It was 1996 and I was a young man still learning the ropes of living on my own at 19 years old in the town of Benson, Arizona.

I foolishly ordered a UFC pay-per-view that far exceeded any disposable income I had at that point in my life.

Knowing full well the event was more expensive than my budget might handle, I ordered it anyway. Yet any guilt and regret went flying out the window when they announced one of the combatants was a fellow by the name of Don Frye fighting out of Sierra Vista, Arizona.

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The WEC rolled into Columbus, Ohio’s Nationwide Arena Sat. night with WEC 47, featuring a bantamweight championship fight between title holder Brian Bowles and top contender Dominick Cruz. However, Bowles did not leave the octagon last evening with the belt he earned in 2009.

Dominick Cruz entered the fight with an interesting game plan that featured strange, but effective foot movement that seemed to baffle Bowles every second of the fight. The first round saw Cruz constantly stay active, while landing some great combinations against the powerful striker, who could not get his hands on the challenger. The second round was more of the same, and Bowles was falling behind on the scorecard, as Cruz continued with his confusing movement, solid combinations, and takedown ability.

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World Extreme Cagefighting has rolled into Columbus, Ohio this week for WEC 47, set to air live on Versus from the Nationwide Arena on Sat. night (March 6).

The card is headlined by a championship bout between bantamweight belt-holder  Brian Bowles and top contender Dominick Cruz. The card also features two legends of the sport looking for a shot at redemption, as Miguel Torres and Jens Pulver try to get back to their winning ways.

The weigh-ins for the event took place today (March 5) and are complete. Continue reading to check the weight status of Sat. evening’s competitors.

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WEC 47 News: UFC.com Confirms Stephan Bonnar To Do TV Commentary On Versus Broadcast

UFC.com sent out this press release about the TV commentary on WEC 47 on Saturday night.
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This year, the WEC replaces the UFC at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, OH.

The main event features Brian Bowles defending his bantamweight title for the first time against Dominick Cruz. This card also features WEC poster boys Miguel Torres and Jens Pulver.

There are a lot of other interesting fights on the card so let’s break it down:

WEC 47 is this Saturday Night, and one of the marquee fights features Jens Pulver. Once a champion in UFC, Pulver has lost four fights in a row, and heads into the fight against Javier Vazquez with a lot of questionmarks. In a recent interview, Pulver commented on a variety of subjects:

on whether he will be retiring after this fight:
No. There’s just no thought in my mind that I’m going to lose this fight. I can’t answer whether it’s my last fight because there’s no part of me that thinks I’ll lose, and that’s what I have going for me. The way I feel physically is I have no torn knees, no torn elbows, no serious head injuries, no broken legs — nothing like that in my entire career. So I don’t need to retire, I just need to train better. I was dejected mentally the last couple years and that’s why I wasn’t training well, but I don’t think about this being my last fight because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me physically.

on Javier Vazquez
He’s tough. He’s going to throw hard, he’s going to clinch and he’s going to try to get that fight on the floor. He wants to submit me. He thinks I have a weak ground game — he probably thinks my game is altogether weak. I know he’s going to punch, he’s going to kick, and then he’s going to try to get me on the ground, and I’m excited to see him try. In these fights I’ve lost, I’ve been beating myself. I’m better now and that’s not going to happen.

on plans for his post-MMA life
Absolutely. I want to be a father, a grandfather some day, and a coach. And all of those are about wanting to help kids. I want to affect the world in ways that I can’t do fighting. I’ve won titles. I’ve had a world championship. I want to do more to make the world better.

Full Interview on MMAFighting

Fans of the WEC, and more specifically Urijah Faber, might have noticed a new primary sponsor on the former champ when he entered the cage in January to face Raphael Assuncao. Once the poster boy for Pepsi’s No Fear Energy, Faber now sports the company’s flag ship energy brand, AMP, which is presently the official energy drink of World Extreme Cagefighting as well as an official sponsor of the California Kid. But what you didn’t notice was the extra camera crew set up in Faber’s locker room, grabbing backstage footage and then filming his walkout for a “live” commercial for the popular energy brand.

AMP was granted unprecedented access by the WEC and its officials to film what was described as a “one and done” reality advertising campaign.

Jeremy Botter at Heavy.com has an exclusive embed of the commercial. Click here to check out the video on Heavy.com

With WEC 47 on Versus on Saturday night, the main event is hyped as Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz.

Here is the official hype video for the fight:

Here is the official fight card for WEC 47:

These are the prelim matches that may or may not make the broadcast:

It has long been the mantra of the hardcore MMA fan to boast the elite quality of the WEC as an organization of downright scrappy fighters. Some of the best in the world fight for this lesser known organization.

It can be a hard sell to the casual fan who desires big, sexy names and long-standing superstars to entertain their amateur mixed martial arts wishes. Even still, one need only watch one WEC fight card to understand B.J. Penn and Anderson Silva are not necessary to make a successful night of fights.

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