WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING® ANNOUNCES REMAINING BOUTS FOR SEPT. 2 CARD IN YOUNGSTOWN
DAVE JANSEN VS. RICHARD CRUNKILTON JR.
AKITOSHI TAMURA VS. DAMACIO PAGE
ANTHONY PETTIS VS. ALEX KARALEXIS
YVES JABOUIN VS. RAPHAEL ASSUNCAO
SCOTT JORGENSEN VS. RAFAEL REBELLO
ERIK KOCH VS. WAGNNEY FABIANO
MANNY TAPIA VS. EDDIE WINELAND
MUHSIN CORBBREY VS. ANTHONY NJOKUANI
COTY ‘OX’ WHEELER VS. CHARLIE VALENCIA
WEC® PRESENTS: CERRONE VS. HENDERSON
From The Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio - Wednesday, Sept. 2;
First Bout at 6 p.m. ET
Fight to Air Live on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT
Tickets On Sale NOW
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – World Extreme Cagefighting® proudly confirms the remaining bouts of an exciting card headed to Youngstown, OH on Sept. 2. In addition to the interim lightweight title bout pitting Donald Cerrone against Ben Henderson, fans at the Covelli Centre will be treated to fights featuring many of the best lighter weight fighters in the world.
“This card features some of the fastest-rising stars in the sport,” WEC General Manager Reed Harris said. “WEC continually delivers fight cards that are among the year’s best. This one will absolutely deliver.”
Tickets for WEC: Cerrone vs. Henderson are on sale now and priced at $25, $45, $75, and $125. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting the Covelli Centre Box Office. Purchases can also be made at Covelli Centre retail locations, including Giant Eagle and Macy’s stores in the Youngstown area. Tickets also are available online through http://www.wec.tv or http://www.ticketmaster.com.
Cerrone vs. Henderson will be televised nationally live on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. All of the network’s live WEC events are presented in HD and Spanish language SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.
Hoping to reinsert himself in the lightweight title picture, Richard Crunkilton Jr. (fighting out of Daytona Beach, FL) returns to the WEC cage after an 18-month layoff due to injury to face undefeated newcomer Dave Jansen (fighting out of Portland, OR). A winner of five out of his last six bouts, Crunkilton (18-2) is a gifted striker who possesses dangerous judo throws. He’ll look to upend Jansen (12-0) when the two collide in Youngstown. A member of the renowned Team Quest, the ground-savvy Jansen has recorded seven submission victories in his career and hopes to add another to his resume on Sept. 2.
Heavy-hitting Damacio Page (fighting out of Albuquerque, NM) looks to score his third win in the WEC when he battles former Shooto champion Akitoshi Tamura (fighting out of Osaka, Japan). With wins over Scott Jorgensen and Marcos Galvao since joining WEC in 2008, Page (11-4) has quickly asserted himself as one of the top bantamweights in the world. A stern test awaits him in Tamura though. A well-rounded fighter with excellent kickboxing and wrestling, Tamura (13-7-2) is coming off a big win over Manny Tapia in April. The Japanese star has his sights set on climbing the 135-pound ladder and hopes to use Page as his springboard toward a title shot.
Rising star Anthony Pettis (fighting out of Milwaukee, WI) faces the toughest test of his young career when he goes toe-to-toe with seasoned knockout artist Alex Karalexis (fighting out of Boston, MA) in Ohio. After winning his WEC debut in June via submission over Mike Campbell, the 22-year-old Pettis (7-0) hopes to keep the momentum going with a win over his Bostonian foe. A veteran of season one of The Ultimate Fighter®, the 31-year-old Karalexis is perhaps the hardest-hitting lightweight in the WEC. He’ll look to use his years of cage experience to overpower Pettis at the Covelli Centre.
Fresh off a unanimous decision win over Jameel Massouh in April, Raphael Assuncao (fighting out of Atlanta, GA) looks to get one step closer to a shot at featherweight champion Mike Brown when he locks horns with WEC newcomer Yves Jabouin (fighting out of Montreal, Canada). A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, the 27-year-old Assuncao (13-1) is an aggressive fighter who has lost just once as a professional. He hopes to earn his fourteenth victory against Jabouin (14-4). Training out of the same gym in Montreal that produced UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, “Tiger” Jabouin is a vicious striker with 11 stoppage wins in his eight-year career. Determined to make a strong first impression in the WEC, Jabouin has vowed to put the heat on Assuncao.
