Date: 08/18	8:00 PM
Views: 2,400

We'll be recapping WEC 50: Joseph Benavidez vs. Dominick Cruz tonight at 9 PM EST, 8 Central. When the show begins hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for updates!

WEC WrekCage just showed Anthony Njokuani winning a bout with a high kick and followup shots on the ground, but enough of the old highlights, let's make some new ones. WEC 50 IS ON THE AIR! If you know WEC, you know the drill. ILLUMINATI. A SECRET SOCIETY DO EXIST. That music gets me pumped up every time, mostly because it's the hallmark of a fun night of fights. When do you see a bad WEC card? Almost never! And this one is packed with stars - Scott Jorgensen, Shane Roller, Cub Swanson, Anthony Pettis, and of course the main event between Cruz and Benavidez. We're at The Pearl in Las Vegas and Todd Harris says it's a warm summer night that's only getting hotter. Tonight instead of Frank Mir he's joined by Stephan Bonnar. Bonnar is excited because tonight we have the potential for 5 rounds, whereas last time it was only 3, and of course that means the Bantamweight Title is on the line. Roller vs. Pettis is the co-main in a lightweight bout. Bonnar calls Pettis a human highlight reel, but notes Roller is a guy you don't want on your back cause you can't get him off.

Our announcers preview the rest of the card. Cub Swanson vs. the undefeated Chad Mendes is also on tonight's card, while Scott Jorgensen has a four fight win streak going into a bout with Brad Pickett. First fight of the night is Bart Palaszewski vs. Zach Micklewright. Zach says he's a southpaw with power in both hands. "When I land one of them hands it's gonna be a short night." Bart says Zach would be a good win, the kind of win he needs to move up the division. Also after 270K votes, Milwaukee, Nashville and Phoenix are in the final running to host a WEC event and the winner will be announced tonight! First though these commercial messages.

* Bart 'Bartimus' Palaszewski vs. Zach Micklewright (Lightweight Bout)

27 to 23, 5'9" to 6'0", 156 each and 70" to 74" in reach from Bart to Zach. Zach fights out of Davenport, IA and Bart fights out of Wonder Lake, Illinois. Our referee in charge is Steve Mazzagatti. BRING IT ON, C'MON!! Bart's got the red trunks and red mohawk, Zach has black and yellow trunks. Bart is coming out quick throwing and landing low kicks. Micklewright is swinging for the fences though and Bart has to get out of the way. There's a brief slugfest until both men end up in the cage, switching back and forth as to who is against the fence. For some reason there's no clock on the screen to let us know how much time is gone, so I can't tell you at what point Mazzagatti got bored and called for a clean break. Finally the clock comes on with 2 minutes left. Micklewright counters whenever Bart hits a flurry. An accidental low blow momentarily starts the action. Bart lands one too but it's also accidental. Mazzagatti tells both men to keep it clean. Bart's shots seem to be landing more frequently and doing more damage as the round wears on. More punches by Bartimus wind down R1 and send us to R2.

Stephan Bonnar says Bart did better in the dirty boxing category in R1. BART FINISHES HIM QUICKLY IN R2!!! He hurt him quickly with a counter left and body kick about 20 seconds in, let a flurry fly on the fence, landed a kick to the body that dropped Zach's hands, then WALLOPED HIM with a right that sent Mazzagatti in to save the defenseless man. Good stoppage, impressive finish, official time momentarily after these commercials but it's definitely under a minute in R2. Here's Bruce Buffer. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REFEREE STEVE MAZZAGATTI CALLS A STOP TO THIS CONTEST AT 0:31 OF R2 FOR THE WINNER BY TKO: BART 'BARTIMUS' PALASZEWSKI! Craig Hummer interviews Bart, who has now improved for 34-13. "I'm always here to put on a show. If I gotta take a couple of blows to the head to entertain you people, I'm willing!" He says he gave up on the idea of wrestling early. "Screw it, let's slug it out and see who sits down first."

* Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett (Bantamweight Bout)

Pickett sounds like a UK fighter. Jorgensen says he can make any man who steps in with him regret the choice to be a fighter. Pickett says they're both brawlers who like getting hit so it should be a war. Jorgensen says after he wins he's next in line for the belt. Commercial. Urijah Faber is in the crowd watching as we come back. 27 to 31, 5'4" to 5'6", 135 to 136 and 66" to 68" reach from Jorgensen to Pickett on the Tale of the Tape. Pickett is 20-4 and fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida. Jorgensen is 10-3 and fighting out of Boise, Idaho. Kim Winslow is our ref. Here we go!

