In just one hour's time we'll be bringing you the WEC 48: Aldo v. Faber LIVE Recap. Once the SpikeTV prelims begin you can hit F5 or refresh on the full article as often as you like for updates. While you're waiting for the show to begin you can check out our Thursday Night AMP preview with GG from FightGameBlog.com, our WEC Predictions with said same and the WEC weigh-in results. Enjoy all of our WEC 48 coverage tonight on AngryMarks.com!

Preliminary Fight Results (may or may not be seen on TV):

• Tyler Toner d. Brandon Visher by TKO (Elbows) @ 2:36 of R1; 
• Takeya Mizugaki d. Rani Yahya by Unanimous Decision; 
• Chad Mendes d. Anthony Morrison by Submission (Guillotine Choke) @ 2:13 of R1; 
• Brad Pickett d. Demetrious Johnson by Unanimous Decision

SpkeTV Free Preliminary Match Recap - 9PM ET - 10PM ET

Killa Kev is picking up the next hour of free action, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan will be our broadcast crew for the evening since this is going to be on PPV instead of Versus. Goldberg & Rogan hype up the main event of our card tonight.

Alex Karelexis (10-4-0, 156.5 lbs) vs. Anthony Pettis (9-1-0, 155.5  lbs.)

We show some clips from the weigh-ins from Friday, it's easy to say that these two men aren't fond of each other. Karelexis says that Pettis is going to try to make a name for himself using his name, but it isn't going to happen. Pettis says that he expects Karalexis to explode early and quick, and he's ready for it. Pettis has a 6" reach advantage over Karalexis and is expected to use it. Bruce Buffer is in the cage and is ready to start the show, "WEEEEEEEE AAAARRREEEEE LIIIIIVE!" Referee for this match is Josh Rosenthal.

Karalexis comes out swinging, taking the middle of the ring, roundhouse kick doesn't connect, but he's making Pettis bounce around the win and keeping him on his toes. Pettis goes for an outstanding switch kick to the head, catches Karalexis on his head, he gets ROCKED! Pettis follows up with a flurry of punches, Karalexis falls into Pettis to close the distance and wraps up Pettis, puts him in the corner, but Karalexis is clearly trying to recover. 4:00 left, Pettis tries to wrap him up, Karalexis tries for a single-leg takedown, but Pettis wiggles out of it to take the action to the middle of the ring. Pettis comes out and takes a few swing, tries to circle around Karalexis to find an angle, he's cut off. Pettis throws a body kick, Karalexis catches the foot, swpeeps and gets right into top mount, 3:00 left. Pettis kicks him off, tries some upkicks, Karalexis fights through it, flips Pettis over tries to take his back, Pettis gets to his feet, puts Karalexis on the cage, but they break and go back to center, 2:25 left. Karalexis and Pettis trade rights, not much connecting, Pettis with a right leg kick low, Karalexis tries to respond, Pettis catches it, tries for a counter punch but Karalexis pulls out. Pettis follows up with another switch kick at Karalexis pulls out of, 1:50 left. Karalexis advances with some jabs, Pettis blocks, returns with a low kick and a left jab right onthe button, Karalexis eats it, charges, goes for a singl eleg takedown on the cage, Pettis stuffs it, Karalexis wraps him up in the corner, Pettis frees himself, goes for a roundhouse kick to the head, Karalexis blocks it, 1:00 left. Karalexis goes for a high kick, connect, Pettis responds with several low leg kicks that sends Karalexis off his stance, and after a few more connect Karalexis switches his stance, they trade blows, Pettis throwing big kicks, Karalexis looks to load up for a big right, but instead goes for a takedown, doesn't quite get it but stuffs Pettis on the cage until the end of the round.

