On Thursday, September 30^th, the WEC invades the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado for their first ever event held in the state.  What better way to do it than with a Championship bout, three former champions and two possible candidates for Fight of the Year all on the same card. Here is a closer look at the five fights scheduled for the televised Main Card, live on Versus.

The first fight to open up the broadcast is between Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia (14-5-1) and Mark “The Machine” Hominick (18-8) in the Featherweight division. Garcia is coming off back-to-back Fights of the Night; a Draw against Roop at WEC 47, Split Decision victory against Jung at WEC 48. Hominick is working off a nice three-fight win streak that he would like to add Garcia’s name to and build his credentials up even more.  Garcia has had one crack at the title already, a fight in which he lost via submission to then-champion, Mike Brown. A win here could move him back in line near the top of the division and possibly another chance at championship glory. However, Hominick, who has finished the fight early in fifteen of his eighteen victories, will definitely put up a fight and do what he can to put himself closer to the top. If this bout earns the Fight of the Night bonus, it will be three in a row for Garcia.

The next fight on deck is also in the Featherweight division and matches up “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung (10-2) and George Roop (10-6).  Oddly enough, both faced Leonard Garcia in their last fight (Jung with a loss, and Roop with a Draw) and also earned the Fight of the Night award. With only two losses on his record, The Korean Zombie has yet to experience the feeling of back-to-back losses and will need to give it his all to get passed Roop.  Since signing with the WEC, George Roop has not yet picked up a victory. Going 2-3 in his last 5 fights’ Roop will need a victory more than anything if he wants to avoid the possibility of being cut from the company. The only thing certain in this fight is that someone’s going to leave the arena still without a victory inside the blue cage of the WEC.

Up next we have the return of Former Bantamweight Champion Miguel Angel Torres (37-3) as he takes on long-time WEC fighter Charlie Valencia (12-5). Torres went 20-0 before finally tasting defeat and then 17-0 before losing again, to former Champion Brian Bowles, and then to former #1 Contender Joe Benavidez. After a 6-month absence, Torres returns to face a tough Charlie Valencia. Although Valencia has five losses, they are all verses respectable fighters: Urijah Faber, Cub Swanson, Brian Bowles, Yoshiro Maeda and Dominick Cruz. Now currently on a three-fight win streak, a victory over Torres would put him back in the title mix. A third loss for Miguel could signal the approach of the end of his career.

The co-main event is a rematch from WEC 38 in which then-champion “Showtime” Jamie Varner (16-3-3) against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (11-3-1). Both fighters’ have lost at the hands of current champion Ben Henderson, Cerrone has lost twice. In Varner’s last fight, he took numerous kicks to the groin which led to a point deduction for Kamal Shalorus, and caused the fight to end in a draw. Leading up to this fight, a lot of trash talk and negative words have been flying back and forth between the two fighters. Come fight night, both men will be looking to knock the other’s head off. Don’t blink cause this one is not going to the judges’ score cards.

The Main Event of the evening definitely has the makings of a great fight. Current champion Jose Aldo (17-1) looks to defend his belt against Manvel “The Anvil” Gamburyan (11-4). If you’ve ever seen Jose Aldo fight, you know he is a man who goes to work from the moment the fight starts.  Since arriving to the WEC, Aldo has remained undefeated, knocked out six of his seven opponents, picked up three KO of the Night awards, and has won and defended the Featherweight Championship.  As a BJJ Black Belt, Aldo holds eleven KO/TKO victories and only two submission victories.  Gamburyan, too, has remained victorious since signing with the WEC. After two Unanimous Decision victories over John Franchi and Leonard Garcia, Gamburyan’s shining moment was knocking out former champion Mike Brown and earning this title shot. Two men will enter the cage with a perfect record in the WEC, but only one man will exit with that clean record intact. To the victor goes the spoils, and those spoils are WEC Featherweight Championship and the all the glory that comes with it.

On paper, this card looks like a great way to introduce the WEC to Colorado, the birthplace of the UFC. With a group of exciting fighters such as this, exciting fights are sure to come. If you don’t have Versus, you should find somewhere to go with a TV that does, because you are not going to want to miss this event. Below is our predictions:

Main event:
145 lbs.: Jose Aldo over Manny Gamburyan

Main card (Televised):
135 lbs.: Miguel Torres over Charlie Valencia
155 lbs.: Donald Cerrone over Jamie Varner
145 lbs.: Chan Sung Jung over George Roop
145 lbs.: Mark Hominick over Leonard Garcia

Under card (May not be broadcast):
145 lbs.: Mike Brown over Cole Province
155 lbs.: Ed Ratcliff over Chris Horodecki
135 lbs.: Antonio Banuelos over Chad George
135 lbs.: Nick Pace over Demetrious Johnson
145 lbs.: Diego Nunes over Tyler Toner
145 lbs.: Tiequan Zhang over Pablo Garza