WEC 50 Results - Dominick Cruz Retains With Decision Over Joseph Benavidez

The main event of WEC 50 featured Dominick Cruz defending his bantamweight championship against Joseph Benavidez. The two had met previously in a fight that Cruz won via decision and things wouldn't go too much differently this time around.

Dominick was able to use his awkward style to avoid the majority of the punches from the shorter Benavidez while not really landing much significant of his own either. But in the end it was his ability to get takedowns, even though he was able to do very little damage with them, that won him the fight.

The most damage done over the course of the five rounds was done by Benavidez in the fourth as he landed a hard knee that split the bridge of Cruz's nose. It wasn't enough to stop Cruz from coming out in the fifth and securing a takedown at the end of the round that likely won him the fight.

With the win Cruz is set to face fellow WEC 50 winner Scott Jorgensen in his next title defense.

Throughout his career Anthony Pettis has had a lot of trouble with good wrestlers and in his WEC 50 bout with Shane Roller he was facing a three time NCAA All-American wrestler. Pettis had been training with amateur wrestling phenom Ben Askren leading up to this fight and advanced his skill an amazing amount by managing to not only avoiding most of Roller's takedowns but also getting a few of his own.

On the feet Roller was able to land a couple big punches but for the most part Pettis' flashy striking kept him well ahead. In addition the times where the fight was on the ground it was either a stalemate or Pettis was able to attempt to lock in submissions.

In the third round Roller was finally able to get a takedown that gave him position for the majority of the round but after not locking in the guillotine choke he fell right into a triangle choke from Pettis with 10 seconds left on the clock and had no choice but to tap out.

The WEC will likely put Pettis in the cage with 155 pound champion Benson Henderson in what is almost guaranteed to be a great fight.

The bout between Chad Mendes and Cub Swanson won't be remembered as a classic must-see clash but Chad Mendes did what he does best to remain undefeated in his career.

Throughout the three rounds Mendes was able to avoid any serious trouble or damage by using his wrestling to control the action. On the feet Mendes looked to have improved but smartly he didn't have any interest in getting into striking exchanges with the more experienced Swanson.

The unfortunate part of Mendes' strategy was that once he got the fight to the ground he didn't attempt to really push the action or do any damage. This allowed two of the three judges to find a round to give to Swanson even though he fought almost all of every round off his back.

Regardless, results matter and the undefeated record of Mendes will demand attention.

The second bout of the WEC 50 main card was an absolute war between Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett.

Through all three rounds the men exchanged big blows with Pickett seeming to win the early part of both the first and second rounds before Jorgensen came back with blistering power shots. In the end it was the takedown that Jorgensen was able to get in all three rounds and the damage he did from top control that made the difference. After three very tough rounds the fight went to the judges scorecard where all three judges saw the fight for Jorgensen.

With the win Jorgensen puts himself in line for a bantamweight title shot.

In the main card opener of WEC 50 Bart Palaszewski and Zach Micklewright fought a fast paced first round with both men landing significant blows early and often. Throughout the first five minutes both men showed great ability to absorb punishment and while most felt Bart came away with a 10-9 round it was very close and extremely competitive.

Very early in the second round Palaszewski was able to land a hard shot that buckled Micklewright's legs. Being the veteran he is Bart pounced and landed a flurry of punches that did not let Zack recover. Following a body kick that lowered Micklewright's hands Bart landed a hard right hand that dropped his foe and forced the ref to jump in and award "Bartimus" the TKO victory.