Round Two opens up with Karalexis quickly cutting the ring off, throws the punches on Pettis, picks him up and slams him to the ground into the mount, 4:40 left. Pettis trying to throw some upkicks but Karalexis has him where he wants, Pettis is able to roll backwards and escape, throws some low leg kicks, Karalexis blocks it, charges with a double-leg takedown and scores it, but Pettis pulls guard, 4:00 left. Pettis is able to throw his legs up high and throw punches and elbows from the bottom. Karalexis pulls out and dives back into the guard, and Pettis catches him with a leg triangle, Karalexis fights to escape, throws punches, but he just can't pull it off and he taps with 3:26 left.

WINNER: Anthony Pettis d. Alex Karelexis @ 1:35 of Round 2 by Submission (Triangle Choke).  Joe Rogan congratulates Pettis for displaying a well-rounded game, starting off with kicks, scoring outstanding punches, and finishing it off with a ground game. Pettis thanks Jesus Christ, his crew and the fans. We take a commercial break, come back and see WEC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo chilling out in his green room, then over to Urijah Faber warming up. Aldo looks very cold and serious, while Faber looks loose, he's cracking smiles and looks like he's enjoying himself. 

Chad "Money" Mendes (6-0-0, 145 lbs.) vs. Anthony "Cheesesteak" Morrison (15-8-0, 145 lbs.)

This is a pre-recorded fight, we start out with Mendes controlling the center of the ring, but Morrison keeps the distance close, both men throwing some punches, Mendes charges forward with punch combos, puts Morrison on the cage, but MOrrison counter-punches his way out and we go back to the middle of the cage, 4:00 left. Mendes throws some jab combos, nothing connects but it's keeping Morrison on his toes, 3:40 left. Morrison throws a left jab that connects, Mendes counters with a left jab that is just out of reach, Morrison with another jab that connects, Mendes quickly shoots and takes down MOrrison, 3:15 left, Mendes quickly into half-guard, switches around for a north-south front face lock, pulsl in the left arm, slips his legs around Morrison's body, goes into the Guillotine Choke and Morrison doesn't take long to tap out!

WINNER: Chad Mendes d. Anthony Morrison @ 2:13 of Round 1 by Submission (Guillotine Choke). Mendes says the win feels great, and thanks the fans for comign out. Roegan leads him through the end of the match. Mendes says that Morrison kept him at a distance, and that he'd been practicing that choke for the last two weeks. Training paid off, kid! Mike Goldberg plugs UFC 113, and then we switch to an interview between Joe Rogan and Kimbo Slice, who is taking on Matt Mitrione. Rogan congratulates Slice on making a successful transition from street fighter to legitimate MMA fightter. Slice says that he's sacrificed a lot of time to make this happen. Rogan complements Slice for putting in the time and aligning himself with American Top Team. Slice says that this has been a learning process, he's still learning, and he's appreciative being lined up against a serious opponent like Mitrione, and promises "a damn good fight." He says that he's continued to work on  his ground and stand-up to be on the cutting edge of his training. Rogan says that watching Kimbo Slice continue to develop has been a treat.

Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia (17-5-1, 145 lbs.) vs. Chan Sung "the Korean Zombie" Jung (10-1-0, 145.5 lbs)

Sung says that he's not coming into this fight to score points, he's coming to score a knockout and plans to stand up and duke this out. Garcia says that everybody is gunning for him and trying to score the knockout, but every time he's been the one who puts them out. We take a commercial break and come back for the in-ring introductions, referee in charge is Jon Schorle.