Bantamweights Scott Jorgensen (fighting out of Boise, ID) and Rafael Rebello (fighting out of Coconut Creek, FL) meet in a bout that has the potential to steal “Fight of the Night” honors. A strong wrestler with excellent dirty boxing skills, Jorgensen (6-3) is one of the grittiest fighters in the world. The 26-year-old will undoubtedly bring a relentless approach to the cage against American Top Team-trained Rebello. Hoping to use his world-class submissions to diffuse Jorgensen, Rebello (6-3), fresh off a win over Kyle Dietz in June, is out to prove that he is among the best at 135-pounds.
Grappling wizard Wagnney Fabiano (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) seeks his third-straight win in the WEC when he battles Erik Koch (fighting out of Milwaukee, WI) in featherweight action. Since bursting onto the scene with back-to-back wins over Akitoshi Tamura and Fredson Paixao, the 34-year-old Brazilian Fabiano has proved to be one of the best 145-pounders in the sport. He hopes to join the likes of Faber, Brown, and Aldo in the featherweight elite with a victory over Koch in Youngstown. Unbeaten at 7-0 with five wins via submission, Koch is no slouch on the ground and hopes to derail Fabiano’s rise. The Duke Roufus-trained fighter makes his WEC debut on Sept. 2 with his sights set on stealing the Brazilian’s place in the featherweight pecking order.
Free-swinging bantamweight Manny Tapia (fighting out of Chino, Calif.) heads to Youngstown with the aims of trading leather with former 135-pound champion Eddie Wineland (fighting out of Highland, IN). Owning wins over Antonio Banuelos and Brandon Foxworth since joining WEC in 2007, Tapia (10-2-1) is a fearless competitor with solid boxing skills. His opponent, 25-year-old Wineland (14-6-1), is equally valiant in the cage and hopes to notch a win over Tapia and return to title contention.
Expect fireworks when lightweights Muhsin Corbbrey (fighting out of Atlanta, GA) and Anthony Njokuani (fighting out of Las Vegas, NV) meet at the Covelli Centre. An eight-year veteran, Corbbrey (7-3) makes his WEC debut with hopes of making an instant impact. A slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace, Corbbrey has five submission wins in his 10-fight career and will look to ground the Muay Thai expert Njokuani. Boasting a professional record of 11-2, the 29-year-old Njokuani scored the biggest win of his career in April, a knockout of Bart Palaszewski. The stoppage earned him “Knockout of the Night” honors, something he’s hoping to earn again when he meets Corbbrey in Youngstown.
Two of the sport’s fastest-paced bantamweights engage in Youngstown when Coty “Ox” Wheeler (fighting out of Albuquerque, NM) faces Charlie Valencia (fighting out of Ontario, Calif.). Wheeler (10-1), an exciting, unpredictable fighter who earned a win over Del Hawkins in his last WEC bout, will look to push the pace against fan favorite Valencia (10-5). That task will be easier said than done though. Considering Valencia’s supreme conditioning and relentless, forward-marching approach, this bout has potential to be one of the year’s best.
About World Extreme Cagefighting®
The WEC brand is recognized as one of the premier mixed martial arts organizations in the United States. WEC, founded in 2001, is the sister organization of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® and today features the most prominent light weight fighters in the world. Owned and operated by WEC Holdings LLC., and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the WEC produces live and taped events annually that are distributed through the Versus network.WEC programming is also available on Fox Sports en Espanol. In addition to its U.S distribution, WEC programming is shown on the TSN network in Canada and Cadena Tres in Mexico. For more information and current WEC fight news, visit wec.tv. World Extreme Cagefighting® and WEC® are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by WEC Holdings, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions and are licensed to WEC Productions, LLC.
About VERSUS
VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 75 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the IndyCar® Series as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events and original programs, such as Sports Soup and The Contender that audiences can't find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.
About The Covelli Centre
Youngstown’s Covelli Centre has hosted a string of sold out events this year including the recent Top Rank championship title boxing match between reigning WBO/WBC Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik and Marco Antonio Rubio; as well as Celtic Woman, Globetrotters, and Disney Live. The Covelli Centre is a 5,000 seat arena owned by the City of Youngstown and is managed by privately-operated JAC Management Group LLC of Struthers, Ohio and SMG, a Philadelphia based company that provides facility services to more than 215 public assembly facilities.
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