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Reminder: WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez Weigh-Ins Live Right Here at 7:00pm ET

(Video courtesy YouTube/WEC)
With all of the media hype surrounding Saturday night”s Strikeforce: Houston event and UFC 118 the following weekend, it’s no wonder that a lot of people have forgotten that we have a mid-week WEC event tomorrow night.
W…

(Video courtesy YouTube/WEC)

With all of the media hype surrounding Saturday night”s Strikeforce: Houston event and UFC 118 the following weekend, it’s no wonder that a lot of people have forgotten that we have a mid-week WEC event tomorrow night.

WEC 50 goes down Wednesday night in Las Vegas and will feature a main event championship rematch between the promotion’s bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez. Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber was supposed to make his WEC bantamweight debut opposite Takeya Mizugaki on the card, but he had his head kicked off by Kenny Powers and had to pull out due to the injury.

Here’s the card for the event, which boasts a pretty solid line-up of up-and-comers and could produce some great scraps reminiscent of the much lauded Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung WEC 48 fight, so it’s definitely worth tuning in. What else do you have to do on a Wednesday night?

WEC 50
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Pearl at The Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada

Main Card
Bantamweight Championship Bout
Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez
Lightweight bout: Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis
Featherweight bout: Cub Swanson vs. Chad Mendes
Bantamweight bout: Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett
Lightweight bout: Bart Palaszewski vs. Zach Micklewright

Non-Televised Preliminary Card
Anthony Njokuani vs. Maciej Jewtuszko
Javier Vazquez vs. Mackens Semerzier
Ricardo Lamas vs. Dave Jansen
Fredson Paixão vs. Bryan Caraway
Danny Castillo vs. Dustin Poirier

The weigh-ins for the event take place tonight at 7:00pm ET and can be seen right here after the jump.

‘Showtime’ Pettis Plans to Exploit Shane Roller’s Holes, Seize WEC Spotlight

Filed under: WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, interviewAnthony Pettis goes by the nickname “Showtime.” It’s an ironic moniker given the fact that his own mother, Annette Garcia, can’t bear to watch him perform under the spotlight. What’s even more ironic is th…

Filed under: WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, interview

Anthony Pettis goes by the nickname “Showtime.” It’s an ironic moniker given the fact that his own mother, Annette Garcia, can’t bear to watch him perform under the spotlight. What’s even more ironic is that it’s largely mom who laid the foundation for his surging MMA career.

Pettis was just a five-year-old kid who needed a place to go when he was first introduced to martial arts. At the time, Annette was a single mom attending college, and a taekwondo class on the campus of her school sounded like a perfect short-term distraction for Pettis and his brother, Rey.

“I hated it,” Pettis says now with a laugh. “I wanted to be with my friends and play basketball, just be outside.”

Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez: Head to Head

(Whatever Benavidez throws at him in the cage, it won’t be nearly as intense as that horrible freakin’ ice bath. Props: YouTube.com/fightmagazine)
Headlining tomorrow night’s WEC 50 card on Versus is Dominick Cruz (15-1) attempting his first banta…

(Whatever Benavidez throws at him in the cage, it won’t be nearly as intense as that horrible freakin’ ice bath. Props: YouTube.com/fightmagazine)

Headlining tomorrow night’s WEC 50 card on Versus is Dominick Cruz (15-1) attempting his first bantamweight title defense against old rival Joseph Benavidez (12-1). Cruz won their first meeting at WEC 42 by unanimous decision. Will he be able to repeat the performance, or is Joe B gettin’ that belt? Let’s go to the stats…

AGE
Cruz: 25
Benavidez: 26
Advantage: Even

HEIGHT
Cruz: 5’8"
Benavidez: 5’4"
Advantage: Cruz. Seriously, Ariel Helwani looks like a giant standing next to Joe. Though to be fair, Miguel Torres is 5’9", and Benavidez wrecked him.

FINISHING PERCENTAGE
Cruz: 44% (7 out of 16 fights ended in stoppage victories)
Benavidez: 77% (10 out of 13 fights ended in stoppage victories)
Advantage: Benavidez

Joseph Benavidez Not Underestimating Dominick Cruz This Time Around

Filed under: MMA Videos, WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosMMA Fighting recently spoke to Joseph Benavidez about his upcoming bantamweight title fight at WEC 50 against Dominick Cruz.

Benavidez, who lost to Cruz via unanimous decision last August, talked…

Filed under: MMA Videos, WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, Videos

MMA Fighting recently spoke to Joseph Benavidez about his upcoming bantamweight title fight at WEC 50 against Dominick Cruz.

Benavidez, who lost to Cruz via unanimous decision last August, talked about why he underestimated Cruz the first time they fought, how he has improved since the loss, why the WEC made the right choice to give him the title shot and whether he would ever fight his friend Urijah Faber.

Check out the video interview below.

WEC 50’s Chad Mendes Learning to Deal With Distractions as MMA Fame Grows

Filed under: MMA Videos, WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosMMA Fighting spoke rising featherweight star Chad Mendes over the weekend about his upcoming WEC 50 fight against Cub Swanson on Aug. 18.

The undefeated Mendes (7-0) talked about his progression …

Filed under: MMA Videos, WEC, FanHouse Exclusive, Videos

MMA Fighting spoke rising featherweight star Chad Mendes over the weekend about his upcoming WEC 50 fight against Cub Swanson on Aug. 18.

The undefeated Mendes (7-0) talked about his progression as a mixed martial artist, dealing with the pressure of being undefeated and what it’s like to be a member of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male.

Check out the video interview below.

Exclusive: Anthony Pettis Discusses His Journey From ‘Lowest Low’ to WEC Contendership

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)
By CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan
2003: 46-year-old Eugene Pettis has separated himself from gang life and is working to keep his family away from the violence that he ultimately could not escape. On November 13, he i…

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

By CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan

2003: 46-year-old Eugene Pettis has separated himself from gang life and is working to keep his family away from the violence that he ultimately could not escape. On November 13, he is stabbed three times in the chest and killed at a friend’s house across the street from his Milwaukee home.

2004-5: Eugene’s murder remains unsolved. His son Anthony turns his back on years of martial arts training and spirals out of control: “I was a lost cause,” he remembers.

2006: Anthony works his way back to martial arts, taking a job as a tae kwon do instructor at his brother’s academy. He is captivated by MMA and rededicates himself to competitive fighting.

2007: Anthony begins training with kickboxing legend Duke Roufus in November and wins his amateur MMA debut in 24 seconds on January 27, his 20th birthday. He wins his pro debut on December 1 in 36 seconds.

2009: Two days into a January vacation in Cancun, Mexico, Roufus calls Anthony (6-0) with the news that he’s been signed to a five-fight deal with the WEC and is scheduled to make his debut at WEC 40 in April. Vacation’s over.

2010: Anthony (9-1) is one of the WEC’s top lightweights. He’s finished Mike Campbell, Alex Karalexis, and Danny Castillo, and a win over Team Takedown’s Shane Roller at WEC 50 on August 18 could bring a title shot. On a hot August afternoon, Anthony Pettis talks to CagePotato.com about fighting, family, and food. Showtime, playa.