Both men come out, tap gloves, and Jung starts throwing kicks, but easily blocks. Jung backs Garcia back up to the cage, Garcia throws some lefts and backs Jung up a little, but gets back up again, 4:30 left. Garcia now throwing some kicks to back up Jung, but lets him close the distance again. Jung throws a few light punches and kick, Garcia throws a big over-the-top left, Jung counters with a big kick, Garcia with a knee, we're going toe-to-toe here in a slugfest, Jung rocks Garcia, Garcia rocks Jung, 3:40 left and we're still banging and connecting! Garcia slows it up at 3:30 by clenching Jung in the corner, taking his time, throws a big right elbow to the head, Jung is eating these punches like candy, then delivers a right elbow of his own to exit, spins Garcia around and puts him on the fencee, throwing punches, knees, puring it on, 2:35 left, but Garcia wethers it and tries to take it down to the middle. Garcia throws a kick, gets blocked, Jung shoves him off. Jung with a big head kick that grazes Garcia, Garcia counter-punches throwing heavy hands but is looking slow now. Jung catches him with a left at 1:55, Garcia falls back, Jung is right on him, throwing punches, but Garcia gets his legs around Jung's left arm and is trying for an armbar, Jung is able to pull out, 1:25 left, Jung gets side control, moves into half--guard instead to keep Garcia crowded up on the cage, stands up throwing big bombs and dodging upkicks, 1:00 left in the round. Garcia takes both feet to shove Jung back, stands up and wants to box, but Jung has him on the cage, threowing punches, Garcia is throwing all he's got, 40 seconds, Jung throwing them back, Jung eats a kicks, throws his own headkick,, then knees, Garcia with kenes, Jung really swinging, goes into the clinch, throwing knees, Garcia reverses the clinch and puts Jung on the cage, 10 seconds, they grapple, finally break, 5 seconds left, a few more punches and that's the end of round one! HOLY COW! Fans are on their feet that was a hell of a round that took it out of both men hard. Garcia is cut up and swollen on his face.  I'm not sure who won that round! Joe Rogan says it best, "This is just chaos!"  I think you need a whole five minutes just to try to recap this round!  They take some slect highlights and big punches, big kicks.

Round two starts, Garcia's face is completely swollen, but he's all smiles. Jung comes out he looks tired and be3aten already, but we're right back to the slugfest, trading punches, Garcia with a big right puts Jung down, Jung fights back up to his feet holy shit they're throwing so many punch combos, they're staggering all over the place, 4:25 left! Garcia connects witha sp9inning back fist, Junhg returns with one of his own! Garcia backs up, llooks for a right hand instead tries for a double-leg takedown, gets stuffed and instead lets himself be backed up to the cage as we slow down, 3:45 left in the round. Garcia rests a bit, throws a knee on the exit, Jung is cut open under his left eye as we go back to the middle of the ring, both men throwing big hooks now, Jung gets Garcia back on the cage, Garcia punches his way out, goes for a head kick that misses after a punch to the body connects. Jung with a leg kick, connects at the knee, 3:00 left. Garcia with a big overhand left, Jung ducks, counters with a right, gets blocked, Garcia throws a pair of kicks, a spin kick, Jung counters with a right kick and punch combos. Garcia comes out, big swing, Jung ducks it then latches onto Garcia's back as he spins around, gries for a Rear Naked CHoke, Garcia escapes it, 2:00 left. Garcia throwing big lefts that connect, Jung backs off, kicks, Garcia counters witha Superman punch, follows up with lefts, Jung backs up, 1:40 left, Garcia moves back in, throws some rights, Jung counters with rights, Garcia with left straights, then a right hook to the body, Jung counters with a knee and a thrust kick, 1:15 left. Garcia with an overhand right that gets ducked, then chases Garcia around the ring, keeping him circling, 1:00 left. Jung throws kicks, punch  ombosw, puts Garcia on the cage and is all over hi mlike stink on garbage! Garcia counter punches his way loose, we stop the action at 35 seconds left so Garcia can put his mouthpiece back in, then he comes out brawling, punches, knes, connecting to the head, Jung counters and connects with his own, 15 seconds, Jung locks up Garcia, puts him on the cage, we greak,k Garcia leaves with a head kick, Jung eats it, throws more punches, time expires! Wow.  WEC is normally very exciting, but this is possibly the most competitive, exciting match I've EVER seen in MMA! How these guys are still walking, I have NO idea!

