MMA Universe

A lightweight match-up between former No. 1 WEC 155-pound contender Donald Cerrone (10-2) and Ed Ratcliff (7-1) has been verbally agreed to by both fighters for WEC 45, which is expected for Dec. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Sherdog.com.

“Cowboy” is coming off a loss to Benson Henderson in a fight to determine the WEC interim lightweight title holder due to current champion Jamie Varner’s inability to defend his belt. This was Cerrone’s second consecutive loss and a derailment of his plans to receive a rematch with “C-4″.

Prior to his previous two losses, Cerrone boasted an undefeated record with nine of his ten victories coming by way of submission.

Ratcliff returns to the cage after a decision victory over Phil Cardella at WEC 42, which was a rebound after his first professional loss at WEC 33 to Marcus Hicks. He is 3-1 in for the promotion, defeating Alex Karalexis and Johnny Sampaio, along with Cardella.

“9MM” has gone to the judges’ scorecards just one time, with the vast majorities of his victories coming by way of knockout.

This match up features a knockout artist and a submission ace, leading to expectations that each fighter will have a very different game plan from the other. However, Cerrone is ever-confident in his stand up and is never scared to utilize it.

WEC 45 has yet to be announced, but Cerrone and Ratcliff may serve as the main event. A bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Brian Bowles could also fall to the Dec. 19 date, making Cerrone vs. Ratcliff a great supporting bout for the WEC’s final show of 2009.

Keep it locked in to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.

Former International Fight League (IFL) lightweight champion Chris Horodecki (13-1) is in talks to join the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) lightweight roster, according to FightHype.com.

From trainer and mentor, Shawn Tompkins:

“It looks like Chris Horodecki will be showing up in the WEC. We are really close to solidifying the rumor and within the next day or two.”

Horodecki made his IFL debut in June 2006, going 8-1 and looking sensational in the process. He has just one career loss in mixed martial arts — a lopsided beatdown courtesy of Ryan Schultz at the IFL World Grand Prix Finals in December 2007 (His Shootbox loss at S-Cup 2008 is not classified as MMA).

The baby-faced “Polish Hammer” was expected to face Dan Lauzon at Affliction: “Day of Reckoning” back in January, however the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) denied him a license as a result of a bulging disc in his neck, which sapped 80 percent of the strength in his right arm.

Horodecki eventually got himself on the mend and competed at the “Ultimate Chaos” pay-per-view in Biloxi, Miss., on the undercard of “Sapp vs. Lashley.” He needed just one round to choke out King of the Cage (KOTC) veteran William “The Bull” Sriyapai.

If he finds his way to the UFC sister-promotion, the talented 21-year-old phenom could easily make some waves in an already crowded 155-pound division.

Anyone care to start playing matchmaker?

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com in the coming days for updates on Horodecki’s anticipated move to the WEC.

With WEC 44: “Brown vs. Aldo” exactly one calender month away, the
promotion is hard at work trying to piece together it’s next event,
which we now know will take place on December 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While a venue has yet to be locked down for the event, a return to the
promotion’s most frequented spot, “The Joint” at the Hard Rock Hotel
and Casino, is a likely candidate.

Regardless of which arena in “Sin City” hosts the night of fights,
it’ll be a different place than what WEC fans were expecting after
listening to the post fight interviews at WEC 43 last weekend.

After Ben “Smooth” Henderson outlasted Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in an
epic five round battle to become the company’s new interim lightweight
champion, injured title holder Jamie Varner stepped into the cage and
talked about a match against Henderson in each of the fighter’s
hometown of Phoenix, Arizona sometime in December.

While it seems likely the event will no longer be taking place in
Pheonix, there’s still a chance Jamie Varner will be defending his
strap for the first time since January during the night’s main event.
If that does indeed turn out to be the case, there’s still a question
of who he’ll be fighting.

Even though Henderson earned the shot at “C-4,” it appears injuries
will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of 2009, setting up a
potential rematch between Varner and Cerrone – one that WEC fans have
been looking forward to for almost ten months now.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.

Until then, there’s always WEC 44 to look forward to. The headliner
for that event is a featherweight title bout between the champion from
American Top Team, Mike Thomas Brown, and the Brazilian challenger,
Jose “Junior” Aldo.