Jorgensen is in the white trunks and Pickett is in the black trunks with the British flag. Pickett catches Jorgensen with a straight right but he gets right back up. Pickett lands another punch but rolls backward to recover and pushes Pickett into the fence, throwing an uppercut when they break apart. Pickett is continuing to hurt Jorgensen with shots. Jorgensen can't get Pickett to the ground, which is clearly where he'd rather be at this point. 105 seconds gone by. Jorgensen momentarily has a single leg but Pickett gets away. Pickett gets rocked and loses his mouthpiece! Jorgensen continues to fire away and puts it back in while he's getting hit in the face again, and LAUGHS. Pickett is a great man. Two minutes to go. Both men are trading bombs now. Jorgensen goes for a double leg, Pickett tries to guillotine him, but Jorgensen moves to side control and starts dropping elbows. Pickett rolls and gets back to his feet with a minute left. Pickett hits a liver shot and lands a flying knee but Jorgensen walks through it. Jorgensen lands a left coming out of the clinch. Pickett charges forward like a bull with 10 seconds to go and both men are fired up before the horn.

Pickett is charging forward dropping bombs less than 15 seconds into R2. Jorgensen tries to shoot for a single leg but it's not there. Pickett lands more combos, but Jorgensen may be hitting harder when he responds, and Pickett is telegraphing some of his shots when he throws 2-3 lefts in a row. Jorgensen knocks Pickett's mouthpiece out again! This time he doesn't stop to pick it up. Pickett's right hand looks nasty when they land. Winslow stops the fight and makes Pickett put his mouthpiece back in. Pickett stuffs one takedown, then hits Jorgensen with a low blow which makes Winslow stop the fight. Pickett seems unimpressed - I guess he doesn't think it was flush. BOTH FIGHTERS BOMBING AWAY WITH TWO MINUTES TO GO IN R2. Bonnar: "Oh my God, I'm speechless!" Pickett shoots, Jorgensen counters and winds up on top in guard. Jorgensen works him over on the ground, lands a good elbow, tries to stand up for an over the top punch but Pickett nearly triangles him. Pickett stands up, Jorgensen nearly has a guillotine but he escapes. Awesome fight!

Pickett's face looks bruised and mashed to start R3. Jorgensen may be bruising too but with the patches of vitiligo it's hard to tell. Harris notes the swelling of both eyes. "Conditioning is really going to come into play here." Mike Brown is in Pickett's corner telling him to let his hands go. Jorgensen gets a takedown 75 seconds in. Harris: "His hands are getting heavy, doesn't have quite the pop he did in R1." Jorgensen defends a triangle but Pickett rolls through to get back to his feet in the process. R3 is halfway done. Big right from Jorgensen, good counter left from Pickett. Another single leg takedown. The takedowns might win the fight for Jorgensen. One more time Pickett goes for a triangle and Jorgensen avoids it beautifully, then starts crushing Pickett's back with some nasty knees again and again. 50 seconds left. Jorgensen has side control. Pickett gives up his back and tries to roll but Jorgensen hangs on and rolls him to the ground. Pickett manages to sweep out for the last 10 seconds and finish in guard but I think Jorgensen takes this one. Commercial!

Here's Bruce Buffer. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION - ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE IT 30-27 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: SCOTT 'YOUNG GUN' JORGENSEN! "We did everything we promised the fans. We came out here and gave you guys a good show. I hope you enjoyed it. It hurt! I think I'm totally deserving of that next title shot. I expect that Bantamweight Title in 2010 people!" Todd Harris promises us interviews after this commercial break. Promo for Aldo vs. Gamburyan is followed by a Gamburyan interview. "I'm gonna put on a great show on September 30th. He has phenomenal skills but when it comes to fighting I'm a fighter, I'm gonna do my thing." Donald Cerrone is also on the card and he'll be fighting Jamie Varner again. "This shot is gonna slingshot me on the road to redemption. Varner I hope you're training hard baby! I'm goin' out there to WHIP, HIS, BUTT. Come and get it!" Torres will fight Valencia on the same night, Jung will fight Roop and Garcia will fight Hominick - a very solid lineup! Look forward to that card from Broomfield, CO on 9/30.