THIRD AND FINAL ROUND! Jung is cut open under his eye, Garcia's eyes are swollne, they tap gloves one more time to open the round, Garcia throws punches, Jung counters with a low kick, Garcia with a jab, Jung counter pounches, 4:40 left. Garcia looks to be a little fresher now, throws a knee to the head, Jung punches back, but is dropping his hands, 4:20 left. Garcia throws a knee and kick combo, low kick to follow. Jung telegraphs a kick to the body that's avoided, Garcia with an inside leg kick. Jung tries throwing rights and left, Garcia avoids them, 3:50 left.  Garcia is picking his spots, but tees off witha  flurry of punches and kicks, Jung tries to close the distance, Garcia backs off and avoids a roundhouse kick to the head, comes in with a couple of jabs and backs right out, 3:10 left in the fight. Garcia is intentionally circling on the outside now to keep Jung chasing him, takes the middle of the ring and throws a few kicks to the body, spinning back kick, Jung isn't able to counter fast enough. Garcia goes back to circling on the outside, Jung moves in to throw a right jab that's avoided. Jung continues trying to stab with the right, Garcia comes in and tries to throw some big punches, Jung ducks them and throws a few uppercuts, spinning backfist and a left that catches Garcia, Garcia quickly bac kpedals, then comes in swinging hard, Jung counter punches, 1:43 left. Garcia with a head fake that gets Jung to pull back. Garcia looks re-composed, starts circling the ring again and gets Jung to chase him, Garcia stops and throws a leg kick that connects, Jung comes in, and we're banging again with lefts and rights, 1:10 left, all punches connecting, 1:00 left Jung is starting to cover up as Garcia throws a big knee and more lefts. 45 seconds left, Garcia with a body kick, blocked, Garcia with a wheel kick, gets ducked, Jung is firing up, throwing off lefts and rights, 28 seconds left, Garcia tries for a takedown, gest stuffed, Garcia with a knee to the body that connects, 15 seconds. Garcia witha low leg kick, 10 seconds, Garcia keeping Jung chasing him, 5 seconds, we tee off again until the horn!

HOLY HELL THIS WAS A FIGHT! IT's too bad neither man finished it but damnit they gave it their all! Both men hug inthe middle of the ring and are all-smiles, they know they just delivered the "Fight of the Night" candidate, I hope these guys win it, they deserve the fight bonus! Garcia comments to the camera that he broke his right hand, his corner is confident that they won. Then again, Jung's corner is also confident they won. Bruce Buffer with the decision... "Ladies and gentlemen, after three rounds of action we go to the judge's score card for the decision... 29-28 Garcia... 29-28 Jung... and 29-28 ... FOR THE WINNER BY SPLIT DECISION... LEONARD "BAD BOY" GARCIA!" 

The fans are booing the decision, Garcia says he did what he was supposed to, which is give the fans the best fight he could. Garcia says he broke his hand in the first round, but his corner told him to keep fighting. Jung collapses behind him and has to be helped up. Garcia continues to pump the fans, thanking them and says that they're the reason he fights, and that's what he's here to do. He thanks Jung for being a great opponent.

Joe Rogan is ringside with UFC President Dana White, who apparently wasn't aware that they were now on and live. The two plug the PPV event coming up in just two minutes. That closes out the free fights on SpikeTV, and Stevie J will take over from here.

WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber PPV Starts @ 10PM ET

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Thanks Kev! Good looking out covering the prelims. That Korean Zombie vs. Leonard Garcia fight was FUCKING AMAZING. I'm having a hard time figuring out what anybody will do on the PPV tonight to top that! I'm glad to see they kept the traditional WEC music for the PPV. ILLUMINATI, A SECRET SOCIETY DO EXIST. We are live at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. Tonight instead of Todd Harris and Frank Mir we are joined by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan on commentary. Goldberg calls Faber and Aldo two of the best 145ers in the world and I'm hard pressed to disagree. Rogan calls this Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran - he might be right too. Rogan is equally pumped up about 'Smooth' Ben Henderson vs. 'Cowboy' Donald Cerrone and so am I. Goldberg reminds us titles are on the line in both fights and previews the rest of the card. Anthony Njokuani battles Shane Roller. Mike Brown battles Manvel 'The Anvil' Gamburyan. Tonight's fights are sponsored by AMP Energy. Goldberg runs down the rules of the cage, same as the rules of the Octagon, unified rules of MMA apply. Time for our first PPV fight!