For more on that event click here.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch WEC 43 last weekend for whatever reason, and you had to check the updates on MMAmania.com instead, there’s a good chance you probably looked at the outcome of the Mackens Semerzier and Wagnney Fabiano fight and thought you were staring at a typo.

There’s no way some kid from Miguel Torres’ gym with only four professional fights under his belt submitted a jiu-jitsu ace like Fabiano in the first round on short notice … right?

Think again.

On about a week’s notice, that’s exactly what Mackens Semerzier did on Oct. 10. The upset was so shocking that WEC officials had no choice but to squeeze the fight onto the Versus telecast.

The thing I learned right off the bat about the guy is that he just has a great personality, which is something that can certainly help a fighter trying to get to that next level in this sport. He’s focused, motivated, and hungry to prove himself to the MMA world. And he’s off to a great start.

I sat down with the Miguel Torres protege earlier today to talk about his stunning upset win over Fabiano, training with Torres, what the future holds and much more.

Check it out:

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): First tell us how this fight with Fabiano came about. What were your feelings when you found out you had a fight in the WEC?

Mackens Semerzier: What happened was I got a text from Miguel Torres, a friend of mine and a training partner. I got a text from him saying that Eric Koch, Wagnney Fabiano’s opponent for October 10, fell out. He was like, “What do you think?” I took “What do you think” as “Do you want to fight?” So I texted him back, and I was like, “Yeah, I’m down man, set it up and I’m down.” He was going back and forth with Sean Shelby (WEC matchmaker), setting it up, and everything came about pretty quickly. Then on Monday I got a call from Sean Shelby, giving me congratulations and this and that, and that was it.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I was talking to Miguel a couple of days before your fight and he was saying that you were coming in ready to go because you had another fight scheduled for right around the same time that had fallen through. Who was that fight against and how did it fall through?

Mackens Semerzier: I was supposed to fight October 3, the weekend before, but my opponent had fell out about two or three weeks before. I was still training hard, anticipating that they would find someone for that date. They still didn’t have anybody as of a week prior to the fight so I was still waiting, still waiting, and I never got a call. The promoter was still trying to get guys in. He was like, “What do you think about this guy? I can get the guy.” Then the guy was like, “Okay yeah I’ll fight.” Then I guess he told the guy who he was going to be fighting and he said his foot was hurt and he couldn’t fight anymore. A bunch of guys started dropping out of the fight, but I kept my focus and kept training hard because I knew, because it happens to me all the time. It had happened on three or four different occasions before that that guys start dropping out of fights and then I get guys on short notice or whatever the case may be. So I was still getting prepared for that, but nothing came about. So when the WEC called, it was like a blessing. I was like, “Man, I don’t even have a guy. I don’t have a contract signed with this other promotion. I don’t have a bout agreement.” It was go time. It must have happened for a reason.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is the cut down to 145 pounds a difficult one for you? I know there was a small issue at the weigh ins last weekend on your first attempt.

Mackens Semerzier: I always fight at 145. I started at 145 when I started fighting two years ago, and I still fight there now. I’ve gotten bigger, but I still can make the weight pretty easily. The thing with the scales is, I’ve always, since I was in high school, weighed in naked. I’ve always weighed in naked. But when we were at the hotel and I was getting on the scale, I’m like, “Man I don’t want to drop my drawers in front of all these people.” So I get on the scale and I’m a half a pound over. I was going to drop right then. They were like, “Well, let him drop his drawers right now.” And the guy, whoever was coordinator, was like, “No let him go and then we’ll just bring him back.” So we did the face-off. I walked upstairs, walked to the bathroom and took a piss, came back downstairs literally five minutes later and got on the scale and made weight. So I didn’t cut any weight. I just didn’t weigh naked like I was supposed to. But I will be weighing naked from now on. I guarantee you that.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Miguel was also saying that in training you’re one of the one guys that he can’t catch in a submission. Obviously you showed some skills against Fabiano, who’s a stud in jiu-jitsu. Is your jiu-jitsu the strongest part of your game?

Mackens Semerzier: I wouldn’t say it’s the strongest part of my game because I know that my clinching and my striking is just as good as my jiu-jitsu. I’m very confident in my jiu-jitsu because I work very hard on it. I didn’t think that was a place where I wanted to push the fight, being on the ground, especially on the bottom. I was maybe hoping to be on top punching down.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So the way the fight played out wasn’t necessarily how you planned on it playing out? Meaning, you weren’t really looking to test Fabiano’s jiu-jitsu?

