WEC 47 will air live on Versus at 10:00 PM EST on March 6th from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, featuring a main event between Brian Bowles (8-0 MMA, 5-0 WEC) and Dominick Cruz (14-1 MMA, 5-1 WEC) for the WEC bantamweight championship. Also on the card is former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres against Joseph Benavidez, along with the return of MMA legend Jens Pulver.

Brian Bowles may have been flying under the radar coming into his fight against WEC bantamweight champion and consensus top 3 P4P fighter, Miguel Torres back in August of 2009, but after KO’ing the seemingly indestructible and unbeatable Torres, Bowles now has a very big target on his back as the WEC bantamweight king.

Bowles is not only undefeated at 8-0, but has finished all of his opponents in each of those 8 fights and will be looking to make a statement in defending his title for the first time against Dominick Cruz. Miguel Torres may have a rematch with Bowles in mind, but the reigning WEC 135 lb. champion is clearly focused on the streaking Cruz.

“The only thing I have to do right now is defend my title,” said Bowles. “If [Torres and I] fight again, cool. If it doesn’t happen, whatever.”

Dominick Cruz (14-1 MMA, 5-1 WEC) has reeled off 5 consecutive wins since losing to Urijah Faber almost three years ago at WEC 27. That fight was at 145, and Cruz has since dropped to the bantamweight division, defeating Faber’s protege Joseph Benavidez the last time he stepped into the WEC cage.

Bowles and Cruz are similar fighters that use their boxing and wrestling to dictate the pace and position of their fights. Bowles has the edge in power, but Cruz has solid boxing and is adept at controlling the cage with his hands. Bowles is explosive and may use his wrestling to put Cruz on his back, but the question is, can he keep him there?

Torres looking to reclaim his P4P status

Miguel Torres (37-2 MMA, 5-1 WEC) was widely considered to be amongst the world’s best fighters pound for pound prior to his shocking KO loss at the hands of Brian Bowles. It will be interesting to see how Torres comes back from that devastating knockout against the unlimited energy supply that is Joseph Benavidez (14-1 MMA, 3-1 WEC).

Comparing these two is like the tales of the tape from a neighborhood bully match up. Torres will tower over the 5’4″ Benavidez, and his reach advantage will be monumental. Benavidez has never worried much about his size disadvantage, and will keep coming after Torres for the entire 15 minutes, whether the fight stays on the feet, or goes to the ground. His fighting style is much like his mentor and training partner Urijah Faber and he is very unpredictable in the cage.

That being said, Torres’s ground game is world class, and he’ll have the advantage wherever this fight goes. Torres would be making a huge mistake by looking past the very dangerous and game Benavidez, but most fans think that a Bowles vs. Torres match up will be coming in the near future after this card.

The return of “Lil’ Evil”

There is no question of Jens Pulver’s (22-12-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC, 1-4 WEC) legacy and contribution to the sport of MMA. The big question that does exist is, can Pulver return to his old form and stop his 4 fight losing skid? Pulver says he’s back and ready to face his latest test in the WEC’s cage against Javier Vazques (13-4 MMA, 0-2 WEC).

Fans everywhere would love to see “Lil’ Evil” come back with a vengeance, and Vazquez is a good match up for Pulver to get back on track in his career that he insists is far from done. Vazquez has notched most of his wins by submission, but will have trouble getting Pulver on the ground to work his ground game. Pulver’s power will be the deciding factor in this fight.

Stay tuned here at Pro MMA Now (ProMMANow.com) for full coverage of WEC 47 including live results and play by play commentary, and post coverage of the event.

Leave a Reply