Jose Aldo became the WEC’s new featherweight champion on Wednesday with a second-round TKO of title-holder Mike Brown in the main event of WEC 44, which took place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Manny Gamburyan topped fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision, newcomer Karen Darabedyan scored a split decision win over former lightweight champ rob McCullough, Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo with a third-round rear naked choke, and Kamal Shalorus knocked out Will Kerr in the opening round.

The complete results for WEC 44 were:
WEC Featherweight Championship:
* Jose Aldo def. Mike Brown (c) via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:20

* Manny Gamburyan def. Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
* Karen Darabedyan def. Rob McCullough via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
* Shane Roller def. Danny Castillo via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 3, 3:32
* Kamal Shalorus def. Will Kerr via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:26
* L.C. Davis def. Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
* Cub Swanson def. John Franchi via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:50
* Antonio Banuelos def. Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* Ricardo Lamas def. James Krause via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Frank Gomez def. Seth Dikun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

The official results for WEC 43 are:

Ben Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision
Dave Jansen def. Rich Crunkilton via unanimous decision
Raphael Assuncao def. Yves Jabouin via split decision
Damacio Page def. Will Campuzano via rear naked choke in round 1
Anthony Njokuani def. Mushin Corbbrey via TKO (strikes) in in round 2
Scott Jorgensen def. Noah Thomas via TKO (strikes) in round 1
Mackens Semerzier def. Wagnney Fabiano via triangle choke round 1
Eddie Wineland def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision
Charlie Valencia def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision )
Deividas Taurosevicius def. Javier Vazquez via split decision

(UPDATED)
WEC 43 bonuses:
Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone ($20,000)
Fight of the Night: Ben Henderson ($20,000)
Knockout of the Night: Anthony Njokuani ($10,000)
Submission of the Night: Mackens Sermerzier ($10,000)

The official weigh-in results for WEC 43 are:

Donald Cerrone (154.5) vs. Benson Henderson (155)
Rich Crunkilton (156) vs. Dave Jansen (156)
Raphael Assuncao (146) vs. Yves Jabouin (146)
Damacio Page (136) vs. Will Campuzano (135)
Anthony Njokuani (156) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (156)
Noah Thomas (136) vs. Scott Jorgensen (136)
Mackens Semerzier (146) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (145.5)
Manny Tapia (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
Cody “Ox” Wheeler (135) vs. Charlie Valencia (134.5)
Javier Vazquez (145) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (144.5)

The event takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on the 10th of October.

Although rumors are circulating that Zuffa, LLC. is considering merging the WEC into the UFC altogether, the WEC announced that they have signed a deal with Setanta Sports to broadcast live WEC events to Australian MMA fans.

Setanta Sports in Australia currently has over 80,000 subscribers which the WEC hopes will help the global branding of its promotion.

With notable fighters like Urijah Faber, WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown and Miguel Torres, the WEC is hoping to cash in through Setanta’s subscription-based broadcasting.

It should also be mentioned that the UFC is currently looking to secure a network broadcasting deal in the United States which could have an impact on the WEC itself. It’s believed that if Dana White can sign a deal, that they would merge the WEC into the UFC to help bolster it’s roster to support holding more events.

Newly crowned Strikeforce LHW champion Gegard Mousasi has not taken kindly to comments made from Brazilian Paulo Filho in this Tatame interview. Filho stated:

“I wanna fight Mousasi and show that with against me is a whole different thing… he doesn’t have my strength, he doesn’t have my level on the ground. He can be a better striker, but he doesn’t have my strength and he’ll go down once and be submitted. He’s well trained, but I don’t think he’s healthy enough to beat me… If he wins, I don’t even want my salary. But I guarantee he’ll be beaten more than he was against (Akihiro) Gono.”

Mousasi pulls no punches in his response to Filho in a video from Fighters.com. Mousasi calls Filho a “little donkey”, claims he is on steroids, and blames Filho’s odd mental state and unwillingness to fight Chael Sonnen was on account that Filho couldn’t “use his magic stuff”.



So, in summary according to Mousasi; Paulo Filho is a little donkey who thinks he’s a horse but is actually a little pony, who “uses magic stuff”.

Overnight, DirecTV dropped Versus, and along with it World Extreme Cagefighting, from its lineup after the contract between the satellite TV provider and network expired and a new deal was unable to be reached due to a disagreement over the terms of the contract.

The WEC had been scheduled to hold a Versus-televised event tomorrow in Youngstown, Ohio, but the event was postponed last week to October 10 in San Antonio, Texas, at which time it is expected that DirecTV and Versus will have resolved their dispute, allowing the WEC fights to air over DirecTV.

Stay tuned to Fightburger.com for updates on this situation as they become available.

All 22 UFC 102 fighters, including heavyweight headliners Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, successfully made weight on Friday at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon, the same venue which hosts Saturday’s pay-per-view event.

Couture, the 46-year-old UFC hall of famer and former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, weighed in at 220-pounds, while the former UFC and PRIDE title-holder Nogueira tipped the scale at 231-pounds.

Light heavyweights Keith Jardine (205) and Thiago Silva (205), who square off in the UFC 102 co-main event, and featured middleweight contenders Nate Marquardt (185) and Demian Maia (185) were all on weight for their main card matchups.

Don’t forget to stop by fightburger.com tomorrow for live UFC 102 results and coverage.

The complete weigh-in results for UFC 102 were:

MAIN CARD

265: Randy Couture (220) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (231)
205: Keith Jardine (205) vs. Thiago Silva (205)
185: Nate Marquardt (185) vs. Demian Maia (185)
205: Brandon Vera (205) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (205)
185: Chris Leben (185) vs. Jake Rosholt (185)
PRELIMINARY CARD

185: Ed Herman (185.5) vs. Aaron Simpson (185)
265: Gabriel Gonzaga (259) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (258)
265: Justin McCully (238) vs. Mike Russow (260)
265: Tim Hague(263.5) vs.Todd Duffee (251)
185: Nick Catone (185.5) vs. Mark Munoz (185.5)
155: Marcus Aurelio (156) vs. Evan Dunham (155)

MMA Live takes a look at the aftermath of Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg. In addition, an update on Lesnar vs Carwin, Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the Stars, and a comprehensive preview of UFC 102

Rashad Evans joins the MMA Live panel to help review UFC 101 and WEC 42. In addition, a preview of the biggest fight in women’s MMA history as Gina Carano and Cris ‘Cyborg’ battle on August 15th.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today released the official fighter purses for those who competed at WEC 42 last night (Aug. 9).

Despite losing his WEC bantamweight title, Miguel “Angel” Torres was the highest paid fighter of the night, pocketing $25,000 for his main event first round knockout loss to Brian Bowles. Bowles, the new champ pocketed $18,000 for his labours.

Here is the complete list of WEC 42 payouts:


Brian Bowles — $18,000 ($9,000, $9,000 to win)
Miguel Torres — $25,000

Dominick Cruz — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Joseph Benavidez — $12,500

Danny Castillo — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Ricardo Lamas — $4,000

Takeya Mizugaki — $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
Jeff Curran — $8,000

Leonard Garcia — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Jameel Massouh — $3,000

Cole Province — $6,000 ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win)
Fredson Paixao — $2,000

Shane Roller — $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Marcus Hicks — $8,000

Ed Ratcliff — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Phil Cardella — $3,000

Diego Nunes — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win)
Rafael Dias — $4,000

Rani Yahya — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
John Hosman — $3,000

LC Davis — $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win)
Javier Vasquez — $6,000

Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.

The total base fighter payroll for the Versus network event was $234,500.

To see the results of the WEC 42 card, please go here.