Mackens Semerzier: Absolutely not! That was not where I wanted to be. That’s not where I wanted to go. If anything I wanted to be on top punching him and if things got too crazy and he started going for half guard sweeps or whatever the case may be, going for submissions to get out of there. But I didn’t say, “I’m good on the ground, he’s good on the ground, I’m going to take him to the ground and see what he has.” I think that would be kind of silly. I’m not going to try to stand up with Anderson Silva. It’s like, what’s the point?

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So how surprised were you that he sort of just fell right into that triangle?

Mackens Semerzier: Well, I’ve played that part with open guard before. I play a lot of open guard with the Gi on. Sometimes I don’t like to play as much without the Gi because you don’t have as much control, especially with a guy punching down on you. So, I’m not a big fan of it there, but it was just one of those situations where I’ve been there before in training. I just had to take advantage of it. It’s not like I thought the triangle out. I just felt where my legs were and my body instinctively just shot up for the triangle, and as soon as I shoot it up, if I get a head and an arm I’m going right to trying to lock my legs up right away and worry about everything else afterward.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us a little bit more about yourself and your fighting style. What can WEC fans expect to see when you’re in a fight that maybe lasts a little bit longer?

Mackens Semerzier: Hopefully short fights, but the fights that do go long, a lot of action. Just a lot of me pressing forward. I really like to come forward. I really think I psyched myself out with all the talk before the fight. Fabiano is such a big threat on the ground that I didn’t really come forward. I was kind of tapping him with the jab and trying to buy some time and kind of try to make him come forward so I could strike him when he comes in, kind of counter punch. So I really didn’t get to show much of my game as far as standing up goes, but I like to get in there and mix it up for sure man. I like to get in the trenches and get a little bit dirty and put on a fun fight for the fans. I’m always looking for the finish. I always like to finish the fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What was your confidence level like taking a big step up in competition like that on short notice?

Mackens Semerzier: Preparation wise I felt ready to go. I felt ready to go. I was aware of what my opponent could do, what Wagnney brought to the table. I wasn’t over confident, thinking I could beat him in any certain way, but I knew I could win the fight. I was confident that I could win the fight. When I did win, you know, when I put the triangle on, especially when I had it locked in, I was like he’s going to tap here. It’s not even an option. Either you’re going to tap or you’re going to sleep because I had it on pretty tight. But I didn’t think about it too much. I didn’t want to psyche myself out. Maybe like the first three days, you know, a lot of people were like more excited than me. My trainers and all the guys got a little bit more excited than me, and they’re like, “Hey man, Wagnney does this, hey man Wagnney does that.” That was for three days, and I was like, “Man I don’t want to hear another word. I don’t want to hear nothing else about what Wagnney does. I’ve seen him fight before. I’ve been watching him forever. I know what he does. I don’t want to hear it no more. Let’s focus on what we’re going to do, not how we’re going to stop Wagnney from beating us. Let’s focus on how we’re going to beat Wagnney Fabiano.” Some guys psyche themselves out like that sometimes.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Your fight ended up making the Versus telecast, which I’m sure was a big deal for you. Do you feel like you kind of got your first time big stage jitters out of the way with this fight to where you’ll be more comfortable fighting in front of large television audiences on Versus in the future?

Mackens Semerzier: Honestly man I didn’t have too much of the jitters. I don’t think I had any of the jitters to be honest with you. I had been there before when I cornered Miguel. I think the only thing I had to get used to were the lights. When you come out they pan this camera on you and there’s this bright ass light that’s in your eyeballs and you have to follow the camera. He’s backing up, but you have to follow him because you can’t see behind him. So you don’t really know where to go. I kind of saw that before when Miguel walked out when he fought Brian Bowles when I was standing right behind him. And just the texture of the mat. The mat is a little bit slippery and different texture than I’m used to. Besides that I wasn’t really too worried about it. Once I get in the cage that’s all I’m worried about, just hearing the voices of my coaches and the guy. I wasn’t too worried about anything else, the TV and all the other stuff.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): You mentioned the mat being slippery. It seemed like everybody was having a hard time with that. What was up with that mat? Was it the logos or what?

