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WEC 50 Weigh-In Results

By Matt EricksonPosted: 08/17/2010 08:01 PM ET

MMA Fighting has the complete weigh-in results for the 20 fighters on Wednesday's WEC 50 card.

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.
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WEC 50 Cruz vs. Benavidez Weigh-In Video

By Michael David SmithPosted: 08/17/2010 06:10 PM ET

All 20 fighters participating in Wednesday night's WEC 50 fight card will step on the scales Tuesday for the WEC 50 weigh-ins, and if you can't be there in person at The Palms in Las Vegas, you can watch live here at MMAFighting.com.

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.
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Is Paul Heyman on the Verge of Entering the MMA World?

By Ariel HelwaniPosted: 08/17/2010 03:38 PM ET

Paul Heyman has always had his finger on the pulse of the MMA world. He remembers watching UFC 1, had a good working relationship with Semaphore Entertainment Group, the original owners of the UFC, and he even created characters (see: Tazz) in his wrestling universe based on fighters.

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."
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Texas Two-Step? Like UFC, Strikeforce Considered Cowboys Stadium Show

By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/17/2010 02:36 PM ET

UFC President Dana White isn't the only one who wants to put on a Texas-sized event. Strikeforce has also had preliminary internal talks about staging a show at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, MMA Fighting has learned.

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.
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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.
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UFC 117 Fighter Salaries: Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes Each Earn $200,000 Purse

By Ray HuiPosted: 08/17/2010 12:38 PM ET

The UFC 117 fighter salaries are in and Anderson Silva and Matt Hughes each received the highest purse with $200,000 for the Aug. 7 event in Oakland.

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.
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Mirko Cro Cop Steps Up to Fight Frank Mir at UFC 119

By Michael David SmithPosted: 08/17/2010 11:49 AM ET

MMA legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic will get a chance at earning his biggest win in the Octagon to date on September 25, as the UFC has confirmed that Cro Cop accepted a fight with Frank Mir in the main event at UFC 119.

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.
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'Showtime' Pettis Plans to Exploit Shane Roller's Holes, Seize WEC Spotlight

By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/17/2010 09:28 AM ET

Anthony Pettis goes by the nickname "Showtime." It's an ironic moniker given the fact that his own mother, Annette Garcia, can't bear to watch him perform under the spotlight. What's even more ironic is that it's largely mom who laid the foundation for his surging MMA career.

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."
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Backstage With Ed Soares

By Ariel HelwaniPosted: 08/17/2010 09:14 AM ET

Ed Soares is one of the most recognizable and influential managers in mixed martial arts. With a stable of fighters that includes the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, Junior dos Santos and the Nogueira brothers, Soares has quickly put together one of the most impressive list of clients in the entire sport.

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.
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Shark Fights Card Adds Paul Bradley vs. Johnny Rees

By Mike ChiappettaPosted: 08/16/2010 06:23 PM ET

The intriguing Shark Fights 13 event scheduled for Sept. 11 has added further depth, adding former UFC fighter Johnny Rees against Strikeforce veteran Paul Bradley to the card.

A source close to the fight confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting.
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Fight Calendar

UFC 118 - Edgar vs. Penn 2
UFC Fight Night 22
UFC 119 - Mir vs. Cro Cop
UFC 120 - Bisping vs. Akiyama
UFC 121 - Lesnar vs. Velasquez
Strikeforce: Houston
WEC 50 - Cruz vs. Benavidez
WEC 51
Bellator 25 (Chicago)
Bellator 26 (Kansas City)
Sengoku 14
DEEP 49 Impact

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