* Antonio Banuelos vs. Scott Jorgensen

You can't miss Jorgensen's vitiligo on his way to the cage - those blotchy patches of skin on his otherwise tan body where there's no pigment any more. Goldberg reminds us these two fought once before in June 2009 and Banuelos won by split decision. Rogan puts over the cardio and conditioning of Banuelos and both men note that he trains with Chuck Liddell. Tale of the Tape! 30 to 27, 5'3" to 5'4", 136 each, 63" to 66" reach from Banuelos to Jorgensen. Jorgensen is 9-3 and fights out of Boise, Idaho. Banuelos is 18-5 and fights out of Arroyo Grande, California. Our referee in charge for this fight is Herb Dean. Here we go!

Banuelos is in the red trunks, Jorgensen the white. Jorgensen is giving chase early. Banuelos fires off a leg kick. Banuelos lands a left hook. Banuelos lands a good combo. Banuelos tries to shoot and Jorgensen fires off knees. Jorgensen is over the top of his shoulder riding the takedown attempt. Banuelos breaks and misses with a left hook. Jorgensen slips after an inside leg kick but gets right back up. Jorgensen keeps pushing forward and misses with a big overhand right. There's a momentary stoppage for a low blow and I mean like a second long. Afterwards Banuelos tags him with a left hook and ten seconds later hits another that drops Jorgensen to the canvas. Two minutes left in the round. Jorgensen goes for an armbar! Banuelos wisely gets out of his guard and goes back to the feet. 90 seconds. You just want to take a paintbrush and fill in the white spots on Jorgensen's back and chest. Banuelos lands a spinning back kick. Banuelos throws a couple of head kicks to end the round. I'd call it 10-9 for Banuelos.

Rogan puts over www.twitter.com/joerogandotnet as we come back for R2 and says a lot of people on Twitter are upset Korean Zombie didn't get the decision in the prelims. Jorgensen lands a nice body kick, then another near the one minute mark. Jorgensen is starting to throw leather regualrly and Banuelos is getting a little bloody. "The jab's finding a home" notes Mike Goldberg, and he's right. His nose is busted and his mouth is wide open. 2:45 left in R2. Right hands land over and over. Banuelos looks up at the clock to see how much time is left. Jorgensen drops Banuelos with 55 seconds left and takes his back! "Banuelos is bleeding like a stuck pig" - Rogan. Banuelos tries to stand and Jorgensen stays on his back, but Banuelos finally breaks away with less than 10 seconds. Horn! R2 10-9 Jorgensen.

Third round underway! Jorgensen is unloading on Banuelos in the first 40 seconds and Banuelos nose is bleeding like a faucet. The jabs are popping Banuelos head back when they connect. Jorgensen could cruise to a decision if this keeps up. Jorgensen blasts him with a big right and a left jab as we pass two minutes. Jorgensen drops him with 2:15 left and  Banuelos tries to turtle up and survive! Herb Dean warns about shots to the back of the head. Banuelos escapes a rear naked choke attempt but he's still in big trouble. Jorgensen is riding his back with a minute left laying in shots at will. Rogan: "Joe Silva's got blood on his notebook." Banuelos starts throwing wild punches backward from the choke attempt as the round ends and a few land and shake Jorgensen loose! Too little too late the round ends and I think Jorgensen gets a unanimous decision here.

Here's Bruce Buffer! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE JUDGES' SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION. ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE THIS CONTEST 29-28 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: SCOTT 'YOUNG GUN' JORGENSEN!

* Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller

Roller comes out first to Bawitdaba. 30 to 30, 6'0 to 5'10, 156 to 155.5 and 75.5" to 72" from Tony to Roller. Roller is 7-2 and fights out of Las Vegas. Tony is 13-2 and also fights out of Las Vegas. Our referee is Josh Rosenthal. here we go!

