WEC 53

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.[2] 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.

WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis
The poster for WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis.
Information
PromotionWorld Extreme Cagefighting
DateDecember 16, 2010
VenueJobing.com Arena
CityGlendale, Arizona
Attendance6,348[1]
Event chronology
WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis

Background

This was the final WEC event before merging with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011.[3]

This event was unique in that the WEC and AMP Energy allowed fans to choose the location of the event.[4] 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.[5]

Maciej Jewtuszko was expected to face Ricardo Lamas at this event.[6] However, Jewtuszko had to withdraw as he suffered a broken hand during training.[7] Jewtuszko was replaced by WEC newcomer Iuri Alcântara.[8]

This event was named Sherdog's 2010 Event of the Year.[9]

The event drew an average of 615,000 viewers on Versus.[10]

UFC Lightweight title eliminator

The winner of the WEC Lightweight Championship fight between reigning champion Benson Henderson and challenger Anthony Pettis was scheduled to face the winner of the UFC 125 Frankie Edgar (C) vs. Gray Maynard title fight in order to unify the WEC and UFC lightweight championships. However, the Edgar/Maynard fight ended in a draw necessitating a UFC 136 rematch (which Edgar won). Though Anthony Pettis won the final WEC lightweight title bout, defeating Henderson via unanimous decision, he opted not to wait for the winner of Edgar/Maynard rematch and instead fought Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, losing by unanimous decision and negating his promised title shot (though he would win the UFC Lightweight Championship in his own right over Henderson in August 2013.)

UFC Bantamweight Championship

The winner of the Bantamweight Championship fight between reigning champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Scott Jorgensen determined both the final WEC Bantamweight Champion and the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion.[11] This is the only UFC title fight to ever take place on another promotion's card, and the first UFC title bout to air on free television since UFC 75 in July 2007. Cruz defeated Jorgensen via unanimous decision to retain his title and become the new UFC champion.

Results
Main card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Lightweight Anthony Pettis def Benson Henderson (c) Decision (unanimous) (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) 5 5:00 [lower-alpha 1]
Bantamweight Dominick Cruz (c) def Scott Jorgensen Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) 5 5:00 [lower-alpha 2]
Lightweight Donald Cerrone def Chris Horodecki Submission (triangle choke) 2 2:43
Lightweight Kamal Shalorus def Bart Palaszewski Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 29–28) 3 5:00
Preliminary card
Lightweight Danny Downes def Zhang Tiequan Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Lightweight Shane Roller def Jamie Varner Submission (rear-naked choke) 1 3:55
Bantamweight Brad Pickett def Ivan Menjivar Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Bantamweight Eddie Wineland def Ken Stone KO (slam) 1 2:11
Lightweight Danny Castillo def Will Kerr KO (punches) 1 1:25
Lightweight Iuri Alcântara def Ricardo Lamas KO (punches) 1 3:26
Bantamweight Renan Barão def Chris Cariaso Submission (rear-naked choke) 1 3:47
  1. For the WEC Lightweight Championship.
  2. As part of the UFC-WEC merger, the WEC Bantamweight Championship will become the UFC (Men's) Bantamweight Championship.

Bonus Awards

Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses.[12]

  • Fight of the Night: Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis
  • Knockout of the Night: Eddie Wineland
  • Submission of the Night: Shane Roller
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See also

References
  1. "WEC 53 scores 6,348 attendance in Arizona, seventh-highest mark in history". mmajunkie.com. December 17, 2010. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  2. "WEC: Henderson vs. Pettis". wec.tv. September 27, 2010.
  3. "Dana White To Announce UFC Merger With the WEC". Bloody Elbow.
  4. "WEC and AMP Energy allow fans to determine location of December's WEC 53 event".
  5. ""Hometown Takedown" sends WEC to Phoenix; Henderson likely for WEC 53 card". MMAjunkie.com. August 19, 2010.
  6. "MMAnews.pl knows the next opponent of Maciej Jewtuszko (Polish)". mmanews.pl. October 20, 2010.
  7. "Maciej Jewtuszko has broken his hand (Polish)". mmarocks.pl. October 28, 2010.
  8. "Ricardo Lamas meets newcomer Yuri Alcantara at WEC 53 in December". mmajunkie.com. November 4, 2010.
  9. Sherwood, Jeff. "Sherdog's 2010 Misc. Awards Event of the Year". Sherdog. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
  10. http://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/wec-53-henderson-vs-pettis
  11. "WEC 53: Dominick Cruz, Scott Jorgensen Fight To Be First UFC Bantamweight Champion". sbnation.com. December 14, 2010.
  12. Morgan, John; Stupp, Dann (December 17, 2010). "WEC 53 bonuses: Wineland, Roller, Pettis and Henderson earn $10K awards". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
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