The WEC on Monday officially announced its August card, WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez, which will take place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Aug. 18.
WEC vice president Peter Dropick made the announcement on a media call for Sunday’s WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus event, and the promotion put out a press release shortly after that.
The main event will feature a bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz (15-1, 5-1 WEC) and challenger Joseph Benavidez (13-1, 4-1 WEC), a rematch from a fight last August at WEC 42. Cruz won that fight, then won the 135-pound belt by beating Brian Bowles at WEC 47 in March. This will be his first title defense. On the same card in March, Benavidez became the first fighter to submit former champion Miguel Torres, earning the title shot in the process.
The co-main event is notable for former featherweight champion Urijah Faber‘s debut at bantamweight. Faber (27-4, 8-3 WEC) recently announced his decision to try his hand at 135 pounds. He’ll take on Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2, 2-2 WEC), a stiff test in his first fight after dropping down.