WEC 37 on 12/03/08 Fight Card - all updates here!!!

[brutus]

WEC 37
December 3, 2008
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Live on Versus



-Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia
-Akitoshi Tamura vs. Wagnney Fabiano
-Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro
-Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik
-Alex Serdyukov vs. Johnny Hendricks
-Bart Palaszewski vs. Alex Karalexis
-Cub Swanson vs Hiroyuki Takaya
-Mark Munoz vs. Ricardo Barros
-Joseph Benavides vs Danny Martinez

[NDshotokan]

I LOVE Torres. The Mullet man!! That's gonna be a fun fight.

[brutus]

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Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov moved to WEC’s Dec. 3 event; Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik

October 6, 2008 by Sam Caplan

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The debut WEC debut of former NCAA champion Johny Hendricks has been postponed for the second time, as his planned welterweight bout vs. Russian Alex Serdyukov has been moved from WEC 36 on Nov. 5 in Florida to WEC 37 on Dec. 3 in Las Vegas.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news with Hendricks’ manager, Team Takedown’s Ted Ehrhardt, after being alerted to the news by an unnamed source earlier in the day.

Hendricks and Serdyukov had been scheduled to face each other past September at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. but the entire fight card had to be postponed as a result of Hurricane Ike.

Hendricks was a standout wrestler at Oklahoma State and is a perfect 3-0 since making his MMA debut in September of 2007. Known for being a charismatic competitor throughout his All-American career, Hendricks has won all three of his pro fights inside the distance.

Serdyukov is 8-4 overall with a lifetime record in the WEC of 5-2. He holds notable victories in his career over the likes of Mark Weir and Scott Norton with notable losses coming against Scott Norton and John Alessio.

Ehrhardt also revealed that Team Takedown’s 155 pound weight class representative Shane Roller has been added to WEC 37 against Mike Budnik.

Roller, who like teammates Hendricks and Jake Rosholt also attended Oklahoma State, is 4-1 in his pro MMA career. While Rosholt and Hendricks have yet to make their WEC debuts, Roller appeared at WEC 35 this past August, where he submitted Houston’s Todd Moore with a guillotine choke at three minutes of round 1.

His opponent, Budnik, is a perfect 7-0 and had been considered for a spot on the current season’s cast of The Ultimate Fighter reality television show on Spike TV. Like Roller, he won his WEC debut this past August by submitting Greg McIntyre via triangle choke in the third round.

WEC 37 will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will feature WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his title vs. Manny Tapia.

[Grabaka]

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- TOP 10 FEATHERWEIGHTS CLASH AT WEC 37
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - by Ricardo Mendoza - MMAWeekly.com

IFL featherweight champion Wagnney Fabaiano will make his World Extreme Cagefighting debut on Dec. 3 as he takes on former Shooto lightweight champion Akitoshi Tamura at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. MMAWeekly.com was also able to confirm the fight with sources close to the fight.

This will be a clash of Top 10 featherweights with Fabiano currently ranked No. 9 according to MMAWeekly.com and Tamura currently ranked No. 2.

Fabiano hasn’t seen action since April, when he successfully defended his IFL featherweight title for the first time, knocking out former NCAA wrestler Shad Lirely at an IFL event in New Jersey. Shortly thereafter the IFL went out of business and Fabaino was able to sign a contract with the WEC.

Tamura last saw action in an exciting fight against Shooto legend Rumina Sato at Shooto Tradition, where he submitted Sato with a north/south choke late in the fight. This will also be Tamura’s debut on American soil.

Although not confirmed, its a strong possibility that the winner of this fight will get the next shot at the WEC featherweight title, which will be defended at WEC 36, where current champion Urijah Faber faces challenger Mike Brown.

WEC 37 is headlined by WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his tile against former King of the Cage champion Manny Tapia.

What a great match up! I didn't even know that WEC signed Tamura. Now he and Fabiano face eachother in their debuts. It wasn't long ago that a lot of the top MMA sites had Tamura #1 in the world at 145 lbs ahead of Faber and others. I <3 WEC!

[brutus]

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As World Extreme Cagefighting gets ready to close out 2008 with its Dec. 3 show in Las Vegas, MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Bart Palaszewski is set to make his promotional debut against former “Ultimate Fighter” season 1 cast member Alex Karalexis.

The fight was confirmed by sources close to the situation.

Palaszewski makes his move to the WEC after spending the last couple of years fighting for the now defunct International Fight League, amassing a record of 8-4 with the promotion, 29-11 overall. By the time of the fighter, it will have been nearly six months since he last saw action, defeating UFC veteran Jeff Cox by TKO at the inaugural Adrenaline MMA event.