Mackens Semerzier: Actually the logos were the part that were the stickiest. That’s where you had the best grip. It was off on the blue part. The blue part was super slick. I don’t know if that was a brand new mat, but it was super slick. It felt like a velvety, really soft satin man. When I went into the cage before the show started and we started moving around, it was like, “Man this thing is kind of slippery.” Then when I got in there it was still slippery. I figured they’d break it in with the couple of fights before, but it was very very slick. Very slick, hard to drive off for punches and kicks and stuff.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Talk about how the day to day training and advice you get from Miguel Torres has helped your confidence and ability as a fighter.

Mackens Semerzier: It gives me great confidence. Pound for pound I’m training with one of the best fighters out there and I’m holding my own. Until you reach those guys and until you see how those guys train for yourself and you see how you match up with those guys, you really don’t know where you sit. You could be accomplished, but you really don’t know where you sit or if you’re doing things the right way. Once I hung out with Miguel and I saw how champions train and how champions conduct themselves, I felt like I could do the same. It gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of confidence when I came back and started training again with my training partners and going into my fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What kind of changes have you seen in him since the loss to Bowles?

Mackens Semerzier: I think it just made him hungry again. He was the champion and ranked as high as, I think number 3 pound for pound, 3 or 4 or something like that. It’s really hard because everyone wants to talk to you. Everyone wants a piece of you. You have a lot of people to cater to, so that effects your training. He didn’t have, because he was winning, he didn’t have coaches. You know, he had training partners, but he didn’t have a coach to say, “Hey Miguel you need to do this. Miguel you need to do that. Miguel you need to do this.” All those wins, those forty something wins he had was all off of self motivation. There was no one ever really telling him he needed to do this or he needed to do that. It was all on him. He just had training partners to help him along. I think now because of that loss he’s seeing that the game is advancing and he needs to get good training partners and coaches behind him. And he’s going to do that. He’s going to get the belt. When he lost that night, I felt like I lost. I was pissed. I was mad, almost worse off than he was. I wanted to go for a run or something. I just wanted to start training right away. But he took it very well. He’s ready to go. He’s going to be ready to go.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I’m assuming you signed a contract with the WEC. What were the terms of that deal? How many fights can we expect to see from you in the WEC?

Mackens Semerzier: I did sign. I signed a five-fight contract with the WEC, a five-fight promotional contract. That was one of the five and that was signed before the fight, which is really funny because people were like, “You got five fights, you know, if you don’t do so good in this one then you got another one coming up and this and that.” But I didn’t take it as that. I took it as a one shot deal. I took it as, if you do good here you’re going to continue, if not then you’re going to go home and you’re never going to come back. I think that helped me actually win the fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well you certainly took a big step last Saturday night. What are some of your goals in the WEC or in MMA in general? Where do you see yourself in five years?

Mackens Semerzier: In the next five years I see myself either as champion or having been the champion, I just lost my title and I’m coming back up trying to win my title again. I’m going to touch that belt, and when I do that, I’m going to try to hang on to it as long as possible. That’s my dream. That’s my goal.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well to be a champion you have to beat a champion. How do you think your style matches up with a monster like Mike Brown?

Mackens Semerzier: He’s a beast man. He’s just one of those people where you have to bring it. You have to do whatever you can do or whatever he can do you have to do a little bit better, just out gun him. Mike Brown is an animal. His fight, my favorite fight of all time, his fight with Urijah Faber, the second time, you know, you saw it all hang out. The blood, the guts, everything. The guy did everything. The guy is awesome. He’s awesome. Jose Aldo is super exciting to watch. Leonard Garcia is a beast. Rafael Assuncao, Urijah Faber, you know, all these guys that are ahead of me, they’re great great fighters man. I don’t know if right now my skill set matches up with them. I think my skill set does, but obviously I’m going to need more experience. I can’t just ride off having five professional fights and think I’m going to be champion tomorrow or think I deserve to fight any of those guys or skip any of those guys to get to the belt. I’m going to work that
ladder up until hopefully I get the opportunity to prove myself for the title.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): You mentioned Aldo. How do you see the fight between him and Brown playing out next month?

