WEC finalizes its card for
Cruz vs. Benavidez on Aug. 18
Jul 28, 2010 | by MattE | No CommentsThe WEC on Wednesday made final its card for WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas. And there is plenty of Midwest talent on the card.
WEC 50 will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Joseph Benavidez. Cruz will be making his first defense of the title since taking it from Brian Bowles in March at WEC 47. Bowles, in that fight, was making his first defense since winning the belt from East Chicago native Miguel Torres at WEC 40 last August. In March, Cruz handed Torres his second straight loss to earn the title shot.
WEC 50′s main card will air live on the Versus cable network at 8 p.m. Central.
The new co-main event will be a lightweight bout between Shane Roller and Milwaukee-based fighter Anthony Pettis, who trains at the esteemed Duke Roufus Roufusport camp. Roller has won three straight fights; Pettis is looking for his third straight win. And the winner could get a shot at current champion Ben Henderson.
The previous co-main event was to be a bantamweight showdown between former featherweight kingpin Urijah Faber, who was dropping down to fight at bantamweight for the first time, and Takeya Mizugaki. But a training injury for Faber forced him off the card and the WEC elected to move on without finding a replacement to fight Mizugaki. That leaves WEC 50 with 10 fights instead of the traditional 11.
Also on the main televised card, Chad Mendes, who trains with Faber and Benavidez at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, puts his unbeaten record on the line against Cub Swanson. And Scott Jorgensen brings a four-fight winning streak into a stiff test against Brad Pickett, a training partner of former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown at American Top Team. A win for Jorgensen likely will earn him a shot at the winner of the Cruz-Benavidez main event for the bantamweight title. And Wonder Lake, Ill., product Bart Palaszewski takes on fellow Midwesterner Zack Micklewright, of Davenport, Iowa.
On the preliminary card, Anthony Njokuani, who has won Knockout of the Night honors in three of his last four fights, takes on Polish newcomer Maciej Jewtuszko; Mackens Semerzier, who spends a portion of his training time working with Torres, meets Javier Vazquez; Chicago’s Ricardo Lamas meets Dave Jansen; Fredson Paixao takes on Bryan Caraway; and Danny Castillo fights WEC newcomer Dustin Poirier, who has all seven of his wins by stoppage.
“We are really excited to bring the best lighter weight fighters in the world back to the Palms,” WEC general manager Reed Harris said. “All 10 fights on this card are dynamic and we expect to put on another one of the year’s most memorable events.”
» Posted in: News,WEC» Tagged: dominick cruz, joseph benavidez, las vegas, WEC, wec 50
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