* Cub Swanson vs. Chad 'Money' Mendes (Featherweight Bout)

Chad says Cub is his toughest opponent so far. Cub: "It will be his biggest loss so far. I'd love to get in there and finish it quick." Chad: "I want to break Cub." Cub: "I love that this newbie thinks he can break me." Commercial! Another teaser of Milwaukee, Nashville and Phoenix as the finalists to host a WEC event. 26 to 25, 5'7" to 5'6", 146 to 145 and 70" to 66" reach from Swanson to Mendes on the Tale of the Tape. Mendes is 7-0 and fighting out of Sacramento, California. Swanson is 14-3 and fighting out of Palm Springs, California. Our referee for this bout is Josh Rosenthal. "Touch gloves, let's do this."

A lot of dancing for the first 30 seconds. Only one big punch in the first minute. Cub slips up and Mendes pounces and takes side control. BTW he's wearing the black trunks and Cub the white. Mendes is doing the old Randy Couture trick of popping Cub in the chin with his shoulder. Rosenthal calls for more action as we near the 2 minute mark. Crowd sounds a little impatient too. Bonnar notes that no matter how it looks it's a winning strategy. Rosenthal: "Advance gentlemen!" Bonnar: "Good thing they don't take points for stalling in WEC." Rosenthal finally makes them get back to the feet with 120 seconds remaining. Kick turns into a single leg turns right back to the feet so quick no one gains any advantage. Swanson keeps pushing forward with 15 seconds to go. He throws a flying knee but gets taken down before commercial.

Mendes takes Cub down immediately to start R2. Cub quickly escapes and goes back to throwing lefts and rights. Some of them are starting to connect. Spinning head kick misses. Cub gets poked in the eye and taken down, but Bonnar thinks the takedown is a good thing since it will give Cub time to recover from his blurred vision. Mendes tries to pass guard and Cub sticks him right back in there. Cub tries to buck out and narrowly avoids giving up his back to Mendes in doing so. Rosenthal calls for more with 75 seconds left. Mendes continues to ride it out and grind it out on the ground until the final seconds when Cub escapes and throws a few knees before the horn.

It's hard to tell whether Mendes clipped him with a right or Cub slipped but either way he's on his back again 30 seconds in, trying to wall walk up the fence on the Versus logo. Cub does get to his feet 50 seconds in and throws some kicks. Mendes puts him on the ground again and works from guard, while Cub tries to get the omoplata, but can't secure it and has to give it up. Mendes takes half guard and works for full mount, Cub gets quarter guard back, the fight stays down on the ground either way. Looks like Mendes will grind this out. Mendes lets him up, Swanson comes over to throw a knee, Mendes throws him right back to the ground. Mendes lets him up again. Cub is throwing leg kicks and swinging for the fences. Mendes takes his back and takes him down again. Mendes will finish on top at the horn.

Buffer: 30-27, 29-28 AND 29-28 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: CHAD 'MONEY' MENDES. Big surprise. Mendes credits Cub with great stand-up, says he's been working on his too, but as a wrestler he feels most comfortable on the ground. WE COULD TELL. Urijah Faber and company celebrate with the winner. Pettis vs. Roller after this commercial break! Ben Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Clay Guida and Chris Anderson are all watching in the crowd when we return.

* Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis (Lightweight Bout)

31 to 23, 5'10" each, 156 to 155 and 72" each in reach from Roller to Pettis. Bruce Buffer reminds us this is the co-main. Pettis is 9-1 and fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Roller is 8-2 and fighting out of Las Vegas, so he'll be the hometown favorite tonight. Our referee in charge is HERB DEAN. Roller is in the black trunks, Pettis the blue.

Roller clinches up 12 seconds into the round. Pettis is nearly taken down but both men land on a knee and get back up to their feet. Roller shoots all the way across the cage looking for a single, then switches to looking for a double. 90 seconds gone. Pettis throws a jumping head kick when they break apart, but Roller lands an over the top right and works for another takedown. Pettis is momentarily on top as he scrambles back to the feet. Pettis comes forward with a good flurry and puts Roller against the Bud Light logo on the fence. They break again with 90 seconds left. Pettis hits a RIDICULOUS CARTWHEEL KICK TO THE NECK. Unreal. Bonnar is about to lose his mind! Roller hurt him with a counter shot though and has him crushed into the cage with 20 seconds left. Pettis hits one more whacky rolling kick before commercial.

Back for R2! Roller throws a leg kick and Pettis a counter punch. Again Roller shoots him into the fence looking for a single leg but Pettis shakes it off. This time it's Pettis who gets a good takedown and Roller is holding him between the guard on top, still there with 3:15 left. Even though Roller has him held in place Pettis is pounding the ribcage and the side of the face with shots whenever he gets an opening. Herb Dean calls for more work as we near 2 minutes left. Pettis backs away from a potential submission and Roller ROCKS HIM on the feet. He looks a little woozy on the fence with a minute to go. Roller obliges his corner by throwing a knee then gets a full mount with ease. 40 seconds. PETTIS PUSHED OFF THE CAGE WITH A SOMERSAULT TO WIND UP ON TOP and he's THROWING PUNCHES IN THE PROCESS. They don't call Pettis 'Showtime' for nothing! He almost gets a big kick right before commercial.