His opponent, Alex Karalexis, has not competed since December of 2007 in a fight that he lost to Ed Ratcliff by TKO. He is a UFC and WEC veteran riding a four-fight win streak before being derailed by Ratcliff.

The main event for the WEC 37 card will feature bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his title against Manny Tapia.

Jeff Curran, who is currently ranked at No. 7 in the featherweight division by MMAWeekly.com, had been planning move to bantamweight on Dec. 3 at WEC 37 in Las Vegas.

Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry, however, as have Curran's. Walking around UFC 90 in Chicago this past weekend with his hand bandaged, a source close to the fighter's camp has confirmed that Curran's injured hand has forced him to withdraw from his planned 135-pound debut.

He will now sit out the rest of 2008, looking to bounce back as soon as possible in 2009.

Always a small lightweight fighter, where Curran had to spend much of his career due to the economics of the fight game, he signed with the WEC where the focus has been on the lighter weight classes. He immediately emerged as a contender to current 145-pound champion Urijah Faber, but lost to him and a subsequent bout to Mike Brown, who faces Faber on Nov. 5.

Rumors had circulated pitting Curran against Chase Beebe on Dec. 3, but that fight is obviously off the table now.

Curran was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

that sucks. I would liked to see how curran looked at Bantamweight.

[brutus]

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Cub Swanson will make his World Extreme Cagefighting return at WEC 37 in Las Vegas to face off with Shooto veteran Hiroyuki Takaya. MMAWeekly has confirmed the bout with sources close to the fight.

Both fighters suffered losses when they last saw action in the WEC and will look to get back into the winning column. Swanson comes off a submission victory over Donnie Walker at International Fighting & Boxing League: Fight Night 11. His last action in the WEC was a quick submission loss to former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver at WEC 31. In his last outing, Takaya suffered a stoppage loss to Leonard Garcia at WEC 32.

These two were originally scheduled to meet at WEC 35 but an injury to Swanson forced both fighters off the card, as a suitable replacement couldn’t be found to fight Takaya.

Now Swanson is healthy and these two fighters will finally clash in the cage. A loss for either fighter could be bleak for their WEC future, especially in the competitive featherweight division.

[Grabaka]

I couldn't love the WEC much more than I do. This is another sick fight card. I hope Takaya KTFO of Cub. I haven't like Cub since he was dissin' Pulver.

[brutus]

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November 12, 2008 by Sam Caplan

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Former NCAA All-American wrestler Mark Munoz will return from injury to compete against Ricardo Barros during WEC 37 on Dec. 3 in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The news is courtesy of a report on MMA Weekly.

Munoz had been scheduled to fight Steve Steinbess at WEC 36 on Sept. 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. but was forced to pull off the card due to injury. WEC 36 would ultimately be postponed until Nov. 5 due to Hurricane Ike, but Munoz was never booked for the re-scheduled event.

Zuffa will be disbanding its middleweight and light heavyweight divisions upon the completion of WEC 37 with Munoz expected to be transferred to the UFC regardless of whether he wins or loses.

WEC 37, which will air live on VERSUS, is slated to be headlined by WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his title vs. Manny Tapia.

[Grabaka]

This card isn't as stacked as WEC 36, but there are still some very interesting fights like Tamura/Fabiano, Bowles/Ribeiro, and Swanson/Takaya. I don't give Tapia much of a chance in the title fight. He's undefeated, but he's never beat anyone close to the level of Torres. I just can't see him winning.


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- JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS DANNY MARTINEZ AT WEC 37
Thursday, November 13, 2008 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com

The growing bantamweight division in World Extreme Cagefighting adds two more potential contenders to its Dec. 3 show in Las Vegas, as MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Joseph Benavidez will face Danny Martinez on the card.

Many fans will remember Benavidez from his brief stint fighting in Japan for the Dream promotion, when he was originally scheduled to face Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. Unfortunately, Yamamoto dropped out of the fight due to injury. Benavidez went on to dominate Junya Kudo, a late replacement for his original opponent.

Now Benavidez will move onto the WEC, which is quickly becoming the home of many of the top bantamweights in the world, including current champion Miguel Torres.

His opponent, Danny Martinez, is 11-2 in his professional career, while also holding the Rage in the Cage bantamweight title.

Last competing in early October, Martinez hopes to add onto his current three-fight win streak against an undefeated opponent in Benavidez, who trains alongside former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber.

Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more information on the upcoming Dec. 3 WEC 37 fight card as it becomes available.

I saw Benavidez's fight in DREAM. He looked pretty solid. He has some good power for a 135er. He also has a great training partner/coach in Urijah. Should be a nice fight with Martinez