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WEC 50 Weigh-In Results
By Matt EricksonPosted: 08/17/2010 08:01 PM ET
All 20 fighters made weight for their bouts. Only one, Zach Micklewright, needed a second attempt when he came in a half-pound over at 156.5 for his lightweight bout with Bart Palaszewski. But after removing his briefs, he made the allowed 156 pounds.
WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez takes place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features a main event bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez. The two fought at WEC 42 last August with Cruz taking the unanimous decision, handing Benavidez (13-1, 4-1 WEC) the first loss of his career.
WEC 50 Cruz vs. Benavidez Weigh-In Video
By Michael David SmithPosted: 08/17/2010 06:10 PM ET
In the main event, WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Joseph Benavidez will have to make 135 pounds.
The weigh-in begins Tuesday at 7 PM ET and the video is below.
Is Paul Heyman on the Verge of Entering the MMA World?
By Ariel HelwaniPosted: 08/17/2010 03:38 PM ET
After leaving World Wrestling Entertainment in 2006, he got together with a group of investors and former K-1/PRIDE producers in attempt to purchase Strikeforce. That deal never materialized because, as Heyman said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, he felt Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker wasn't getting a fair deal.
"At the end of the day, one of our financial guys, who was the key to the deal, wanted to change the deal, and I wasn't comfortable with it. One of the producers who I was very close with said, 'This deal is going to go south and Coker is going to get burned,' and I wasn't going to do it, especially coming out of the wrestling world and my first entry into MMA is going to be that I'm a rip-off artist? No thanks. I don't want to live the rest of my life with that reputation. I already have enough of that as it is. This ain't a carny play. This is a legitimate business offer and I wasn't trying to rip anyone off."
Texas Two-Step? Like UFC, Strikeforce Considered Cowboys Stadium Show
By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/17/2010 02:36 PM ET
The discussions, which were confirmed by two separate sources with knowledge of the situation, have not gone past the exploratory stages.
When contacted by MMA Fighting, Strikeforce representatives downplayed the possibility of such an event.
Cecil Peoples Demonstrates How Not to Ref a Fight
By Ben FowlkesPosted: 08/17/2010 01:57 PM ET
I'm not saying that being an MMA referee is an easy job. Like a lot of gigs that look pretty cushy from a distance, it's probably a lot harder once you try and do it yourself. Sure, you usually work in no more than fifteen-minute shifts, which doesn't sound bad. But then again, if you're always working on Saturday nights, when do you go to the movies? These are the things we don't consider from outside the cage.
What I will say about the referee's job, however, is that there are a few sure ways to be bad at it. I was reminded of this fact last weekend when I watched referee/judge/sensei Cecil Peoples work the King of the Cage heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Tony Johnson.
UFC 117 Fighter Salaries: Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes Each Earn $200,000 Purse
By Ray HuiPosted: 08/17/2010 12:38 PM ET
Silva earned $200,000 with no win bonus while Hughes made $100,000 to show and a $100,00 to win, according to disclosed salaries provided Tuesday by the California athletic commission to MMAFighting.com.
Attendance for the event at the Oracle Arena was 14,610 for a gross gate of $1,565,130.
Full salaries are below.
Mirko Cro Cop Steps Up to Fight Frank Mir at UFC 119
By Michael David SmithPosted: 08/17/2010 11:49 AM ET
Cro Cop agreed to take the fight -- his eighth in the UFC -- on short notice after Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira dropped out with hip and knee injuries. Cro Cop's UFC career has been fairly disappointing, with a 4-3 record and all four wins coming against lower-level competition. But a victory over Mir would be a huge step forward for Cro Cop, who hasn't beaten anyone as relevant as Mir in the heavyweight division since he defeated Josh Barnett to win the Pride Openweight Grand Prix in September of 2006.
'Showtime' Pettis Plans to Exploit Shane Roller's Holes, Seize WEC Spotlight
By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/17/2010 09:28 AM ET
Pettis was just a five-year-old kid who needed a place to go when he was first introduced to martial arts. At the time, Annette was a single mom attending college, and a taekwondo class on the campus of her school sounded like a perfect short-term distraction for Pettis and his brother, Rey.
"I hated it," Pettis says now with a laugh. "I wanted to be with my friends and play basketball, just be outside."
Backstage With Ed Soares
By Ariel HelwaniPosted: 08/17/2010 09:14 AM ET
And just 48 hours before before UFC 117 in Oakland, which featured both Silva and dos Santos, MMA Fighting sat down with Soares in the latest installment of our "Backstage" series.
Watch below as Soares discusses how he got into MMA, Silva's performance at UFC 112, his relationship with Dana White and much more.
Shark Fights Card Adds Paul Bradley vs. Johnny Rees
By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/16/2010 06:23 PM ET
A source close to the fight confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting.
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