Pettis comes out aggressive to start R3. Roller shoots for a huge running double leg takedown and gets it 40 seconds in. Pettis nearly sweeps to a triangle and lands a flush upkick to Roller's face. TRIANGLE AGAIN! Roller steps across and escapes but WOW that one nearly caught him. Pettis gets away from a guillotine attempt and goes for a triangle a third time but Roller realizes it and immediately moves away. Pettis stands up and ROLLER LOOKS SERIOUSLY GASSED. Actually Pettis looks slower too but he's not breathing as hard and he's keeping his hands up better. Pettis CLOCKS Roller with a right and takes him down! They go back to stand-up with 40 seconds and Pettis goes for a takedown but Roller has him in a guillotine and PETTIS ESCAPES AND SINKS IN A DEEP TRIANGLE! TEN SECONDS LEFT AND ROLLER TAPS OUT!!!!!! Official time after the commercial.

Here's Bruce Buffer. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE REFEREE CALLS A STOP TO THE ACTION AT 4:51 OF THE THIRD ROUND FOR THE WINNER VIA SUBMISSION DUE TO A TRIANGLE CHOKE: ANTHONY 'SHOWTIME' PETTIS!! Pettis: "Taking down Shane Roller is a big accomplishment. I've never been hit this many times in a fight, big up to Shane. My confidence is high, I trained hard, had a great camp. Pat Barry, Alan Belcher, get better soon. I'm ready for the champ - where's he at? Ben where you at?" Next Shane Roller is interviewed. "One of those nights were it wasn't clicking, I felt sluggish all 3 rounds. I just didn't feel strong in here for some reason."

Time for our main event but FIRST the winner of the AMP Energy Hometown Takedown contest - it's either Milwaukee, Nashville or Phoenix. Urijah Faber will make the announcement. Faber thanks the fans for their responses and says he wants to find out as badly as they do. Dana White is psyched about the votes too and says he wants to know as badly as everybody else. Brittany brings Dana White the AMP Energy can, he opens it up, and WEC IS HEADED TO PHOENIX. They'll be at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona on December 16th. Next up it's time for a Ben Henderson interview and he THROWS UP THE ROC DIAMOND (or if you prefer the DDP BANG). What does he have to say about Pettis? "I see you man I see you! I enjoy being on top and I fully intend on staying here a long time." The Upper Deck Bar in Scottsdale, AZ continues to celebrate on remote cam as the main eventers warm up backstage.

* Dominick Cruz {C} vs. Joseph Benavidez (WEC Bantamweight Title Bout)

I love Joseph Benavidez coming out to James Brown to open up - he's looking for The Payback! Cruz looks psyched up on his way out, rocking Metal Mulisha gear, with his teammates carrying the Bantamweight Title high in the air behind him. Bonnar says this fight is TEAM ALPHA MALE VERSUS CRUZ. Funny my friend Akileese just said something similar on Twitter moments ago. Tale of the Tape! 25 to 26, 5'8" to 5'4", 134 each and 68" to 65" reach from Cruz to Benavidez. Steve Mazzagatti is our referee for tonight's fight, sponsored by AMP Energy, Muscle Pharm, and Bud Light. Please do NOT try taking all three at once and send an e-mail telling me how that works out. Benavidez is 12-1 and fighting out of Sacramento, California. Cruz is 15-1 and fighting out of San Diego, and he is the REIGNING AND DEFENDING WEC BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. Let's get this party started!

Cruz is in the black trunks and Benavidez the green. If you haven't seen the two fight before let me say this much - the height advantage Cruz has is VERY noticeable. Benavidez is such a scrapper though and he packs a ton of power into a small frame. JO-SEPH crowd chant from the partisan Las Vegas crowd. Benavidez slips a little, Cruz pounces and gets underhooks, then throws some knees. Benavidez finally breaks free with two minutes gone. Benavidez throws some hard hooks. Cruz responds with a kick. Benavidez eats an uppercut off a faint. Benavidez continues to tag with kicks and jabs whenever he gets a chanece but Crus is dancing around him effectively. Benavidez with a CRUNCHING counter right overhand to a midsection kick. Cruz gets a takedown with a minute left and momentarily Benavidez has a guillotine - but only for a moment. Benavidez is throwing elbows from the bottom. Cruz may just want to hold him down for the rest of the round and start fresh - and that's what he does.

