With WEC 42 just over a week away, a fantastic 135-pound match-up between two of the divisions rising stars in Damacio "The Angel of Death" Page (11-4) and Akitoshi "Ironman" Tamura (14-7-2) has been added to the promotion's next event, which is scheduled to go down at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio on September 2.
Tamura will make his second start as a bantamweight at WEC 43 after previously competing in the featherweight division. In fact, "Ironman" once held the Shooto 145-pound title in Japan before coming stateside to compete in the WEC cage.
He does hold five wins by submission, but he's no stranger to grinding out victories, with more than half his wins coming by way of decision.
So far that trend hasn't changed during his tenure with the Zuffa-owned promotion -- Tamura most recently outpointed former bantamweight number one contender Manny Tapia at WEC 37 on the judges scorecards.
And in his debut with the promotion he was on his way to another fight being settled by the scorecards before tapping out to a Wagnney Fabiano arm traingle choke with only 12 seconds remaining in the fight.
Page, on the other hand, likes to finish his opponents ... quickly.
Eight of his professional wins have been decided in the first round. He's coming off a dominating early first round knockout victory over a very tough Marcos Galvao at WEC 39: "Brown vs. Garcia."
Seven months earlier, however, his aggression backfired on him and he was submitted by the division's current number one contender, Brian Bowles, with a first round guillotine choke.
The Greg Jackson disciple has compiled a record of 2-1 during his time with the promotion and with his mix of size, power and speed, Page is believed to be one of the most dangerous 135-pound fighters on the roster.
If there's one knock on "The Angel of Death" it's that his submission defense has caused him problems in the past, with three of his four losses coming by way of tapout.
Going up against a talented grappler like Tamura, that could certainly be an issue in this fight. We'll find out on Sept. 2.
WEC 43 will be headlined by an interim lightweight championship fight between Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and winner of two straight under the WEC banner, Ben "Smooth" Henderson.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.
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