Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 | 5:28 p.m.
The official weigh-ins for Wednesday's WEC 50 event took place Tuesday at The Palms.
While the 20 fighters on the card came from all over the world, the crowd seemed to come primarily from Sacramento, Calif.
An injury forced former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber off the WEC 50 card, but the Sacramento-based Team Alpha Male will be well represented Wednesday, with four of its members entering the cage.
Joseph Benavidez (12-1) will lead the Northern California pack, as he takes on current WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (15-1) in his first title shot.
The fight comes almost exactly one year after Cruz handed Benavidez the first and only loss of his career in a unanimous decision Aug. 9, 2009.
"It's another huge fight and something I've waited for," Benavidez said. "I'm a different fighter now and there's no better way to prove it than against the only guy that's ever beat me."
Cruz will enter the fight riding a six-fight win streak. He claimed the belt in his last fight with a TKO win over Brian Bowles in March.
"We fought each other and I've already seen the mistakes he made," Cruz said. "I'll look to exploit those mistakes and keep the title as mine."
All 20 fighters set to compete on Wednesday's card ended up making weight.
Las Vegas-based lightweight contender Shane Roller weighed-in at 156 pounds for his bout against Anthony Pettis. Anthony Njokuani, another lightweight fighting out of Las Vegas, came in at 154 pounds and is set to face WEC newcomer Maciej Jewtuszko.
Doors open for the event at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. The main card will air live on VERSUS.
Full Results:
Dominick Cruz (134) vs. Joseph Benavidez (134)
Anthony Pettis (155) vs. Shane Roller (156)
Chad Mendes (145) vs. Cub Swanson (146)
Scott Jorgensen (135) vs. Brad Pickett (136)
Zach Micklewright (156) vs. Bart Palaszewski (156)
Maciej Jewtuszko (155) vs. Anthony Njokuani (154)
Mackens Semerzier (146) vs. Javier Vasquez (145)
Dave Jansen (156) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155)
Bryan Caraway (145) vs. Fredson Paixao (145)
Dustin Poirier (156) vs. Danny Castillo (156)
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
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