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Dominick Cruz retained his WEC Bantamweight Championship on Wednesday night at WEC 50, but as the scorecards were read out it seemed that things remain to be settled between him and Joseph Benavidez.
The rematch of their WEC 42 "Fight of the Night" affair had much more on the line, as well as two added rounds, and both fighters battled for the full 25 minutes. But neither made a convincing case for a victory in this fight.
Cruz took a split decision with scores of 47-48, 48-47 and 49-46, but with the exception of the fourth round which he clearly earned, the rest of the fight could have been perceived either way.
It was a similar fight in ways to the B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar fight at UFC 112, as Cruz was staying active on the outside and popping in and out with strikes while Benavidez seemed to score with counter punches and kicks throughout. A few takedowns sprinkled in for Cruz seemed to sway favor in his direction as well.
But in the end, two of the judges saw at least three rounds for the Champion, and he'll move on to defend his title again, likely against Scott Jorgensen, who picked up another thrilling win in the WEC.
Taking on British bantamweight Brad "One Punch" Pickett, Jorgensen battled through an extremely tough test to pick up a unanimous decision victory. The matching 30-27 scorecards don't reflect how even the fight was throughout its 15 minutes of action, as both fighters traded punches at a rapid pace throughout the first two rounds.
Jorgensen earned a few takedowns in the fight and was able to do some damage on the ground that scored for the judges, but Pickett tried to make his case in the first two rounds with some hard combinations. Both fighters hurt each other with their strikes, rocking one another at different points in an electrifying back and forth fight that earned "Fight of the Night" honors.
The win was Jorgensen's fifth straight and should earn him a title shot against Cruz later this year.
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The lightweight division saw a couple more contenders emerge in Bart Palaszewski and Anthony Pettis on the card. The two fighters, who fought to a split decision last December that handed Pettis his first and only loss, both picked up impressive and decisive victories on the televised card in Las Vegas.
Palaszewski got the night off to a great start, knocking out Zach Micklewright early in the second round to earn his fourth straight victory. After a back and forth first round, Palaszewski hurt Micklewright in the second and pressed him to the cage before unleashing the fight ending right hand.
As for Pettis, although Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett took home the "Fight of the Night" honors, he and Shane Roller tried to make a case for themselves through three rounds. Pettis showed off a vastly improved wrestling game, finding ways to hold off takedowns from Roller and out striking Roller on the feet.
But on more than one occasion, Roller was able to connect on some big punches that had Pettis briefly reeling. It was a thrilling fight with a fitting conclusion in the third. Roller, down on the cards, nearly locked on a guillotine choke as the fight hit the canvas late. But Pettis once again scrambled and got to his guard, where he slapped on a tight triangle choke with time running out. Roller tried to fight it, but was forced to submit with nine seconds remaining in the fight.
Finally, the last fight on the televised card saw Chad Mendes move his undefeated record to 8-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Cub Swanson. The fight consisted of Mendes continually getting the fight to the ground and Swanson being unable to get back to his feet, or stay there for long if he did. The smothering three rounds pushed Swanson to 3-3 in his last six fights.
Penick's Analysis: It was another highly enjoyable fight card from the WEC, especially the Jorgensen-Pickett fight and Pettis-Roller fight, which are both can't miss bouts. The main event decision isn't really controversial, because that fight could have been interpreted any number of ways and almost all of them correct. Neither fighter did enough to make a convincing case for the fight, but Cruz did enough to sneak out a couple of close rounds and he's still the Champion. He'll have a very tough test against Jorgensen in his next defense.
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