Mackens Semerzier: I think Mike Brown is going to win. I don’t know how, but Mike Brown is a tough, very down to earth guy. Jose Aldo is super super explosive man. He’s so explosive. I really see it being a real scrap. We’ll see man. We see Mike Brown everywhere, but we haven’t seen Jose Aldo everywhere. His only loss was by rear naked choke. I saw the fight and it was one of those things where they were in the ropes and the guy had a rear naked choke and they reset them in the rear naked choke and then told them to go. So I don’t know how much you can tell from his ground game, but he’s always been explosive in the fights I’ve seen, before in Brazil and all that. I think you have to go with Brown though, because you’ve seen Brown’s stand up, you’ve seen his wrestling and you’ve seen his ground game. For Jose Aldo, all you’ve seen is his stand up for right now, which is super explosive. So if his ground game is like his stand up man it’s going to be a very, very good fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): How soon do you want to fight again and have you heard anything from the WEC on that as far as potential opponents or dates or that kind of thing?

Mackens Semerzier: No, I have not heard anything from the WEC yet, besides talking to guys and them telling me good job. We haven’t talked anything about fights yet. I’m just taking a down week kind of. I’ve been training, I think about twice this week. I’m just kind of hanging out right now. I’ll get back to training hard on Monday. I’ll be ready in December, but I hope to fight in January.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us Mackens. Congratulations on the big win and we’re all looking forward to seeing you fight again. Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans or anyone you’d like to thank before getting out of here?

Mackens Semerzier: I’d really like to thank all my training partners, all the guys at Linxx Academy, Seven City Boxing, ACC Torres Martial Arts. I’d like to give a special thanks to my sponsors, guys that make it possible for me to fight, and hopefully one day very soon fight on a full time basis. I’d like to thank MMA Warehouse, Hayabusa, Dethrone, Muscle Farm and TRX.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Thanks again Mackens.

Mackens Semerzier: Thank you.

“Definitely, (a rematch with Donald Cerrone) would be a huge fight for me. There’s that saying — that revenge is a dish best served cold and that’s definitely a fight I would love to have back. But I want a title shot. I’m not worried about the “Cowboy.” I want to continue in the lightweight division and make a name for myself. The way it’s looking is I’ll probably have another fight. I don’t know what else I got to do. There’s not too many other guys in the division. They keep bringing guys in. They brought in Palaszewski, then Ricardo Lamas beat him and they threw him against me. I haven’t had an easy fight since I’ve been in the WEC. I hope that after this win on the eighteenth they give me a title shot. If not, I’m still getting paid the same no matter what. It doesn’t matter, whoever they put in front of me. If I have the proper amount of time, a great training camp and I’m healthy then I’m confident I can beat anybody in the WEC.”

WEC lightweight contender Danny Castillo answers questions on MMAmania.com’s exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio earlier this week about a potential rematch with the only man to ever beat him, Donald Cerrone, as well as where he belongs in the WEC lightweight title picture. Castillo has won three straight under the WEC banner since losing his debut on just five days notice to “Cowboy” in June of 2008. “Last Call” is set to do battle with Team Takedown wrestling standout Shane Roller on the main card of WEC 44: “Brown vs. Aldo” on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 9 p.m. ET on the Versus network live from “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Does another win put him in the line for the title in the suddenly crowded 155-pound division?

During last Saturday night’s five-round, back-and-forth WEC 43 main event between Ben “Smooth” Henderson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone for the promotion’s interim lightweight title, both fighters left absolutely everything they had inside the cage.

It was an epic battle for the ages and a surefire candidate for “Fight of the Year” honors.

For Henderson the win meant he had earned himself an opportunity to unify the 155-pound title with a showdown opposite injured champion, Jamie Varner, during a future WEC event set for “The Worn’s” hometown of Phoenix, Ariz., in December.

It is a match up that would certainly have a great chance to live up to the high standard the WEC has set for main event fights so far in 2009.

However, Varner and Cerrone have waged a fierce verbal battle outside the cage since their initial encounter at WEC 38 earlier this year, which ended ugly (and early) via split decision because of fifth round foul from which Varner could not recover. He got the win from the judges, but he was ridiculed in the court of public opinion for how he handled the decision afterward.

So it seemed that with a win over Cerrone, Henderson had spoiled the chances of there being a grudge match anytime soon between “Cowboy” and Varner.

Not so fast.

It now appears that the fight between Henderson and Varner has possibly been put on hold. And there’s a chance that “Cowboy” could be stepping in as a replacement for Henderson, who suffered extreme dehydration after the fight last weekend.

In fact, Henderson reportedly collapsed in the locker room shortly after the match and was rushed to more than one hospital, needing multiple IVs to recover.

In addition, Henderson injured his left eye after eating an upkick in the last minute of the fight that split it open that will need time to heal.

