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“It wasn’t me that night, it wasn’t me out there, I didn’t want to fight that night. I just got 18 stitches above my eye six days before the fight. I was training with Thiago Alves and I got kneed in the face. I saw a plastic surgeon and he gave me 18 (dissolvable stitches) above my eye. I went in to fight because I needed to fight, for the money and you make a commitment to fight. I was nervous and tentative. I didn’t have that same aggressiveness. I was more like, ‘what the f— am I doing here?’ That kind of mentality.”

—Mike Brown revealing to Sherdog he wasn’t mentally right in his title defense against Jose Aldo

I don’t know, even if Mike Brown was 150% going into the Jose Aldo fight, I’m not sure it would have made much of a difference. Aldo is just too fast, too explosive. However, if Brown can string enough wins together and look as impressive as he did before, I wouldn’t be against a rematch. I’d like to see Aldo-Faber first though.

Brown is eager to get back on the horse and after a little begging, the WEC gave in and granted him his wish. He’ll face off against Anthony Morrison on Jan. 10 at WEC 46.

Image via Sherdog

The NSAC has released the fighter payouts for WEC 44 “Brown vs Aldo.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew recap UFC 105 and WEC 44 and preview UFC 106.

WEC 44 took place earlier this evening at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on Versus.

In the night’s main event, Mike Brown put his WEC Featherweight Championship up for grabs against Jose Aldo.

Manny Gamburyan looked to establish himself as a featherweight contender against hard-hitting Leonard Garcia.

“Razor” Rob McCullough and Karen Darabedyan met in a lightweight match-up.

Danny Castillo took on Shane Roller in a lightweight contest.

Results and thoughts after the jump.

WEC 44 “Brown vs Aldo” kicks off later tonight. The event airs live from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada at 9PM ET/6PM PT and airs live on Versus. If you’re looking to put down some cash on the fight, BetUS has the latest odds below. Good luck and enjoy the fights!

The WEC 44 weigh-ins took place earlier this evening at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

All fighters made weight.

The weigh-in results:

• Mike Brown (145) vs. Jose Aldo (145)
• Leonard Garcia (146) vs. Manny Gamburyan (146)
• Karen Darabedyan (156) vs. Rob McCullough (155)
• Danny Castillo (156) vs. Shane Roller (156)
• Will Kerr (155) vs. Kamal Shalorus (156)
• L.C. Davis (146) vs. Diego Nunes (146)
• John Franchi (145) vs. Cub Swanson (146)
• Antonio Banuelos (136) vs. Kenji Osawa (136)
• James Krause (156) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155)
• Seth Dikun (136) vs. Frank Gomez (136)

Fighters in non-title fights are allowed to weigh in one pound over the weight class limit.

WEC 44 will take place tomorrow, November 18, at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will air live on Versus at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

“We’ve got guys always getting ready (to fight), always training, so I had a handful of guys training really hard right now to get ready with me…He (Alves) helped me a lot with the knees, the knees and kicks because that’s his game. He looks a lot like Aldo if you watch those guys fight; straight punches, good needs, good kicks. Alves is just bigger and hits harder…Aldo might be quicker, but Thiago showed me a lot of nice defensive stuff on what to do in those types of situations. I go with a lot of the guys my weight, 45-pounders, 35-pounders to get that blazing speed.”

—Mike Brown talking to MMA Weekly about training with Thiago Alves for Jose Aldo

If you’re going to fight the Muay Thai wrecking machine that Jose Aldo has proved to be at 145 lbs., there aren’t many sparring partners better equipped to emulate his style than Thiago Alves. As Brown said, he’s pretty much a bigger, stronger version of Aldo, just not as quick.

Will it help lead Mike Brown to another successful title defense? We’ll find out tomorrow night, but my feeling is it will. I got Brown, who you got?

Image via Sherdog

HT: RawVegas.tv

Manny Gamburyan and Danny Castillo after the jump.