GLENDALE, Ariz. — World Extreme Cagefighting has confirmed the remaining bouts for what will be their final show before completely merging with the UFC. “WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis” will take place Thursday, Dec. 16, at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and will broadcast live on Versus.
In the main event, WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson will face Anthony “Showtime” Pettis for the title. The winner will then move on the face the victor of the New Year’s Day UFC 125 bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.
In the WEC 53 co-main event, 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz will face Scott Jorgensen to become the very first UFC bantamweight champion.
WEC General Manager Reed Harris commented on this historic event:
“This event will go down as one of the most important in the history of the lighter weight classes. The winner of Henderson and Pettis will fight for the UFC lightweight title next year, while the winner of Cruz-Jorgensen will immediately become the UFC bantamweight champion. The stakes have never been higher.”
“Each of these fights has added importance. All of these competitors want to prove that they are the best in the world and each wants to head to UFC in 2011 riding momentum. We expect some explosive fights at Jobing.com Arena on Dec. 16.”
The complete confirmed fight card for World Extreme Cagefighting’s final event is listed below.
“WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis” fight card:
MAIN CARD (Televised on Versus)
- Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis
- Dominick Cruz vs. Scott Jorgensen
- Chris Horodecki vs. Donald Cerrone
- Kamal Shalorus vs. Bart Palaszewski
- Danny Downes vs. Tiequan Zhang
PRELIMINARY CARD (Not Televised)
- Shane Roller vs. Jamie Varner
- Ivan Menjivar vs. Brad Pickett
- Ken Stone vs. Eddie Wineland
- Will Kerr vs. Danny Castillo
- Yuri Alcantara vs. Ricardo Lamas
- Chris Cariaso vs. Renan Barao
Tickets for “WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis” are now on sale for $165, $115, $65 and $35. Tickets can be purchased at the Jobing.com Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800.745.3000 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com and www.JobingArena.com.