Hello again fans and friends and welcome to the latest edition of “Crash Course”, the series designed to give fight fans a quick rundown on the latest and greatest MMA card, including why you should care, what you should look forward to, and more. Today’s edition features WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis”. This event marks the end of an era: once it's completed, the WEC will cease operations and be folded into the UFC. So, is my “little promotion that could” going out with a whimper or a roar? Let’s find out with the latest edition of “Crash Course”. ...

Duke Roufus took some time on Thursday to talk with John Moody from Fighters.com's.  In this segment he breaks down the welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 this weekend.  Roufus, the head of Team RoufusSport based in Milwaukee, is one of the hottest trainers in MMA with Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Eric Koch and Matt Mitrione in his camp.  Take a listen here as he lays out his scenario for GSP/Koscheck 2 and why he is also excited to watch the Stefan Struve / Sean McCorkle fight.  Also, stay tuned to Fighters.com for the extended interview with Roufus where he comments on Pettis' preparation for Ben Henderson, Barry's general progression and how Belcher is recovering from his eye injury.  Coming next week. Click through for the Fighters.com Radio interview with Duke Roufus. ...

The upcoming December 16 WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” event will be the last event promoted by the soon-to-be-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting promotion. 2011 would have marked the WEC’s ten-year anniversary, instead, the promotion will be folded into the UFC, which adds two new weight divisions thanks to the merger. The full and complete lineup to the card has recently been finalized, so here’s how everything looks to be breaking down. ...

It’s going to be the end of an era… one of the best in recent history, if you want my opinion. The World Extreme Cagefighting promotion will look to end its stellar 2010 run with WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis”, scheduled for December 16 at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. This will officially be the WEC’s swan song before the promotion is folded into the UFC, and recently, eleven fights were confirmed for the event. Here are all the details. ...

We’re now closer than ever to the year’s end. All-too-soon it’ll be time to bid a fond farewell to a year that had more shocking surprises and upsets in MMA than any in recent history. But the year is not over yet, and it’s not going quietly. There’s still plenty of awesome MMA to keep you occupied in these long winter months, so here are my Top 5 fights for the remainder of 2010 that you absolutely must watch. ...

As WEC 53 looms a bit closer, headliner's Anthony Pettis and reigning, defending champion Ben Henderson have just gotten word that they'll be moving to "the big show" following their lightweight tilt in December. While the prospects of a WEC championship is big in of itself, a little bit more has been added to the allure of victory. The winner between Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson will not only move into the UFC following the WEC's last event in December due to the merger, however, the winner will also go on to unify the WEC title with the UFC's. ...

We’re only a day removed from the shocking news that the UFC and WEC would be merging at the start of 2011, and already both fans and insiders have been tossing around several fantasy match-ups that would see the WEC's best and brightest take on the UFC's biggest stars. So, of course, you know I just had to get in on the fun. Without further ado, here’s my personal Top 5 list of the “WEC vs. UFC” match-ups I’d love to see. ...

Along with the excitement announcement of today's UFC/WEC merger, a lot of implications were made as to how the whole scheme of things would pan out for each respective champion. Frankie Edgar, currently recognized as the UFC's lightweight champion will be defending his title on January 1 at UFC 125 against rival Gray Maynard. Meanwhile, WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson will look to defend his title for a second time when he squares up with the ultra-talented Anthony "Showtime" Pettis at WEC 53 in December. So, what does it mean when you have two champions being absolved into one weight class? Well, they would have to fight, of course. ...

With the addition of just one more match, wec 53 has gone from a card I was eagerly looking forward to, to a card that may steal an “Event of the Year” award or two. Even with the upcoming WEC 51: “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” card creeping closer and closer, I’m honestly looking forward to this card more. I reported recently that Anthony Pettis would be taking on Ben Henderson in what should be a fantastic defense of “Bendo’s” Lightweight Championship, and it’s now been confirmed that Dominick Cruz will be taking on Scott Jorgensen as well, with the WEC Bantamweight Championship on the line. ...

With WEC 51: “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” getting closer and closer, many WEC fans are strictly focused on Jose Aldo possibly continuing his path of destruction with a big victory over Manvel Gamburyan. Looking further ahead into the future, WEC 52 also promises to deliver an exciting show, with Urijah Faber making his debut at Bantamweight against Takeya Mizugaki. But now WEC 53 just landed on everyone’s radar, as World Extreme Cagefighting dropped a bombshell and announced that the main event of WEC 53 would feature a WEC Lightweight Championship match that would see world-ranked champion Benson Henderson take on the dynamic and wildly exciting “Showtime” Anthony Pettis. ...

There was a time many years ago when people thought that high kicks were useless in MMA.  After all, they often led to being taken down with little bang for the buck.  But then with the evolution of mixed martial arts, fighters began to understand all aspects of fighting.  Competitors with striking backgrounds began to fear being taken down less because they had wrestling skills to protect them.  What's more, when done right, the high kick was found to be highly effective in putting people to sleep.  And with that, it slowly began its introduction into MMA, gaining steam as time went on (Pete Williams' head kick KO of Mark Coleman at UFC 17 in 1998 was one notable instance).  Of course, spinning back kicks, sidekicks, crescent kicks, axe kicks- they were all still taboo back in 1998.  Good to look at in a controlled atmosphere, but not really effective.  Just things that Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do practitioners executed in dojos and dojangs to look good. ...

Pettis definitely chose his moniker carefully, because "Showtime" appears now to be hitting the big time. The WEC lightweight contender, who is coming off the heels of his most recent victory over perennial contender Shane Roller--by a third-round triangle choke, will be featured in a new MTV special, coming out this September. ...

Ladies and gentlemen, fans and friends, we’ve got another contender for Fight of the Year. WEC 50 is now over and done, and while the major story revolves around Dominick Cruz making his first successful defense of his WEC Bantamweight Championship against Joseph Benavidez, the incredibly diverse, wildly entertaining all-out war between Anthony Pettis and Shane Roller was my Fight of the Night, and perhaps the most entertaining fight since my “Fight of the Half-Year”, Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung. It had all the right ingredients for an epic fight, and “Showtime” now stands poised as the next threat to WEC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson. ...

It's no secret that Joseph Benavidez is one of the WEC's hottest commodities. With his fast-paced style and charismatic demeanor, he's an easy fan favorite, reminiscent of mentor, training partner, and friend Urijah Faber. But, doe's that mean that Benavidez, a challenger to champion Dominick Cruz' title, should earn more then the number one guy in his weight class? ...

WEC: 50, which features a bantamweight showdown between champion Dominick Cruz defending his title for the first time against former foe Joseph Benavidez in a sure crowd pleaser, before a near sold-out crowd, at The Pearl and Palms casino, in Las Vegas, Nev. ...

Twenty-two year old WEC lightweight prospect "Showtime" Anthony Pettis (9-0) and former WEC lightweight champion "Razor" Rob McCullough (17-5) will fight at WEC 44 11 November, Pettis confirmed to Fighters.com.

"Me and Razor Rob will throw down November 11," said Duke Roufus-trained Pettis.

Pettis's core martial art is Tae Kwon Do and he runs a TKD school in his hometown of Milwaukee. "I'm sure you will see [my Tae Kwon Do] my next fight," Pettis promised Fighters.com. "I use My Tae Kwon Do very well in the cage.
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