Business as usual at WEC 42 weigh-ins

By Steve Silver

Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009 | 8:03 p.m.

Aside from the customary stare-down photo pose, the World Extreme Cagefighting 42 weigh-ins went off without incident and very little trash-talking inside a packed Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Saturday afternoon.

WEC 42, which kicks off at 3 p.m. at the Joint Sunday and will be televised on VERSUS, features the marquee bantamweight world championship bout between Brian Bowles and current champion Miguel Torres.

Both Bowles and Torres weighed in at 134 pounds.

After taking his turn on the scale, Torres offered a bit of a verbal challenge to Bowles.

"Brian's a strong wrestler and he hits really hard," Torres said. "We'll see how bad he wants to be a champion."

Sacramento resident and top bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez attracted the largest and loudest crowd as he weighed in at 135 pounds. Benavidez will try to maintain his undefeated record against Dominick Cruz in the co-headline match.

The winner will most like earn a shot at the bantamweight title.

"I’m always confident, I expect to win every fight" Benavidez said. "… I know Dominick is here to put on a great fight and I’m going to do everything in my power to go out there and finish him."

Preliminary card lightweight Marcus Hicks was the only fighter to miss his target weight as he registered at 159 pounds in the 156-pound limit class. Despite his weight failure, opponent Shane Roller accepted a catchweight bout and a share of Hicks' prize money.

The complete weigh-in results are as follows:

Main Card:

Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres (134) vs. Brian Bowles (134)

Joseph Benavidez (135) vs. Dominick Cruz (135)

Danny Castillo (156) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155)

Jeff Curran (136) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (135)

Preliminary Card:

Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Jameel Massouh (146)

Fredson Paixao (145) vs. Cole Province (146)

Marcus Hicks (159) vs. Shane Roller (156)

Phil Cardella (155) vs. Ed Ratcliff (155)

John Hosman (135) vs. Rani Yayha (136)

Rafael Dias (145) vs. Diego Nunes (145)

L.C. Davis (145) vs. Javier Vazquez (146)