray Maynard over Frankie Edgar
Chris Leben over Brian Stann
Brandon Vera over Thiago Silva
Nate Diaz over Dong Hyun Kim
Takanori Gomi over Clay Guida
Marcus Davis over Jeremy Stephens
Josh Grispi over Dustin Poirier
Phil Baroni over Brad Tavares
Mike Brown over Diego Nunes
Jacob Volkmann over Antonio McKee

For a short fight, it was awesome. The ending was great, but not for Urijah Faber. Mike Brown scored a takedown, Faber got back up and was in awkward position with his back towards Brown. Faber tried to throw a good backwards elbow, and almost connected, but his chin ran into Mike Browns right fist. Urijah Faber fell to the ground and turtled up, and Mike Brown capitalized by landing a million punches to Fabers dome before the referee stopped the fight. Mike Brown is the new WEC Featherweight Champ.

WECâ„¢ INVADES FLORIDA FOR THE FIRST TIME

URIJAH FABER vs. MIKE BROWN
PAULO FILHO vs. CHAEL SONNEN

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 LIVE FROM THE SEMINOLE HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO IN HOLLYWOOD, FL

LIVE ON VERSUS 9 P.M. ET/6 P.M. PT

Tickets Go on Sale Monday, July 21 at Noon

Las Vegas –World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) announced today that two world titles will be on the line on Wednesday, September 10th when the organization makes its initial foray into the great state of Florida. In the main event, WEC Featherweight Champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber defends his title against Florida’s own Mike Brown, and in the co-featured bout, WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo “Eli” Filho returns to action to battle Chael Sonnen in their highly anticipated rematch. This championship doubleheader will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) and SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

Tickets for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN go on sale Monday, July 21 at noon and are priced at $175, $125, $100, and $50 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (954) 523-3309. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

With technique, tenacity, and charisma, “The California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1), has proven time and time again why he is considered one of the best fighters in MMA today. Faber captured the WEC title in March of 2006 with a decisive second round stoppage of Cole Escovedo. Since then, he has continued to dominate the division, defending his crown with first round wins over Joe Pearson, Dominic Cruz, and Chance Farrar. His most recent victory came in the long-awaited superfight against Jens Pulver, where he displayed top notch striking and a champion’s heart in defeating the future Hall of Famer by unanimous decision in front 12,000 fans. But there is no rest for the man on top of the heap, and on September 10, he will return to fight one of his toughest opponents yet in Florida’s own Mike Brown.

Mike Brown (19-4) has compiled an impressive MMA record over his seven year pro career, and his aggressive style in the cage has earned him a large fan following. In his most recent bout on June 1st, the well-rounded American Top Team fighter earned a title shot with an exciting three round win over a game Jeff Curran, and he is undoubtedly going to have a hometown crowd in his corner when he challenges Faber for supremacy at 145 pounds. Brown fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida where he earned his reputation as a top ranked 145 lb. fighter.

Considered by many to be the premier middleweight fighter in the world today, WEC Champion Paulo ‘Eli’ Filho (16-0) has fought the best that the 185-pound division has to offer, both here and abroad, and he has yet to taste defeat. In 2007, Filho made his WEC debut in stirring fashion, stopping Joe Doerksen in the first round to win the organization title. He was pushed to the limit in his first title defense last December though, when Chael Sonnen got him in trouble early and dominated the first round. In the second round, Filho rebounded, catching Sonnen in an armbar with only seconds to go in the frame. And while there was some controversy over whether Sonnen verbally submitted or not, the fight was halted with five seconds left in the round and Filho retained his crown. Yet like a true champion, Filho respected the challenger’s performance and didn’t want his victory to have any question marks surrounding it, so he granted Sonnen a rematch.

Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) left quite an impression in his WEC debut last December with his stellar performance against Filho. But this six-year MMA veteran is no stranger to competing at the top levels of the sport, having beaten world-class fighters such as Jason Miller, Jason Lambert, Trevor Prangley, and Amar Suloev. Now approaching his prime as a fighter at 31, Sonnen plans on bringing the belt home in his second shot on September 10.

The remaining bouts for WEC: FABER vs. BROWN will be announced in the near future. All bouts subject to change.