Perhaps more time than the WEC is willing to wait.

Earlier today on ESPNs “MMA Live,” guest host and teammate of Donald Cerrone at Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting, Rashad Evans, had this to say when asked if it looked like Henderson and Varner would still be fighting in December to unify the belts even in spite of “Smooth’s” medical issues:

“No it doesn’t, and it looks like “Cowboy” is going to go ahead and get the fight with Varner.”

Interesting “unofficial” news if it is indeed true. And either way, the promotion is in a win-win situation — Varner, Cerrone and Henderson all fighting, regardless of the order, have all the ingredients for more fireworks.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing story.

WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson” from The AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas back on October 10 delivered one of the best main events — if not fights — of 2009.

Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone staged an epic five round war for the ages as the two battled it out for the right to become the interim lightweight title with current champion Jamie Varner on the sidelines due to injury.

For anyone who got burned in the DirectTV/Versus feud or those MMAmaniacs who want another viewing of the action-packed war, head over to WEC.tv now to check out the replay.

In addition to Internet stream, Versus will replay the entire event this Thursday (Oct. 15) at 8 p.m. ET and then again at 11 p.m. ET.

For our complete WEC 43 recap click here.

World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) today finalized it’s card for WEC 44: “Brown vs. Aldo,” which is set to go down on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. ET on the Versus Network from “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nev.

The title of the event speaks for itself as WEC 44 will feature a main event featherweight title bout between the champion from American Top Team, Mike Thomas Brown and perhaps his most difficult challenger to date in feared Brazilian striker, Jose “Junior” Aldo.

Former UFC lightweights Manny “The Pitbull” Gamburyan and Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia are also scheduled to hook ‘em up in a battle of 145 pound contenders in the co-featured fight of the evening.

Check out the complete lineup for WEC 44 below:

Main event:

145 lbs.: WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown (22-4) vs. Jose
“Junior” Aldo (15-1)

Main card (Televised):

145 lbs.: Manny “Pitbull” Gamburyan (9-4) vs. Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia (13-4)
155 lbs.: “Razor” Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Anthony “Showtime” Pettis (7-0)
155 lbs.: Shane Roller (6-2) vs. Danny Castillo (8-1)

Under card (May not be broadcast):

145 lbs.: L.C. Davis (14-2) vs. Diego “The Gun” Nunes (13-0)
145 lbs.: John Franchi (5-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-3)
155 lbs.: James Krause (10-1) vs. Ricardo Lamas (6-1)
135 lbs.: Frank Gomez (7-1) vs. Seth Dikun (7-3)
155 lbs.: Alex Karalexis (10-4) vs. Kamal Shalorus (4-0-1)
135 lbs.: Antonio Banuelos (16-5) vs. Kenji Osawa (15-8-2)

As always, MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of WEC 44, beginning with the Versus telecast at 9 p.m. ET. In addition, we will deliver up-to-the-minute quick results of all the under card action on fight night.

We’re still about a month away from showtime; therefore, feel free to share your thoughts and predictions on “Brown vs. Aldo” in the comments section below. And remember that MMAmania.com will be the spot for the latest news and event-related highlights before, during and after the event.

For more on WEC 44 click here.

World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) rounded out the main card for its next event, WEC 44: “Brown vs. Aldo” over the weekend by announcing that four-fight WEC veteran Shane Roller (6-2) will fill in for the injured Alex Karalexis to face Danny Castillo (8-2) on the Versus telecast.

Roller has won three out of four fights under the WEC banner with the lone loss coming by first round technical knockout to the new interim lightweight title holder Ben Henderson back in April at WEC 40.

His three victories inside the WEC cage came against Todd Moore at WEC 35 by first round guillotine choke, Mike Budnik at WEC 37 by first round guillotine choke and in his most recent fight he was able to out score Marcus Hicks with a unanimous decision win at WEC 42.

The 30-year-old Oklahoma resident boasts a strong wrestling attack with solid submission finishing ability with half of his career wins coming by way of tapout.

He’ll have his hands full with Castillo though, who has also put together a record of (3-1) during his time with the WEC. In his last fight at WEC 42, Castillo picked apart an extremely tough and previously unbeaten Ricardo Lamas on his way to a late second round technical knockout stoppage.

“Cowboy” Cerrone is responsible for Castillo’s only career loss after submitting the Sacramento resident with a first round armbar in front of his home crowd at WEC 34 last June.

