WEC 45: Joseph Benavidez vs Rani Yahya announced for Dec. 19

A fantastic bantamweight match up between, Joseph Benavidez (10-1), and decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist, Rani Yahya (15-4), has been announced as the co-headliner for WEC 45: "Cerrone vs. Ratcliff" at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 19.

Benavidez -- the protege and training partner of Urijah Faber -- last fought Dominick Cruz in a number one contender eliminator match in the co-main event of WEC 42: "Torres vs. Bowles." The 25-year-old lost the first fight of his career that night, missing out on his chance to face the 135-pound division champion, Brian Bowles.

Like most bantamweights, Benavidez uses his speed and quickness to win fights. He's also a fantastic wrestler, which complements his athleticism nicely. Before the loss to Cruz, the Team Alpha Male product had won both of his appearances in the WEC cage by decision over Danny Martinez and Jeff Curran.

He's clearly near the top of the food chain in the fast growing WEC bantamweight division.

Yahya, too, is near the top of that food chain. However, he's a different style fighter than Benavidez, relying on his grappling and submission skills to win fights, as evidenced by his 94 percent rate of finish by submission. His jiu-jitsu is so good that he won the ADCC featherweight championship -- the most prestigious grappling tournament in the world -- in 2007.

He's also amassed a record of (4-1) in the WEC cage, and he's currently on a three-fight win streak with victories over Yoshiro Maeda, Eddie Wineland and John Hosman. The only losses of his career thus far have been to JZ Cavalcante, Fredson Paixao, Chase Beebe and Kid Yamamoto.

That's some very good competition.

This should be a very competitive fight and it's going to be interesting to see how Benavidez chooses to deal with Yahya's jiu-jitsu.

Lightweights Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Ed "9mm" Ratcliff will square off in the main event for WEC 45, marking the third main event appearance for Cerrone in 2009. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.