On Saturday, March 6, 2010, WEC heads to Columbus, Ohio with a stacked card headlined by a world bantamweight title fight between champion Brian Bowles and number one contender Dominick Cruz. What’s more, WEC’s first trip to Columbus features the return of former bantamweight champion Miguel Angel Torres, as well as the comeback of former UFC® lightweight titleholder Jens Pulver.
WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on June 7, 2009 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the most successful show in the WEC's history. Featherweight champion Mike Brown defended his title in a rematch against former champion and no. 1 contender Urijah Faber in the main event. UFC lightweight Kenny Florian acted as a special guest color commentator. Eddie Wineland was expected to face Frank Gomez at the event, but was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Noah Thomas. Rich Crunkilton was expected to face Donald Cerrone at the event, but was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by James Krause. The event drew an estimated 1,300,000 viewers on Versus.
WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 10, 2009 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The best light weight fighters in the world will be on display when WEC invades the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, OH. In the main event, fan favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone battles feared striker Ben Henderson in a bout that will crown the interim WEC lightweight champion.
The long-awaited World Extreme Cagefighting® lightweight title unification bout between reigning champion Jamie Varner and interim champion Ben Henderson will take place on Sunday, Jan. 10 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. If an explosive championship clash wasn’t enough, former featherweight titleholder Urijah Faber makes his return in his hometown of Sacramento to face Raphael Assuncao.
UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on August 29, 2009 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. It featured former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, facing off against former PRIDE Heavyweight champion and former UFC Interim Heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on April 5, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The event aired live on the Versus Network.
WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 25, 2009. It aired live on the Versus Network. In the main event WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defended his title against number one contender and undefeated Donald Cerrone. Also featured on the card was a rematch between former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver.
WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 1, 2008 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event, announced on WEC 33, was a bout between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber for WEC Featherweight Championship. WEC 34 was aired live on Versus.
Strikeforce: Evolution was a mixed martial arts event to be held by the Strikeforce on December 19, 2009 in San Jose, California at the HP Pavilion at San Jose. The event aired live on Showtime in the US and live on SuperChannel in Canada.
Strikeforce: Nashville was a Strikeforce mixed martial arts event held on April 17, 2010 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, United States and broadcast domestically on CBS.
Strikeforce: Miami was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on January 30, 2010 in Sunrise, Florida, United States at the BankAtlantic Center. The event aired live on Showtime in the US and on Super Channel in Canada.
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce. It was held in San Jose, California on August 15, 2009. The event aired live on the Showtime cable network and marked the first time two women headlined an MMA event in history.
UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 17, 2009 at The O2, Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. The main event featured a Light Heavyweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin and former Pride Middleweight Champion and Pride Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson. The winner of the fight would become the coach opposite Michael Bisping for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom.
UFC 76: Knockout was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event took place on September 22, 2007 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Though the event was subtitled Knockout, the entire card ironically produced no knockouts. The main event featured a fight between former Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and The Ultimate Fighter 2 alum Keith Jardine, with both fighters returning from knockout losses at UFC 71.
UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event was held September 8, 2007 at The O2 in London, England. The main event was a title unification match between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson and PRIDE Fighting Championships' 83 kg and 93 kg champion, Dan Henderson.
UFC 74: Respect was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event took place on August 25, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event was a UFC heavyweight championship bout which featured UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture defending his title against Gabriel Gonzaga.
UFC 73: Stacked was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It took place on July 7, 2007 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California and featured a total of nine bouts: four on the preliminary card and five on the main card. The main event was Anderson Silva defending the UFC Middleweight Championship against Nathan Marquardt.
UFC 72: Victory was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place Saturday, June 16, 2007 at The Odyssey in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Martin Kampmann was scheduled to fight Rich Franklin, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Yushin Okami replaced Kampmann in the main event.
UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event was the rematch between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson was the only fighter to have an unavenged win against Liddell.
UFC 70 was the second UFC event held in the United Kingdom, and the first in Manchester. The first UFC event in the UK was UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall on July 13, 2002. UFC 70 was also only the seventh UFC event held outside the United States, and the first since UFC 38. 2006 PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, Mirko Cro Cop fought Heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga in the main event to determine the top contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship held by Randy Couture.