WEC 48: Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone II booked for PPV debut on April 24

by Nate Lawson on Feb 3, 2010 3:22 PM EST Comment 29 comments

Yee-haw!

WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson will defend his 155-pound title for the first time against the man he defeated, Donald Cerrone, to earn his shot at unifying the title in the first place.

Henderson and Cerrone will collide in a rematch at WEC 48, which is scheduled for the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on April 24, in the co-featured fight of the night. And It will certainly help the the promotion sell its first-ever pay-per-view (PPV) event at its desired price of $44.99.

That's because their first encounter at WEC 43 was one of the best fights in all of 2009.

Henderson most recently unified the lightweight titles at WEC 46, tapping out then lightweight champion Jamie Varner via guillotine choke. Cerrone, meanwhile, choked out Ed Ratcliff at WEC 45 last Dec.

"Cowboy's" critical victory was more than likely the key to getting another crack at "Smooth."

In addition to the rematch between Henderson and Cerrone, WEC 48 will feature a main event between former 145-pound champion, Urijah Faber, and reigning division kingpin, Jose Aldo.

So far so good -- WEC appears to be assembling an attractive card. But do you need to see more to open your wallets?

Sound off, maniacs!

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i predict

one and done for WEC PPV.

by avalonzero on Feb 3, 2010 5:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cerrone needs to stop sleeping through the early rounds. He will smash Henderson this time around.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 5:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Cerrone via dominating performance.

by hairybumcrack on Feb 3, 2010 8:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ill probably watch it but i cant see them following it up with anything remotely as good and who knows if this one will even be enough to tickle the big wigs behind the scenes. my guess is no.

hope im wrong.

by Glamis on Feb 3, 2010 5:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, the only really PPV-worthy fight i see on the immediate horizon is Bowles/Torres 2… assuming Bowles gets by Cruz, as I expect he will.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 5:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t see that PPV worthy if only 1 belt is at stake…

by Crackkbaby on Feb 3, 2010 8:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I said the only PPV-worthy fight. I agree they need more than that, which is why I don’t know how many of these they can put together. At this point I don’t know how big a fight Varner/Cerrone 2 would even be… maybe if they put Torres against some top FWs…

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 9:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe

the WEC will only have 3 PPVs per year. I can’t see this happening on a regular basis. Problem is, if they stack all their top fighters on these PPV cards, who is left to watch on the free fight cards? They’ll still attrack the MMA supporters, but what about the casual fan? Three great fights so far though……….

by DJF on Feb 3, 2010 5:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

They better be advertising this thing on more than just Versus. If they get ads going on Spike that may help boost sales, but I don’t know if Zuffa has a licensing agreement to promote the WEC on Spike.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 9:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

youd be surprised at the pull Faber has in Nor Cal

he’s big there, I see this going over pretty decent. I doubt they do all events on PPV now only cards sstacked with title fights

Fedor played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

AMERICA.....FUCK YEAH

by brendog on Feb 4, 2010 9:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll be pulling for Smooth in this one. Cerrone has had too many questionable fights lately. Yes, I think Varner really made a meal out of that knee, but it was still illegal. Then he treated Ratcliff’s sack like a speed bag. He’s dirty.

The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful

by P-Dub on Feb 3, 2010 5:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I have done alot of training around cerrone and his one knock is his arrogance and his ego surounding his bjj. He relies on it way too much. In the Varner fight he was repeatedly taken down. In the camp prior to that each time I saw him do MMA circles I knew Varner would bully him and actually that night I was the only one out of everyone I watched the fight with that said Cerrone would lose. Then once again in the Henderson figth he did it again. If Cowboy did some legit work on his wrestling he would be dominant in the WEC.

by AintNoSunshine on Feb 3, 2010 6:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Why doesn’t his camp help him out? Doesn’t he train with GSP, Rashad, NM, etc?

by DJF on Feb 3, 2010 8:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good question.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 8:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Jacksons isnt just all those mentioned guys training together. GSP and Nate are rarely there. Nate has his own Gym and of course gSP has Tri-Star. Rashad is usually at one of those gyms as well. What Cerrones problem is that he doesnt fully focus on enhancing his wrestling. Of course Varner is no slouch but had Cerrone spent even 50% more time then he did I think he would have caught decision. He goes too damn crazy with his knees too. Even in practice.

by AintNoSunshine on Feb 3, 2010 8:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the inside intel!

by John G. on Feb 4, 2010 7:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

10 of his 11 wins came via submission with eight of them off of his back,,,,,,,

he has a very good reason to think very highly of his BJJ.

by Mark C on Feb 3, 2010 9:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

True... However

with a dominant top guy against him he will always lose. He doesnt have good TD defense (Sprawls lead to guillotines) and doesnt do well with positional guys like Ben.

by AintNoSunshine on Feb 3, 2010 9:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Honest question… how do sprawls lead to guillotines? I would think the guy shooting in would be the one vulnerable to a guillotine. Unless I misunderstood.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 9:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Varner shoots. Cerrone sprawls. Cerrone locks in Guillotine.

by AintNoSunshine on Feb 3, 2010 9:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ok. I thought you meant the guy sprawling is vulnerable. You worded it pretty strangely.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 9:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry.

I can see what you thought. Usually when I am doing circles with wrestlers and they shoot the first instinct is to grab the neck and not sprawl. I had to train myself to sprawl. Thats the reason I admired Chuck and Mirko’s sprawl n brawl style so much

by AintNoSunshine on Feb 3, 2010 9:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

also

Mike Brown vs. Manny Gamburyan is also on this card, you heard it here first!

"I have fought some of the best world in the men and beat em"

by britches on Feb 3, 2010 8:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ummm, we heard it about six hours ago. But thanks for coming out.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."

Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)

by Jeremyjackson on Feb 3, 2010 9:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was kidding champ, changing the subject

"I have fought some of the best world in the men and beat em"

by britches on Feb 3, 2010 9:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

by MMA-Supplements on Feb 3, 2010 8:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Would have prefered them to have a # 1 contender bout....

with Cerrone vs. Varner with the winner getting a shot at the title.

I suppose that Cerrone’s next fight after his bout with Henderson will be a rematch with Varner win or lose but I think it would make more sence to do it the other way around.

by wolfman91 on Feb 4, 2010 10:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs