WEC News: Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez to rematch for the title

Decently crowned bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz (15-1) will return to action and defend his belt for the first time at WEC 50 on August 18^th. His opponent will be very familiar to him since they just fought last August at WEC 42. Standing across the cage will be Joseph Benavidez (12-1), looking to avenge his only career lose and take the belt away from Cruz before he gets too comfortable wearing it.

Their first meeting was given “fight of the night” honors as they battled hard for 15 minutes and the judges were left to decide the victor. Cruz earned the unanimous decision nod and a shot at the bantamweight title, while Benavidez went back to climbing the proverbial 135 pound ladder. Cruz got that title shot at WEC 47 facing then undefeated Brain Bowles, but like Benavidez he also was handed his first career loss and Cruz was crowned the new bantamweight champ.

 Benavidez is 2-0 since his lose to Cruz, defeating Rani Yahya by TKO at WEC 45 and he also fought at WEC 47 defeating the former champ Miguel Torres, submitting him for the first time is his long career. After the win Benavidez claimed he was the number one contender and that he’d be disappointed if he didn’t get the next title shot. He won’t have anything to be depressed about though, he got his wish of the title shot plus a bonus of another crack at Cruz.

The Cruz versus Benavidez rematch will likely headline the WEC 50 card and is sure to be another exciting fight.

Article was originally posted by me on Bleacher Report

Tags: Brian Bowles, Dominick Cruz, joseph Benavidez, Miguel Torres, MMA, Rani Yahya, UFC, WEC

Category: MMA, WEC