WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on December 16, 2010 at Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. The event was the first time that Zuffa has hosted an event in Arizona. This was the final WEC event, due to the merger with the UFC.

This was the final WEC event before merging with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011.

This event was unique in that the WEC and AMP Energy allowed fans to choose the location of the event. The fans were given 30 options and the finalists were Milwaukee, Nashville and Phoenix. During the live telecast of WEC 50, Phoenix was announced as the winner of the contest.

The winner of the WEC Lightweight Championship fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis was scheduled to face the winner of UFC 125's Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard title fight in 2011 to unify the WEC and UFC lightweight championships. However, the Edgar/Maynard fight ended in a split draw (necessitating a UFC 136 rematch, which Edgar won.) Though Anthony Pettis won the final WEC lightweight title bout, he opted not to wait for the Edgar/Maynard winner and instead fought Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos Finale, losing by unanimous decision.

Anthony Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division and is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Pettis has made a name for himself mainly fighting in his home state of Wisconsin. He is a former fighter for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), where he was the last WEC Lightweight Champion before merging the promotion into the UFC.

Born to Eugene Pettis Jr. and Annette Garcia, Anthony Pettis grew up in the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin along with his older brother Ray Pettis and younger brother Sergio "Lil' Showtime" Pettis. Pettis is of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, his grandfather Anglicized the family name from Perez to Pettis, to avoid discrimination. Pettis attended Dominican High School.

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis made his professional MMA debut in December 2007. He compiled an undefeated record of 8-0 in shows all based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before debuting with the WEC. Pettis also has a professional kickboxing background.

Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. Henderson is known for his aggressive style and his ability to escape from deep submission attempts. As of March 2012, Henderson is ranked as the #1 lightweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Henderson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to a Korean American mother and an African American father. He was raised in Federal Way, Washington. He attended Decatur High School from 1998 to 2001. Ben became a part of the high school's wrestling team. After graduating from high school, he attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska and graduated in 2006 with a double major in criminal justice and sociology. While attending Dana College, Henderson was on the wrestling team, and was twice named an NAIA All-American. Henderson is a proud Christian, and uses his fighting to share his beliefs. He is known to quote scripture after bouts, and walks into each fight to a gospel song.

Dominick Rojelio Cruz (born September 3, 1985) is an Mexican American mixed martial artist who competes as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion. As of November 2011, Cruz is ranked the #1 bantamweight and #8 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Cruz began his professional MMA career fighting in the Rage in a Cage and Total Combat organizations.

His first fight in the WEC was at featherweight in a title fight against Urijah Faber in which he lost by guillotine choke in the first round. He would then make his debut for WEC's 135 lb Bantamweight division at WEC 34 defeating Charlie Valencia by unanimous decision and would go on to show domination of the 135 lb Bantamweight division beating the likes of Ian McCall, Ivan Lopez and handing top contender Joseph Benavidez his first loss at WEC 42 winning all bouts by unanimous decision and winning fight of the night honors in his bout versus Benavidez.

Cruz defeated Brian Bowles via TKO (doctor stoppage) on March, 6, 2010 at WEC 47. Bowles was unable to continue after the second round after breaking his hand. Cruz became the new WEC Bantamweight Champion.

Scott Roger Jorgensen (born September 17, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist competing in the UFC Bantamweight division and is a member of the Twisted Genetiks Fight Team based out of Boise, Idaho. He is considered a perennial top 5 ranked bantamweight fighter. He holds notable victories over Brad Pickett, Kenji Osawa, Antonio Banuelos, and Takeya Mizugaki. Jorgensen is currently ranked the No. 5 bantamweight fighter in the world by Sherdog, No. 4 by ESPN.com and No. 4 by MMAWeekly.com.

Jorgensen started wrestling in 3rd grade and continued wrestling in college for Boise State University. He is a 3 time Pac-10 Champion and finished in the top 12 at the NCAA National Tournament three years in a row.^{[citation needed]}

Jorgensen has been diagnosed with vitiligo. According to Jorgensen from an interview with MMARecap.com, "Its just a pigmentation disorder that basically my immune system fights off pigment cells and loses its color." In another interview, he talks about when he first noticed it happening. "It started in ninth grade. I noticed a small spot on my wrist and I didn't think much of it. My mom offered to take me to a doctor but I didn't want to go. It kind of bothered me because I didn't know how to explain it to people ... and some people were ignorant. So I just involved myself with what I do best, which is wrestling, and I've always had lots of friends. It got to the point where I decided you'll either accept me or you won't and if it's because of my skin then you've got bigger issues than I do. I just don't care, it doesn't bother me. It's something that makes me who I am. It is me and it's never hindered me in any way. It's funny to see people talk about it."