Tony is in the white trunks and Roller is in the green. Both men grind for a takedown and Roller gets it 30 seconds in but Tony stands right back up. Roller gets a second takedown and  tries to move from half guard to side control, then moves there to full mount. Tony rolls but Roller takes the back and he's looking for a choke. 90 seconds in! Things slow down as Tony defends and Roller takes a body triangle from the back. Halfway gone in R1. He can't keep him off forever though and ROLLER FINALLY SINKS IN THE RNC WITH 1:53 LEFT.

Bruce Buffer: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ROSENTHAL STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 3:07 OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER DUE TO A REAR NAKED CHOKE - SHANE ROLLER! Joe Rogan congratulates him on his attack. "I didn't want to lose position with strikes, I was just sitting things up waiting for the opportunity, and I finished him off." That you did sir, job well done. Jake Shields is sitting in the crowd with Dana White and both are laughing and smiling! Joe Rogan: "THAT'S A MESSAGE TO CBS."

* Mike Brown vs. Manvel Gamburyan

Anvil comes out first. Brown comes out to Simple Man. 34 to 28, 5'6" to 5'5", 146 each and 70" to 67" reach from Brown to Gamburyan. Anvil's record is 12-5 and he fights out of Hollywood, California. Brown is 23-5, fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida and he gets a HUGE babyface pop compared to the boos for Anvil. Jon Schorle is our ref. Here we go!

Anvil is in the black trunks, Jon the blue. Brown is throwing kicks and punches, covering up, moving his head, circling, and being the aggressor of the two. Rogan says Anvil's striking looks improved but "a little tight." Brown keeps throwing a front kick and following with a big right. Gamburyan misses with an uppercut. 1:45 gone by. Anvil is getting more aggressive and throws an overhand right. ANVIL DROPS HIM AND THIS IS ALL OVER!! It was a battle of right hooks and Gamburyan's was harder than Brown's. Brown had him in trouble but Gamburyan stopped him COLD.

Bruce Buffer! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN JON SCHORLE CALLS A STOP TO THIS CONTEST AT 2:22 OF R1 FOR THE WINNER BY KO: MANVEL 'THE ANVIL' GAMBURYAN! Rogan goes to interview him and compliments him on his stand-up. Crowd is still booing. "I want to thank all my friends, my family, my teammate. I'm improving, all I'm doing is improving. I'm promised you guys I was going to do genocide and I did it!" Did he say GENOCIDE?

* Brad Pickett d. Demetrious Johnson

Killa Kev already posted the prelims so this one is kind of spoiled for me and for those of you reading this recap too but that's what happens when fights end early. Pickett wins by unanimous decision. Time to go and get an ice cold beverage. Take my word for it that it was worth showing on PPV - this fight was a three round war. Final scores were 30-27 x2 and 29-28.

* Ben Henderson {C} v. Donald Cerrone

'Cowboy' Donald Cerrone comes out to Cowboy by Kid Rock. Henderson is pumped up and high-fiving fans on his way to the cage. Goldberg reminds us he's on a ten fight winning streak. Rogan reminds us he's beaten two of the guys we've already seen on the card tonight. Tale of the Tape! 26 to 27, 5'9" to 6'0", 155 to 154.5 and 70" to 73" from Henderson to Cerrone. FIGHTING out of the blue corner, 11-2, 1 NC, tweaking his nipples, fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico - Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone! Henderson is 11-1 and fighting out of Glendale, Arizona and he's SMOOOOTH according to Bruce Buffer. Our referee in charge is Herb Dean. Here we go!

Henderson is in the black trunks Cerrone the white. Cerrone is pushing forward early and throwing leg kicks. He's got Henderson down on the ground for a moment but both guys are up to their feet and Henderson has Cerrone pressed into the cage, throwing NASTY knees at his legs and head. OUCH. Cerrone finally takes so much punishment on his legs that Henderson pushes through and Cerrone topples to the ground and Henderson goes for the guillotine and gets it! IT IS ALL OVER!!!!!!!!!!!