Like Roller, Castillo also has some decent wrestling and submission skills. The two fighters are very similar in that regard, but Castillo has a much better stand up game with plenty of knockout power, having finished two of his last three opponents with strikes.

WEC 44 is set to go down on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 9 p.m. ET on the Versus Network from “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will feature a main event featherweight title bout between champion Mike Thomas Brown and feared Brazilian striker Jose “Junior” Aldo.

Former UFC ligthweights Manny “The Pitbull” Gamburyan and Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia are also slated to due battle in the night’s co-main event.

For more on WEC 44 click here.

Props: Sherdog.com

And it’s a good thing, as he won what’s widely considered one of the best fight of 2009.

Click here for our complete WEC 43 recap.

“No excuses. I take my hat off to the guy. He did what he had to do. No excuses. It was a great fight and I’m ready to do it again anytime … I think he won the fight. Some people say it might not have gone that way, but he definitely won the fight.”

– Donald Cerrone tips his cap to Ben Henderson, saying “Smooth” did enough in their five-round, back-and-forth battle to earn the unanimous decision from the judges sitting ringside. “Cowboy” admits that he got off to a slow start — despite several tight submission attempts in the early going — which more than likely cost him the interim lightweight title, as well as rematch against his nemesis, 155-pound champion Jamie Varner, in the near future. But it was close. Real close. And there are more than a handful of fans who thought Cerrone should have had his hand raised when all was said and done. Are you one of them … or do you agree with the cowboy? Talk about one helluva fight.

WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson” from The AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, has officially wrapped, which means that it’s time for those select fighters who went above and beyond in their respective fights to get a little extra grease for their efforts.

The promotion dished out its standard post-fight monetary bonuses to four out of the 20 fighters on the card. And it may not come as a shock whose wallets are leaving “Sin City” a little heavier.

While the going rate for excellence at a WEC show is a cool 10k, headliners Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone managed to double that for their electrifying back-and-forth war that earned them “Fight of the Night” and a “Smooth” $20,000 apiece.

The victorious Henderson managed to survive multiple submission attempts from a crafty “Cowboy,” however former featherweight chosen-one Wagnney Fabiano was not so lucky, thanks to some quick thinking by Mackens Semerzier.

“Mack Da Menace” garnered “Submission of the Night” for his slick triangle choke over the Brazilian along with an additional $10,000 — hopefully enough to afford a new nickname.

Not a bad debut for the WEC freshman.

Last but not least was the technical knockout of former Elite XC fighter Muhsin Corbbrey that earned Anthony Njokuani “Knockout of the Night” in his third WEC fight of the year.

Here are the special fight bonuses for WEC 43:

Fight of the Night — Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone
Submission of the Night — Mackens Semerzier
Knockout of the Night — Anthony Njokuani

Again, Semerzier and Njokuani received $10,000 extra for their performances (Henderson and Cerrone received $20,000) in addition to their respective base salaries, which we will pass along as soon as possible.

For complete WEC 43 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.

WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson” from The AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas is now in the books, and Ben “Smooth” Henderson is the new WEC interim lightweight champion.

It was another exciting, action packed card for the WEC in what served as the promotion’s second trip to the “Lone Star” state in 2009. Here’s how it all went down:

In the main event, Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone staged an epic five round war for the ages as the two battled it out for the right to become the interim lightweight title with current champion Jamie Varner out due to injury.

“Smooth” takedowns, wrestling and submission resilience were the differences in the match. “Cowboy” had numerous submission attempts that appeared to have Henderson on the edge of defeat, but each time the Phoenix, Arizona resident somehow found a way to escape.

Cerrone battled back after falling behind in the early rounds to make this thing a nail biter for Henderson fans in the championship rounds, but the relentless takedowns and ground and pound in the early going put Henderson on top for good in the eyes of the judges.

All five cageside judges scored the fight three rounds to two for the new WEC interim lightweight champion.

Afterward, Varner made his way into the cage and told the crowd (who by the way weren’t shy with the boos when he got on the microphone) that he would be glad to face Henderson in Phoenix – which is also his hometown – on a yet to be announced December card.

That should be another amazing fight. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com as we’ll keep you posted on that.

In the co-featured fight of the night former WEC lightweight number one contender Rich Crunkilton made his return to the cage from injury to face undefeated prospect Dave Jansen.

