A snapshot look at tonight’s WEC 50 show in Las Vegas live on Versus:
The first time Joseph Benavidez faced Dominick Cruz was August 2009. He was on the short end of a unanimous decision, his only loss in 13 MMA fights and has torn through the bantamweight division to earn a rematch this time as the No. 1 contender. Cruz captured the title by defeating Brian Bowles in March and faces a rival that’s off his most impressive win, a second-round smashing of former champion Miguel Torres on the undercard of Bowles vs. Cruz. The bout headlines WEC 50 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort. Chad Mendes, also competing on the main card and Benavidez’s Alpha Male teammate is a little biased, but he’s not alone in his belief that Benavidez has a legit chance of leaving Vegas as the new king at 135.
“I’m more excited about his fight than mine,” Mendes said. “He is looking better than I’ve ever seen him. What’s so much different about this camp for Joe is he’s so pumped. You can see it. He’s always talking about how close he is to getting that belt. He knows what Cruz has and what he needs to do. At that level it’s always hard to beat somebody two times in a row. I remember in wrestling when you go against a guy you’ve already wrestled a couple a times mentally there’s nothing in it for you.”
Signed by World Extreme Cagefighting in 2009, Mendes (7-0, 2-0 WEC) won his first two bouts and is up for his greatest challenge to date against Cub Swanson (14-3, 4-2 WEC). He’s expecting a war against an explosive opponent, one who he believes is vulnerable if you attack him from the opening horn (just ask Jose Aldo). A win here and Mendes could secure a showdown with another featherweight phenom, Josh Grispi, if not a chance at the winner of Aldo’s title defense against Manvel Gamburyan next month.
The top contender to lightweight champion Benson Henderson will likely be decided between Anthony Pettis (11-1 MMA, 3-1 WEC) and Shane Roller (8-2 MMA, 5-1 WEC). It’s not a guarantee, but given Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus’ recent draw, Pettis and Roller are neck-and-neck behind Henderson at 155. Henderson’s preference is to compete against a new face. He stopped Roller in one round last April, but Roller has rebounded with three straight wins, the last an impressive first-round submission of Anthony Njokuani at WEC 48.
In another bout with potential title implications, bantamweights Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett also compete on the main card. Jorgensen (10-3, 6-1 WEC) earned a hard-fought decision win over Antonio Banuelos at WEC 48 just seven weeks after his 31-second destruction of Chad George. Only Benavidez’s surge to the top prevented Jorgenson from getting the next title shot. A win over Pickett and I’m willing to bet “Young Guns” gets the winner of the main event.
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Ratings for the Strikeforce Challengers 10 event peaked at 280,000 viewers, a 17 percent increase from Strikeforce Challengers 9 in July, reports MMAJunkie.com. The highlight of the show from where I sat was Miesha Tate winning a one-night tournament to become the No. 2 contender at 135. “Takedown” gets the winner of champion Sarah Kaufman’s defense against Marloes Coenen later this year. Between Kaufman and Tate earning notoriety, Cris Cyborg’s destructive domination at 145 Coenen’s game performance against Cyborg in January before the champ took her out in Round 3, and Bellator’s 115-pound tournament in Season 3, women’s MMA is getting much-deserved increased exposure. And the paying public is enjoying it.
Two title fights head Strikeforce: Houston Saturday night. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal makes his first light-heavyweight title defense against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, and Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza compete for the middleweight crown vacated by Jake Shields. Also on the main card are two bouts featuring rising stars K.J. Noons and Bobby Lashley. Daniel Cormier, unbeaten in four MMA bouts (three coming in the first round), heads the prelim card against tough veteran Jason Riley, which will be broadcast on Sherdog.com. I’ll have more on Cormier and Lashley this week on Heavy.com, with a full-length feature on Lashley in next month’s MMA Worldwide magazine.
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Former UFC heavyweight contender Jeff “The Snowman” Monson headlines Howard Davis Jr.’s Fight Time Promotions’ and Jeff Gibson’s Elite Promotions’ “Fight Time 1” Saturday night at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach, Fla. Off a win in Australia over Ubiratan “Birao” Marinho, Monson takes on former WEC veteran Jason Guida (the brother of Clay Guida). Monson trains at American Top Team, where Davis serves as boxing director. The 1976 Olympic Gold medalist in boxing has teamed with Elite Promotions to earn a niche in the South Florida sports market.
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