Cerrone has a huge knot on his forehead as they await the decision. Buffer: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN HERB DEAN STOPS THIS FIGHT AT 1:57 OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY TAPOUT TO A GUILLOTINE CHOKE AND STILL LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: BEN 'SMOOTH' HENDERSON! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Sacramento can I get an amen!!" Rogan compliments his technique. "Thank you, pretty tight, thank you." Rogan tells us to give it up for the champ and he gets a big round of applause. Cerrone: "My hat's off to the guy he's a great fighter. I slipped and he got it, hell yeah." Rogan says he looks forward to seeing him again.

* Tyler Toner v. Brandon Visher (Bonus Fight)

Toner wins by TKO from elbows at 2:36 of the first round. Vicious fight - Visher has welts all over his face. A kick, a left hand and some nasty elbows on the ground finished it off.

They're re-airing Chad 'Money' Mendes vs. Anthony Morrison from the SpikeTV prelims now. If you didn't see if the first time read up to find out the results.

* Jose Aldo {C} v. Urijah Faber (WEC 48 PPV Main Event)

Faber comes out to California Love by 2Pac and Dr. Dre and Sacramento goes NUTS for the California Kid! The crowd starts booing Aldo before he even walks out. His music is Jay-Z's Run This Town. Goldberg tells us that's no coincidence. The crowd keeps booing him all the way to the Harley-Davidson prep point. Tale of the Tape! 23 to 30, 5'7" to 5'6", 145 to 144.5 and 70" to 69" from Aldo to Faber. Buffer reminds us this is the MAIN EVENT and says Nelson Hamilton, Abe Belardo and Dan Steel are the judges. Our referee is Josh Rosenthal. Faber gets another HUGE POP as he's introduced in the blue corner, 23-3, fighting out of and IN his hometown of Sacramento. The boos start right as Buffer goes to the red corner. Aldo is 16-1 and fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. People in the crowd are wearing NO WAY JOSE shirts and holding up signs. Here we go!

Faber is in the white trunks, Aldo the black. Faber is aggressive early. Loading up and coming forward. Aldo is keeping him at bay with leg kicks and knocks him to the ground with one 85 seconds in. Faber tries to throw a knee. Aldo is being patient. 2 minutes gone by. Huge FA-BER crowd chant. Faber shoots at 2:20 and Aldo easily gets away. Faber keeps testing the range with his right hand sticking way out in front of him. Also misses with a spin kick. Aldo tries to hit an uppercut and it's only a glancing blow at best. Faber catches a knee with 75 seconds to go but he responds with a thrust kick. Both guys are so fast it's hard for the other to land a blow. Faber lands a body shot and a right hook twice. Also lands a knee to the body to back him off. 30 seconds. Crowd chanting for the Cali Kid again. 10 seconds. Pretty even first round.

Faber is still coming forward strong at the start of R2. Also is starting to control the center now though and make Faber circle. Also glances the chin with an uppercut and Faber backs off a bit. Also is connecting a lot with leg kicks. He tries to throw a knee and Faber checks it. Faber throws a head kick that misses. Halfway through the round. Aldo's leg kicks look and sound nasty. Fans at the Arco Arena may be getting a little impatient. Aldo's got to be winning this round - the leg kicks are working and Faber's not landing anything in return. He may be buckling Faber's leg with those shots. I'm reminded of Griffin vs. Rampage. 15 seconds. Goldberg: "Aldo's chopping him down." Rogan: "He's in deep deep trouble." 10-9 for Aldo, on to R3!

