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01/15/2009 Archived Entry: "January 25 WEC San Diego Card Will Show Live On Versus"
January 25 WEC San Diego Card Will Show Live On Versus
By Jack R. Dunn
LAS VEGAS -- Lightweights and featherweights and bantamweights oh my! The World Extreme Cagefighting is well known for being deep in talent in the lighter weight classes, and they may prove it on January 25th in San Diego. The show will be televised live on VERSUS beginning at 9:30 pm ET/6:30 pm PT. This a boon for MMA fans sick of shelling out wads of cash for pay-per-view. The cable channel was an early supporter of the WEC, although it is best known for hunting and fishing shows.
The main event will feature a lightweight championship fight between Jamie Varner and undefeated Donald Cerrone. The co-main event will feature a rematch between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver. Varner has finished his last four opponents, and now the Tempe, AZ fighter will face his greatest test in Cerrone.
"I have a lot of respect for Cerrone, but I consider him just one more undefeated fighter that I have to put in his place," said Varner. "I think it's awesome to have this fight in Southern California; there is a huge MMA following there, so I think this event will be huge, and a big step for the growth of WEC."
Undefeated lightweight contender from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is best known for his stand-up and competent ground game. Cerrone most recently scored a Versus Fight of the Night win against former champ Rob McCullough.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to fight for the title, and to take on Jamie Varner," said Cerrone. "He's well rounded and very athletic, but I'm going to work hard in training camp and on my game plan to win the title. I'm looking forward to fighting in San Diego, and to headline the first WEC event there."
Urijah Faber was the WEC Featherweight Champion from March of 2006 to November of 2008, and led WEC marketing efforts. With his defeat by Mike Brown in November an audible whoosh went out of the hype balloon, but Faber remains a credible threat and if he wants another shot at Brown he must first survive a rematch with Jens Pulver. The two first met in June 2008, fighting to five round decision that has been lauded as one of the best WEC fights to date.
"I know this is going to be another classic for the fans," said Faber. "Jens is always ready to fight, he's a competitor, and I expect a tough battle, but I'm going to try to finish it this time - I don't want it to go the distance."
The thirty-three-year old former UFC lightweight champion has lost to Faber twice, and Pulver hopes that with a new team he will have a better chance at victory.
"Now that I train with Matt Hume, I'll be doing things a lot differently," Pulver said comparing his first fight with Faber. "Did I show it against Leonard Garcia? No, it takes time. But I know I'm still competitive...Great fights are still in me."
Leading the undercard, Mike Campbell of Bellingham, MA will risk his undefeated mixed martial arts record against Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Danillo Vilefort of Coconut Creek, FL. Campbell, originally from Aurora, Colo., now trains at the Sit Yod Tong academy with Mark Dellagrotte.
A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Jose Aldo of Rio de Janeiro has won his two WEC matches via TKO and holds a twelve and one MMA record. The twenty-two-year-old Manaus, Brazil native will face Rolando Perez of Chula Vista, CA, who at four-one and one will make his WEC debut. Perez trains at Alliance Training center with UFC fighter Brandon Vera.
Lightweight Ed Ratcliff of San Diego, CA is looking to rebound from a submission loss to Marcus Hicks when he clashes with Nigerian-born fighter Anthony Njokuani most recently of Las Vegas, NV. Njokuani is making his WEC debut. Ratcliff, a Chicago native with a black belt in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, has two WEC wins by TKO.
Mexican-born welterweight Edgar Garcia of Yuma, was a state wrestling champion in Arizona and now holds a six and oh mixed martial arts record. The twenty-four-year-old Garcia will face judo black belt Hiromitsu Miura of Tokyo, Japan. This will be Miura's fifth appearance in the WEC.
San Diego native Dominick Cruz will through down with twenty-four-year-old bantamweight Ian McCall of Dana Point, CA. Cruz, who is eleven and one, suffered his only loss against Faber but recovered with a unanimous decision win against Charlie Valencia last June. McCall, with a record of seven and one, hopes to redeem himself after a submission loss to Valencia in his last WEC match.
Another, bantamweight Frank Gomez of Albuquerque, NM, is training with Greg Jackson's camp in Albuquerque. Gomez has six and oh MMA record, and will be making his WEC debut when he fights Scott Jorgensen of Boise, Idaho. Jorgensen recently improved his record to five and two with a unanimous decision win over Kenji Osawa in his second WEC bout.
After five fights in the WEC, welterweight Blas Avena of Las Vegas, NV, needed just one minute and seven seconds to stop Dave Terrel in his last fight. Avena, who has a six and two record, hopes to have the same success when he goes up against Jesse Lennox of Davenport, IA, who will enter the ring thirteen and one.
Rounding out the undercard, thirty-four-year-old bantamweight Charlie Valencia of Ontario, CA, is coming off consecutive losses is desperate for a win against Seth Dikun of Victorville, CA. Dikun is 6-2 and is making his WEC debut. Valencia has two WEC wins earlier in his career, a submission victory against McCall and a referee stoppage over Antonio Banuelos.