And we're back for R2 at 11:22 EST. Cruz may be bleeding a little from the nose. He avoids another possible guillotine. Benavidez has a little bit of a cut right below the hairline. One minute gone. Cruz lands a knee to the body. Harris: "Can you imagine this going to 5 rounds?" Bonnar: "Both guys are busted up. I think they hit a lot harder now than they did the last time and the evidence is all over their faces." Two minutes gone. Cruz continues to fire off kicks as Bonnar and Harris discuss how stacked the 135 division is. Benavidez continues to throw bombs and counter rights any time Cruz gets close. Benavidez slips on a low kick and goes for a single leg, but Cruz just steps away from it. 100 seconds left. Front kick by Benavidez lands. Cruz continues to dance and look for angles. Cruz with a knee to the jaw. Benavidez with another hard right hand. Benavidez may be giving up side but he's not giving up heart. Cruz goes for a double leg, Benavidez tries to get a guillotine, Crus pulls away but he eats an elbow to end the round.

Both fighters are pouring sweat as they come out for R3. Both guys have bruises swelling up on their faces. So far Benavidez has taken everything Cruz can dish out and offered plenty of damage of his own. Bonnar is still in disbelief he walked through the flying knee Cruz hit. Benavidez is going for low leg kicks now hoping to slow Cruz down. Benavidez puts Cruz against the fence and grabs a single leg but the slick and slippery Cruz slips out. Two minutes gone. Cruz clinches up to throw knees. Mazzagatti yells to both fighters not to grab the shorts. Benavidez can't get the single leg yet again. 100 seconds. Cruz is getting the better of the kicks but Benavidez lands a NICE shot right to the knee. More body and leg kicks. Joseph Benavidez - one tough son of a bitch. Dominick Cruz - no slouch either. 15 seconds. Cruz gets a takedown and may have won a close round but it's conceivable he was getting outstruck on the feet before that.

Cruz wastes no time taking Benavidez down to start R4 and passes quickly to side control. Benavidez pushes him back to guard and starts looking for a triangle or an armbar. Mazzagatti warns Benavidez to let go of the fence once, then a second time. 3:15 left. Benavidez scrambles out and Cruz sprawls to avoid a takedown. You can hear Faber yelling out advice to Benavidez. He gets up and goes for a guillotine again but has to let go. Benavidez goes for a head throw and gets away but he may have been hit with a big knee to the nose in the process. He's bleeding HEAVILY. Benavidez goes for a guillotine again as Cruz gets the takedown. It's not working but hell we saw Pettis keep trying a triangle 'til he got it late in R3 so who knows? Benavidez scrambles out and goes for another single leg to end the round, with Cruz' blood all over his back.

Bonnar and Harris are both happy that Cruz is being aggressive in R5 even though they think he's ahead on all of the scorecard. Benavidez and Cruz both connect with shots to the head at the same time as Benavidez shoots in. 90 seconds gone. Benavidez is working on some cauliflower ear. Jumping knee by Cruz nearly jumps right OVER Benavidez. Their conditioning is awesome in this fight - both guys seem incredibly fresh with 150 seconds left to go in this 25 minute fight. Crowd is still chanting JO-SEPH even now. 90 seconds. Cruz is getting away from most (but not all) of the shots Benavidez throws, particularly the big right hands. One finally sneaks in at 75 seconds. Benavidez probably needs a knockout to win. 30 seconds left. Another jumping knee by Cruz. High kick by Cruz connects! Takedown by Cruz with 15 seconds should seal the deal. Cruz lands an elbow as Benavidez tries to slip out. IT'S OVER!! AWESOME FIGHT. We'll get the scorecards momentarily as we go to replay footage.

Here's Bruce Buffer with the official decision. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER FIVE ROUNDS OF ACTION WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION. NELSON HAMILTON 48-47 BENAVIDEZ, GRIFFITH 48-47 CRUZ, AND ADELAIDE BYRD SCORES IT 49-46 FOR THE WINNER AND STILL WEC BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION: DOMINICK CRUZ! The crowd isn't happy Cruz won but Cruz thanks the crowd for watching and his opponent for an awesome fight. "I tried to stay hard to hit, it didn't work too well, it was five rounds so I guess I don't look too bad for that. I couldn't do it without you fans, even the ones who boo me make me stronger and better, thank you so much." That's all from The Pearl at the Palms. Good night everyone!