World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) will head to the Sunshine State for the very first time on Wednesday, September 10, when two world titles will be on the line.
"The California Kid" Urijah Faber (21-1) will put up his Featherweight strap against Florida’s hometown favorite Mike Brown (19-4). The co-featured bout is the highly anticipated rematch between WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho (16-0) and Chael Sonnen (21-9-1). The remaining bouts for WEC: "Faber vs. Brown" have not yet been officially announced.
The championship doubleheader will be held at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and will air on the VERSUS network at 9:00 p.m. ET. Tickets go on sale this coming Monday, July 21 at noon, and range from $50 – $175.
Faber has gone on an absolute tear since his March 2006 WEC debut and is ranked the #1 Featherweight in the world today by most media. Since beating Cole Escovedo (11-4) for the strap, Faber has defended his title with dominant submission victories over Joe Pearson (30-11-1), Dominic Cruz (11-1), Chance Farrar (7-2) and Jeff Curran (34-10-1). Most recently, Faber outpointed former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver (25-10-1) on all three judges’ scorecards in front of 13,000 fans.
American Top Team’s Mike Brown is on a seven-fight win streak, including wins over Yves Edwards (34-14-1) and Jeff Curran. The seven-year veteran has solid submissions and will surely have the support of much of his hometown crowd.
Since capturing the WEC Middleweight belt by defeating Joe Doerksen back in August 2007, Paulo Filho has forced many to consider him the number two ranked middleweight in the world (second only to his friend and training partner Anderson Silva). However, since then, Filho has had his share of challenges.
He successfully defended his belt at WEC 31 by way of second round submission (armbar) over Chael Sonnen with just five ticks left on the clock. However, the win was highly controversial, as Sonnen insisted that he was not verbally tapping (although he was screaming in pain). Sonnen was certainly ahead on the judges’ scorecards leading up to the stoppage, and Filho was not looking like his normal, dominant self.
An immediate rematch was slated for WEC 34; however, Filho pulled out of the bout, citing depression, and checked into a substance abuse rehab facility. The rematch has remained highly anticipated since then.
Team Quest’s Chael Sonnen rebounded from his loss to Filho with a dominating unanimous decision victory over Bryan Baker (6-2). The six-year veteran holds wins over Jason Miller (23-6), Jason Lambert (23-8), Trevor Prangley (17-5), Amar Suloev (24-7) and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 7’s Tim Credeur (9-2).
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