#17 FW Rafael Assuncao Signs with WEC
by Rundownloser on Feb 16, 2009 2:18 PM EST
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PrintMMAjunkie.com has the story:
Rafael Assuncao, who has 10 stoppage victories among his 12 career pro victories, has signed a multi-fight deal with the WEC, his manager, Malki Kawa from First Round Management, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
As MMAjunkie.com recently reported, Assuncao had been considering offers from the WEC and the upstart Bellator Fighting Championships, where he would have competed in BFC's eight-man featherweight tournament.
"(WEC matchmaker) Sean Shelby developed a relationship with Rafael," Kawa said. "At the end of the day, some people do things for money. Some people do it for prestige. Rafael did it because the WEC developed a solid relationship with him."
Rafael is widely considered a top featherweight, whose talents have been long sought after by several organizations (including the WEC and Bellator). The twenty-seven year old had been signed to the AFL; however, he was recently granted a release from that contract and became a free agent.
I have linked to his Sherdog FighterFinder page here, so that you may become more aquianted with Mr. Assuncao. Upon viewing, one should note a couple key pieces of information:
- He has wins over Joe Lauzon in 2006 and Jorge Masvidal in 2005. Additionally, his victory over Lauzon was by way of submission.
-His lone career loss (out of thirteen bouts) is by majority decision to Jeff Curran. Said fight can be seen on Youtube: Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3.
All told, this is a huge addition to the featherweight division in the WEC and bodes well for the division in 2009 and beyond.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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Amazing pick up here. WEC’s 145 division is easily becoming one of my favorite divisions of any company worldwide. They are getting a stranglehold on all of the worlds top featherweight talent.
I didn’t yet. Where are they?
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 16, 2009 8:30 PM EST up reply actions
Also, is the Dream featherweight tournament even being held at 145?
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 16, 2009 8:52 PM EST up reply actions
Smoog, are you going to link me to these rosters or answer my question?
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 16, 2009 11:00 PM EST up reply actions
DREAM tournament is 139lbs or something.
DREAM
Masakazu “Ashikan Judan” Imanari
Hiroyuki “Streetfight Bancho” Takaya
Takafumi Otsuka
Hideo Tokoro
“Wicky Akiyo” Nishiura
Atsushi Yamamoto
Bibiano Fernandes
Micah Miller
Chase Beebe
Joe Warren
Kim Jong Won
Daiki “DJ.taiki” Hata
Abel Cullum
Kazuyiki Miyata**
Darren Uyenoyama**
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto*
Sengoku
-Hatsu Hioki
-Marlon Sandro
-Chris Manuel
-Nick “The Ninja of Love” Denis
-Ronnie “Mann” Ushikawa
-Masanori Kanehara
-Tetsuya Yamada
-“Zombie” Chang Son Jon
-Shintaro Ishiwatari
-Seiya Kawahara
-Michihiro Omigawa
-Nam Phan**
-Ian Schaffa**
May be seeded into 2nd Round
*Rumoured
by smoogy on Feb 16, 2009 11:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
139’s closer to bantamweight than featherweight, but both tournaments still look promising. Thanks, Smoog.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 16, 2009 11:25 PM EST up reply actions
What is Sengoku’s weight limit?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 16, 2009 11:34 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 16, 2009 11:50 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, definitely. Dream and Sengoku now hold a combined four ranked FWs in the meta-top 25 (2 top tens and 2 top twenty-fives) compared to WECs 11 (and Dominic Cruz?) – six top tens, five top twenty-fives, and Dominic Cruz.
You’d have to be blind not to realize that the WECs stranglehold on top FW talent is over.
/end sarcasm
Well, I really don’t see how you can say how this in any way would compete with WECs stranglehold on top FW talent in the world.
Hioki and Imanari are the only guys who can legitimately be called top FW talents in this tournament. Sandro and Wicky Akiyo have decent talent but not the wins (and Wicky is still very limited off his back). Takaya (even though I love him) has shown himself to be very mid-tier and incapable of not getting punched in the face. Tokoro and Taiki are strictly mid-tier guys as well. They’re not going to beat the elite of the division. Ishiwatari has mad potential, but he’s wilder than Wicky, which is saying something. Half the other guys left are BWs.
by ilostmydog on Feb 17, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Good analysis.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
by Charles Awad on Feb 17, 2009 2:53 PM EST up reply actions
As long as Kid, Takeshi, Hioki, Imanari, Reis, Sandro and other blue chippers are still out there, there is no stranglehold. Up until the last year or two, Shooto’s 143lb division was universally regarded as the top proving ground for fighters around that weight. But overall, the division has always been spread out in a way that makes it unclear what the actual hierarchy looks like. These two GPs, and the next few months of WEC fights are going to answer a lot of questions hopefully.
Hey, Bibiano Fernandes is the real deal. :-P
That guy could do well in DREAM’s tournament.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 17, 2009 4:53 PM EST up reply actions
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