WEC 50 REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

I actually only began watching WEC events less than a year ago, so I'm not nearly as familiar with the fighters as I am with the ones from the UFC. Seeing as the organization has reached the magic number 50, though, I feel that it's high time I threw in my own thoughts about this particular MMA organization.



Despite my relatively little knowledge of the organization and its fighters, I do know that, a good majority of the time, these lighter-weight warriors will battle each other nonstop with all the energy in the world. They will go toe to toe and smash each other in the face with wild exchanges, either standing up or on the ground, for 5 rounds straight. They literally have energy levels you wouldn't believe possible unless you saw it for yourself. And the main event of the night is a definite representation of this.

Like many, I am completely enthralled by the quickness, smoothness, and unpredictability of Dominick Cruz's footwork and body language.I saw his last fight against Brian Bowles at WEC 47 just a few months ago when he won the WEC Bantamweight championship and was completely impressed by this young fighter. As such, I was very much looking forward to another of his matches.

The challenger, Joseph Benavidez, lost to Cruz a year ago at WEC 42  via unanimous decision, so this is a revenge match. As such, Benavidez will give it all he's got and more to prove that he is, indeed the better man.

As previously mentioned, these two fighters go at it hard and fast for 5 rounds straight. Both fighters hit each other with hard strikes several times and neither showed any sign of going out or giving up. Cruz looked the better man throughout the fight, though, with his amazing footwork constantly outmaneuvering Benavidez and his superior wrestling abilities able to control where the fight takes place. Benavidez showed better striking throughout the fight, though, so pretty much each round was a very difficult call.

As such, the fight ends in a split decision. Dominick Cruz retains his title by a hair's breadth, with his skills consistently tested against the sheer toughness of Joseph Benavidez in an incredibly action-packed matchup.

Check out more amazing photos of WEC 50 over at the official WEC website!