Henderson-Pettis Winner to Become UFC Lightweight No. 1 Contender

Filed under: UFC, NewsBen Henderson and Anthony Pettis will have the honor of shutting off the lights behind them when they face off in the last match in WEC history later this year.

But their WEC 53 main event matchup will be more than just an answer…

Filed under: ,

Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will have the honor of shutting off the lights behind them when they face off in the last match in WEC history later this year.

But their WEC 53 main event matchup will be more than just an answer to a trivia question; it will also determine the No. 1 contender to the UFC lightweight championship.

That’s the word according to UFC president Dana White, who told reporters of the plan during a conference call to formally announce the UFC-WEC merger.

The Big Announcement: UFC Absorbs WEC, Featherweights/Bantamweights Debut in January

(Props: MMAFighting)
The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC…

(Props: MMAFighting)

The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC will now feature seven championship weight classes. Here’s how it’ll work…

Jose Aldo is automatically the UFC Featherweight Champion; he’ll defend his UFC featherweight title at UFC 125 on January 1st against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

WEC 53 (December 16th; Glendale, Arizona) will be the final WEC event. The winner of the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen will become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. The winner of the lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will automatically face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125.

read more

Two Title Bouts Announced for WEC 53

Filed under: WEC, NewsBen Henderson and Dominick Cruz will make title defenses against Anthony Pettis and Scott Jorgensen, respectively, at WEC 53 on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Ariz., the WEC announced Monday.

The event at the Jobing.com Arena will mark the…

Filed under: ,

Ben Henderson and Dominick Cruz will make title defenses against Anthony Pettis and Scott Jorgensen, respectively, at WEC 53 on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Ariz., the WEC announced Monday.

The event at the Jobing.com Arena will mark the first time the WEC — and Zuffa — has promoted a card in Arizona, a location determined by fans through AMP Energy’s “Hometown Takedown Contest”.

‘WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez’ Aftermath — Press Conference Highlights, Payouts, Villains + More

(Props: YouTube.com/Heavy)
— If you thought last night’s WEC main event wasn’t as close as the judges scored it, Dominick Cruz would respectfully agree with you. As the reigning bantamweight champ said after his fight with Joseph Benavidez (…

(Props: YouTube.com/Heavy)

— If you thought last night’s WEC main event wasn’t as close as the judges scored it, Dominick Cruz would respectfully agree with you. As the reigning bantamweight champ said after his fight with Joseph Benavidez (skip to the 2:59 mark above): 

"In my humble opinion, I thought I won all the rounds…I think that the crowd has a big part to play in the judges’ opinion sometimes. Also, he caught me with a real slick knee up against the cage that made me bleed real bad. I would assume the blood could have swayed the judges a little as well."

Benavidez was also surprised that one of the judges saw it his way: "I figured I didn’t do enough to win, but I wasn’t watching the fight, so when the judge did say my name it was quite a surprise. I was like "wow, could this happen? Is this, like, the work of God or something?" For the record, FightMetric gave every round to Cruz for outpointing Benavidez in striking (103-46 total) and takedowns (5-0 total).

— $10,000 performance bonuses were handed out to the following fighters…
Knockout of the Night: Newcomer Maciej Jewtuszko for using a spinning back elbow and a pair of nasty uppercuts to wreck Anthony Njokuani in 96 seconds.
Submission of the Night: Anthony Pettis for finishing Shane Roller via triangle choke with just nine seconds left in the fight, after wearing Roller down with his impressively-flashy striking attacks. (How ’bout that capoeira head kick in round one?)
Fight of the Night: Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett for their 15-minute smash-up which went all over the cage and didn’t slow down for one second. Round two was easily one of the best MMA rounds of 2010.

read more

WEC 50 Live Blog: Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis Updates

Filed under: WEC This is the WEC 50 live blog for Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis, a lightweight bout on tonight’s WEC on Versus card at the Pearl in Las Vegas.

The winner of Roller (8-2) vs. Pettis (9-1) could potentially be next in line for a light…

Filed under:

This is the WEC 50 live blog for Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis, a lightweight bout on tonight’s WEC on Versus card at the Pearl in Las Vegas.

The winner of Roller (8-2) vs. Pettis (9-1) could potentially be next in line for a lightweight title shot against current champion Ben Henderson.

The live blog is below.

WEC 50: Anthony Pettis Submits Shane Roller

Filed under: WECAnthony Pettis put on the best performance of his promising MMA career Wednesday night at WEC 50, dominating Shane for more than 14 minutes before finally getting him to tap out with just nine seconds remaining in the third round, earn…

Filed under:

Anthony Pettis put on the best performance of his promising MMA career Wednesday night at WEC 50, dominating Shane for more than 14 minutes before finally getting him to tap out with just nine seconds remaining in the third round, earning a submission win and likely a World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight title shot.

Early in the fight the 23-year-old Pettis showed serious improvement in his takedown defense, keeping the fight standing against a good wrestler in Roller. He also showed off some creative striking, employing a variety of kicks that had Roller frustrated. As the fight wore on Pettis also showed a more sophisticated ground game than he had in the past, and the way he finished the fight was a thing of beauty, escaping from a guillotine choke and then catching Roller in the triangle that made Roller tap at the 4:51 mark of the third.