Filed under: WEC, NewsThe long-awaited rematch between World Extreme Cagefighting rivals Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone is set for WEC 51 on September 30, a major fight card that will demonstrate the WEC’s ability to put on big events even as its top …
The long-awaited rematch between World Extreme Cagefighting rivals Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone is set for WEC 51 on September 30, a major fight card that will demonstrate the WEC’s ability to put on big events even as its top star, Urijah Faber, nurses a leg injury.
Varner announced the Cerrone rematch on his web site, and the addition of that fight not only makes WEC 51 one of the best fight cards of the rest of the year in MMA, it also provides some hints about where the WEC is headed for the rest of the year, and what a future WEC pay-per-view card might look like.
(Miguel may have lost a pint of blood, but he *gained* a pint of valuable life experience. / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
There was a time when Miguel Torres looked absolutely untouchable in the WEC bantamweight division. But after two consecutive sto…
(Miguel may have lost a pint of blood, but he *gained* a pint of valuable life experience. / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
There was a time when Miguel Torres looked absolutely untouchable in the WEC bantamweight division. But after two consecutive stoppage losses to Brian Bowles and Joseph Benavidez, the former champion finds himself in an odd position — in the middle of the 135-pound pack, fighting up the ladder like everybody else. Torres will return to competition at WEC 51 (September 30th; Broomfield, Colorado) against Charlie Valencia, who is 5-3 in the WEC and has picked up three-straight decision victories against Seth Dikun, Coty Wheeler, and Akitoshi Tamura. Not a bad resume, but Torres doesn’t plan on adding his name to it. In fact, he’s already planning to, well, return to the old Miguel. As he tells MMA Fighting:
Miguel Torres is angry. Or, to quote him more accurately, he’s “a pissed off Mexican right now.”
Torres, the former WEC bantamweight champion, learned Friday his next fight will come Sept. 30 against Charlie Valencia at WEC 51 in Broomfield, Colo. And he told MMA Fighting just moments after he agreed to the bout that he’s ready for a style change – this time reverting back to his old form. There’s something to be said for not fighting angry, but for Torres, the formula had been working.
“Now I’m looking to come back and use my old style and stay aggressive,” Torres said, “and just beat the (crap) out of people.”
Torres (37-3, 5-2 WEC) took a 17-fight winning streak and three straight defenses of the bantamweight belt into the main event of WEC 42 last August. But Brian Bowles handed him the first knockout of his career and left Las Vegas with the title. Seven months later, hoping to show his first loss in nearly six years was a fluke, Torres was cut – badly – by Joseph Benavidez. Blood gushing from his forehead, which would later require plastic surgery, Torres was soon tapping out from a guillotine – his first submission loss and his first successive defeats.
After co-authoring one of the most memorable matches of 2010, the “Korean Zombie” is back.
Chan Sung Jung, who endeared himself to the worldwide MMA audience following a three-round battle of attrition with Leonard Garcia in April, will return in September to face George Roop at WEC 51, a source close to the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting.
The long-awaited rematch between World Extreme Cagefighting rivals Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone is set for WEC 51 on September 30, a major fight card that will demonstrate the WEC’s ability to put on big events even as its top star, Urijah Faber, nurses a leg injury.
Miguel Torres
After co-authoring one of the most memorable matches of 2010, the “Korean Zombie” is back.