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Former WEC Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles will return for the first time since losing his belt to Dominick Cruz in March when he takes on Wagnney Fabiano at WEC 52.
News of the bout was first reported by SportsNet.Ca on Thursday, with the event likely coming to the Pearl at the Palms Casino and Resort on November 11.
Bowles badly broke his hand early in his fight with Cruz, and was unable to answer the bell for the third round. He had defeated Miguel Torres in August of last year to win the belt, but was unable to successfully defend it in the fight with Cruz.
Fabiano is a former featherweight force who dropped to bantamweight after being upset by Mackens Semerzier early last year. He's since won two straight fights at 135 lb.
WEC 52 will air live on Versus, and is expected to feature Urijah Faber's bantamweight debut against Takeya Mizugaki.
Penick's Analysis: It will be good to see Bowles back in the cage after a disappointing performance against Cruz. Fabiano has bounced back after the upset loss to Semerzier and he'll make for a great challenge. As well, the winner of this fight will emerge as a contender in the division, and will have an argument for a title shot. Though, if Faber beats Mizugaki, he'll likely get the next shot after Scott Jorgensen.
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