Cage rust was the question mark for “Cleat” coming into the bout after having been sidelined for over a year and a half. But that wasn’t his problem. His problem was his cardio. Both guys were gassed by the end of the three round affair, but Jansen more so seemed to wear Crunkilton down throughout the fight his relentless ground and pound attack.

Takedown after takedown scored for Jansen throughout the fight as he came away with an impressive unanimous decision win in his WEC debut, moving his record to (13-0). Raphael Assuncao and Yves “Tiger” Jabouin battled back and forth for three pretty decent rounds with Assuncao scoring the split decision win. The Brazilian used a balance attack of leg kicks, takedowns and submission attempts to impress the judges.

“Tiger” showed off some lightning quick foot speed to go along with some great cardio in this fight, but Assuncao executed a very smart gameplan en route to the decision victory.

In the opening bout of the Versus telecast, Greg Jackson product Damacio Page made quick work of WEC newcomer Will Campuzano. “The Angel of Death” came out trying to make the highlight reel, slinging some huge bombs. It looked like he was going to get what he wanted, too, but he instead opted to take the action to the ground, where he was just as dominant.

The fight lasted just over a minute before Page forced the new guy to tap with a rear naked choke.

In undercard action, Miguel Torres protege Mackens Semerzier, who was stepping in on short notice for the injured Eric Koch, scored a stunning upset win over one of the WEC’s top featherweight contenders, Wagnney Fabiano.

What was perhaps most shocking of all was the fact that “The Menace” beat the Brazilian at his own game by forcing the jiu-jitsu ace to submit in just over 2 minutes of work.

Wow!

That’s a wrap from San Antonio, Texas.

For complete WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson” results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card click here.

Next up for the UFC’s sister promotion will be WEC 44: “Brown vs. Aldo” from “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. ET on the Versus Network.

Headlining the card will be WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown defending his belt against feared Brazilian striker Jose “Junior” Aldo. Former UFC lightweights turned WEC featherweights Manny “The Pitbull” Gamburyan and Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia are also slated to mix it up in the night’s co-main event.

Stay locked to MMAmania.com as we’ll keep you up to date on all your WEC 44 news leading up to the event.

Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson.”

Quick results of the preliminary fights will begin to flow around 7:30 p.m. ET and round-by-round coverage of the main card action on Versus is set for 9 p.m. ET!

If you’re going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main WEC 43 results post and not this one.

Enjoy the show, Maniacs!

Props: CombatLifestyle.com (Click the link to check out the complete gallery)

The official weigh in event for WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson” is now in the books after the 20 fighters set to compete tomorrow night tipped the scale today at the Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas.

For the most part, the event went off without a hitch.

Undercard replacement fighter Mackens Semerzier was the only fighter to have an issue. He came in a half a pound heavy on his first attempt to hit the 146-pound mark for his featherweight contest against Wagnney Fabiano. However, “The Menace” was successful in shedding the extra half pound on his second try.

Each of the other 19 fighters made their respective weights on their first attempt, including main event interim lightweight championship contenders Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Ben “Smooth” Henderson.

Check out the complete WEC 43 weigh in results below:

Main event for the WEC Interim Lightweight Title:

155 lbs.: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (154.5) vs. Ben “Smooth” Henderson (155)

Main card (Televised):

155 lbs.: Rich Crunkilton (156) vs. Dave Jansen (156)
135 lbs.: Damacio Page (136) vs Will Campuzano (135)
145 lbs.: Raphael Assuncao (146) vs. Yves “Tiger” Jabouin (146)

Under card (May not be televised):

155 lbs.: Anthony Njokuani (156) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey (156)
135 lbs.: Scott Jorgensen (136) vs. Noah Thomas (136)
145 lbs.: Wagnney Fabiano (145.5) vs. Mackens Semerzier (146.5)
135 lbs.: Manny “The Mangler” Tapia (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
135 lbs.: Coty “Ox” Wheeler (135) vs. Charlie Valencia (134.5)
145 lbs.: Deividas Taurosevicius (144.5) vs. Javier Vazquez (145)

*Fighters are allowed an extra pound in non-title fights.

Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Saturday, Oct. 10), which is slated to air at 9 p.m. ET on the Versus network. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 7:30 p.m. ET.

It’s going to be an awesome night of fights so don’t miss it. And remember to check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight WEC 43 coverage you can handle.