Faber does seem a little gimpy on the left leg now. He's even trying to change up his stance to avoid taking more kicks. Faber looks for a takedown at 45 seconds but there's nothing there. Aldo keeps throwing those leg kicks and Faber is really hurting now with a minute gone in R3. 210 seconds left in this round. Aldo is throwing body kicks now too. Faber is getting backed up into the fence now at every turn. Faber has no quit in him though - he's still giving it everything he's got. 150 seconds. Faber almost gets a takedown but Aldo gets right back up. Aldo stuns Faber and starts to throw big shots. Faber covers up and survives. 90 seconds. Also seems bigger, stronger and nastier at every turn. Those leg kicks are slowing Faber down and leaving him wide open for head kicks and punches. Another vicious leg kick at 37 seconds left. Also scores clean with a body shot, knocks Faber down with a kick and finishes R3 on top at the horn. 10-9, almost a 10-8.

Aldo is signaling for the kicks to start R4, stomping with his left foot and loading up with the right, chasing Faber across the cage. You can clearly hear that the hometown crowd is not happy with their hometown boy getting beat. Aldo nails the leg, Faber can't stand any more, Aldo is on top of him one minute in. Aldo gets the full mount and Faber gives up his back. Aldo sinks in the hooks! Faber is trying to keep his chin down and avoid head shots at the same time. Rogan notes this is good for Faber in one way - he's not taking more leg kicks. Faber sweeps and gets back up with 2:50 left! Aldo clips the leg again and Faber goes right back down. Aldo is all over him on top. 110 seconds left. Aldo moves to side control and gets a mounted crucifix, raining down blows. Aldo is warned about fingers to the eyes but is otherwise cleaning Faber's clock. 55 seconds. Faber is warned he needs to do more work. Aldo is hammering away and blasting him with elbows and just making Faber eat one shot after another from the left. Faber manages to survive for the horn but just barely. CLEAR 10-8 ROUND FOR ALDO.

Time for the fifth and final round! Goldberg reminds us this is the third time Faber has gone to the fifth in a championship fight. Also goes right back to the leg kicks. Faber is trying to change stance and avoid being punished. Faber is showing a lot of heart but he can't shoot or come forward because he's limping so badly. Faber tries to grab a foot and Aldo gets away. Faber lays on his back hoping Aldo will jump into his guard and Aldo stays wary. The crowd is tired of it and so is Rosenthal and he stands Faber up with 2:45 to go. Unless Faber can land a wild lucky punch or a fluke submission Aldo can just cruise here... which is exactly what he seems to be doing. Faber tries to shoot again but can't put anything on it, and eats a body shot for his trouble that hurts him. Faber goes to his back and Aldo looks to pounce, 30 seconds left. Also drops bombs as Faber is on his back and he throws a few desperate upkicks. Aldo walks away, Faber gets up, the horn sounds and the crowd boos. Also should get an easy unanimous decision in defense of his WEC title when we get the scorecards.

Here's Bruce Buffer! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER FIVE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE JUDGES' SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION. 49-45, 49-45, AND 50-45 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION AND STILL THE UNDISPUTED FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: JOSE ALDO JUNIOR!

Rogan asks Aldo if he's surprised how the fight went and the translator breaks it down. "We were planning for it to be a tough fight. The crowd here is behind Faber but I hold Sacramento close to my heart and I hope you can adopt me as a champion too, this is my home away from home." Rogan asks if he was in cruise control for the last two rounds. Also: "No no!" Translator: "I was being very effective but he kept switching his base, and I was aware of that, so I didn't want to get caught outside of my limits because he has a very strong right cross. I always step in there to finish, that's my goal, I wasn't able to tonight." Aldo: "Thank you all my fan. I fight, for you, thank you for coming!" He gets a mixture of cheers and boos.

Faber's team holds him up for the interview. "I trained a lot of defensive leg kicks but he's very effective with them. It was impossible to get something going. I was losing mobility, he's very good and very gast, I tried my best." Rogan thanks him for going the distance and says we look forward to seeing him again, and he gets a huge pop from Sac-Town.

Korean Zombie vs. Leonard Garcia is being shown as a bonus fight - read up for the results if you missed the prelims. Since this is a three rounder that's probably going to take us to the end of the PPV so I'm going to say GOOD FIGHT, GOOD NIGHT, and we'll see you right back here for UFC 113!