''WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

event held by

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

that took place on December 16, 2010 at Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the late 1800s the area that is now Glendale was all dese ...

. The event was the first time that

Zuffa Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of ...

has hosted an event in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. This was the final WEC event, due to the merger with the UFC.

Background

This was the final WEC event before merging with the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

in 2011. This event was unique in that the WEC and

AMP Energy #REDIRECT Amp {{Redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

allowed fans to choose the location of the event. The fans were given 30 options and the finalists were

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

and Phoenix. During the live telecast of WEC 50, Phoenix was announced as the winner of the contest. Maciej Jewtuszko was expected to face

Ricardo Lamas Ricardo Alejandro Lamas (born May 21, 1982) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Lamas' father is Cuban and his mother is Mexican. The flag ...

at this event. However, Jewtuszko had to withdraw as he suffered a broken hand during training. Jewtuszko was replaced by WEC newcomer

Iuri Alcântara Iuri Alcântara (born 4 August 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC bantamweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2003, Alcântara mostly fought in Brazil before signing with World Extreme Cagefighting ...

. This event was named

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

's 2010 Event of the Year. The event drew an average of 615,000 viewers on Versus.

UFC Lightweight title eliminator

The winner of the WEC Lightweight Championship fight between reigning champion

Benson Henderson Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes for Bellator MMA, currently competing in their Lightweight division. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. As of November ...

and challenger

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of th ...

was scheduled to face the winner of the UFC 125

Frankie Edgar Frankie Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Beginning his career in the Lightweight division, ...

Gray Maynard Bradley Gray Maynard (born May 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Between 2008 and 2011, he competed in a noted rivalry with former UFC Lightwei ...

title fight in order to unify the WEC and UFC lightweight championships. However, the Edgar/Maynard fight ended in a draw necessitating a

UFC 136 ''UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 8, 2011, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event coincided with a two-day UFC Fan Expo held at the George R. Brown ...

rematch (which Edgar won). Though Anthony Pettis won the final WEC lightweight title bout, defeating Henderson via unanimous decision, he opted not to wait for the winner of Edgar/Maynard rematch and instead fought

Clay Guida Clayton Charles Guida (; born December 8, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist, currently signed to the UFC competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Guida also formerly competed for Strikefo ...

at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, losing by unanimous decision and negating his promised title shot (though he would win the UFC Lightweight Championship in his own right over Henderson in August 2013.)

UFC Bantamweight Championship

The winner of the Bantamweight Championship fight between reigning champion

Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz ha ...

and challenger

Scott Jorgensen Scott Roger Jorgensen (born September 17, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Jorgensen has formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, and ShoXC. Backgroun ...

determined ''both'' the final WEC Bantamweight Champion and the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion. This is the only UFC title fight to ever take place on another promotion's card, and the first UFC title bout to air on free television since

UFC 75 ''UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event was held September 8, 2007, at The O2 in London, United Kingdom. Background The event was the fourth event held by the UFC in ...

in July 2007. Cruz defeated Jorgensen via unanimous decision to retain his title and become the new UFC champion.

Results

Bonus Awards

Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis *Knockout of the Night: Eddie Wineland *Submission of the Night: Shane Roller

External links

Official WEC website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wec 53 World Extreme Cagefighting events 2010 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in Arizona Events in Glendale, Arizona Sports in Glendale, Arizona 2010 in sports in Arizona