Ben Henderson WEC 43 Weigh-In Results

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WEC 43 presents us with an interesting match up this weekend when Ben Henderson takes on Donald Cerrone for the WEC lightweight interim title.

Tonight’s WEC 43 card didn’t feature a whole lot of big names, but it featured a potential fight of the year candidate that just made have the promotion a brand new star.

The funny thing about the whole Donald Cerrone – Jamie Varner feud is that I never really found a side to fall on. I’ve always found Varner a little whiner, and I’ve always thought Cerrone was an overrated fighter, and kind of a tool.

While their first fight that ended via an injury was an interesting fight, it wasn’t really a great fight by any stretch of the imagination.

Who knew that the best thing that could happen to the WEC was for the rematch of this fight to get postponed and having to implement an interim belt ? Ben Henderson used a combination of fantastic takedowns, good jiu-jitsu positioning, and stupidly awesome submission defense to gain a victory over Cerrone.

For me, the best part of this fight was watching Henderson simply refuse to die while in five, count ‘em five, seperate tight submissions that Cerrone had cinched in. He went as far as to even give the referee a thumbs up during the fight itself.

What’s not to like about a guy who likes a superhero alter-ego, complete with glasses and great long hair, and comes to ring to really cool hip-hop? (Side Note: If anyone knows the name of that song, let me know.)

The WEC being absorbed by the UFC rumors aren’t going to end anytime soon, but if they want to survive, they are going to need to build stars. Tonight, it looks like they found themselves another lightweight star in Ben “Smooth” Henderson.

Video Ben Henderson WEC Interview

Henderson claims WEC interim lightweight title

Donald Cerrone wanted a fight with Jamie Varner. But first, he had to get through Ben Henderson, an opponent he wasn't taking lightly.

Henderson spoiled Cerrone's plans by beating "Cowboy" in an exhilarating fight that many are calling the fight of the year.

It was surely the most amazing fight in WEC history — five complete rounds of back and forth action, with high level grappling, striking, transitions and submission attempts and escapes. And in the end, Ben Henderson landed a razor-thin 48-47 victory to become the WEC interim lightweight champion.

Henderson will now prepare to face Varner in a title unification bout in 2010.

Dave Jansen remained undefeated by beating Richard Crunkilton by unanimous decision. Crunkilton was the better striker, but Jansen was able to take him down at will and controlled most of the bout on the ground. Jansen remains undefeated in his mixed martial arts career.

Raphael Assuncao defeated Yves Jabouin in a strange split decision. One judge scored it 30-27 for Assuncao and another gave the same score to Jabouin. The final judge gave the bout to Assuncao, who continues to work his way up the ladder; a bout with Urijah Faber may be in his future.

"I thought he won one of the rounds, but I was able the control the second and third rounds," Assuncao said.

The opening bout of the televised card was an unusually exciting one-minute fight. Damacio Page and Will Campuzano came out swinging wildly, prompting the AT&T Center to erupt with cheers. After the initial flurry, Page took Campuzano to the mat, secured his back and submitted him with a rear naked choke.

"I went out guns blazing," Page said. "I knew all he had was a triangle and an armbar. He was the hometown guy so I knew he had the whole world on his shoulders."

In preliminary card action, Eddie Wineland displayed near-perfect head movement and footwork on the way to a dominant decision victory over Manny Tapia. Wineland, a former WEC champion, easily avoided nearly every strike thrown by Tapia and used crisp, technical strikes to pick him apart throughout the fight.

The biggest upset of the night came when Mackens Semerzier scored a triangle choke submission victory over jiu-jitsu phenom Waggney Fabiano in the first round. Semerzier, who needed two attempts to make weight on Friday, was a heavy underdog going into the bout.

Charlie Valencia defeated Coty Wheeler in a fight that electrified the sparse crowd on hand for the preliminary bouts. Wheeler used a unique and varied offense, but rarely landed any effective shots.

Deividas Taurosevicius won a controversial decision in the first bout of the night, beating veteran Javier Vazquez via split decision.