WEC Odds and Info

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Three Bouts Confirmed for WEC 50; 51 Taking Shape
By Chad Dundas, Versus.com

WEC officials finalized three bouts on Tuesday for next month's WEC 50 card and multiple reports out this week say the MMA promotion will be on the road again in September, headed to Colorado for WEC 51.

WEC 50 will feature a bantamweight championship fight as its main event, as titleist Dominick Cruz and challenger Joseph Benavidez square off in five-round affair on Aug. 18 at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas. It will be Cruz's first defense of the 135-pound strap since taking it from Brian Bowles via second-round TKO in March.

Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber will also make his bantamweight debut against Takeya Mizugaki in the evening's "co-main event."

In addition to those fights, the WEC has confirmed previously reported bouts including Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett, Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson and Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Anthony Njokuani.

Jorgensen has won four fights in a row in the WEC cage and a victory over English brawler "One Punch" Pickett could well set him up for a future shot at the bantamweight title. In his latest bout at WEC 48 in April, the Idaho native avenged his only loss since 2008, defeating Antonio Banuelos by unanimous decision.

Pickett, a former Cage Rage champion, is undefeated in his first two bouts in the WEC and is riding a streak of nine straight victories overall.

A member of Faber's Team Alpha Male, Mendes is 7-0 as a professional and a third-straight WEC win could put him in the discussion with Manny Gamburyan and Josh Grispi as possible future challengers for champion Jose Aldo. After dropping two of his last four fights - to Jens Pulver and Aldo - Swanson got back on track with a victory over John Franchi at WEC 44 last November.

Like Mendes, Jewtuszko is undefeated in seven fights. He'll be making his WEC debut after a successful run of appearances largely in his native Poland, where all of his victories have come by stoppage in the first or second round. Njokuani had put together a trio of wins in the WEC before losing to Shane Roller in April.

As for the September event, it's rumored to feature Aldo's 145-pound title defense against Gamburyan as a main event. While that bout has not been finalized for WEC 51, officials confirmed that Gamburyan would likely remain Aldo's next challenger after Grispi made a successful return from an ankle injury last month at WEC 49.

If reports that the promotion will invade the 1STBank Center in Broomfield are accurate, it will mark the WEC's first venture to Colorado. The venue previously played host to the UFC's first live broadcast on the Versus Network, when Jon Jones defeated Brandon Vera in March, as well as a recent UFC Fight Night card.

WEC 51 is also rumored to feature the return of former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres. Once regarded as one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters, Torres coming off back-to-back losses to Bowles and Benavidez.

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