As the UFC has since assimilated with it's sister promotion in the now defunct World Extreme Cagefighting organization, a slew of top-level talent has been pitted against one another in order to determine new contenders for their respective divisions. Dominick Cruz recently picked up the UFC bantamweight title by defeating perennial contender Scott Jorgensen in his last bout under the WEC banner before transitioning to the prestigious mixed martial arts organization. Both Brad Pickett and Miguel Torres have made a case for themselves to become the next challengers to the title, though the two 135-pound stars will be pitted against one another to create a more concise picture. ...

Former top contender Brad Pickett, who is most likely remember from his all out war he had with current title challenger Scott Jorgensen which garnered "Fight of the Night" honors last August at wec 50, will be returning to the cage during the last official WEC event. The organization will now be merged with it's sister promotion, the UFC, which will now include both the bantamweight and featherweight division's as well as assimilating the WEC's lightweights within it's ranks as well. Pickett, a longtime figure in the UK MMA scene made his way to World Extreme Cagefighting in December of 2009, and immediately made waves within the promotion with a top-notch ground game which is not topically stereotyped along with British fighter's. Even on the heels of his first loss in the bantamweight division, Pickett is still seen as a viable contender after a close unanimous decision loss to "Young Guns", however he might meet his most difficult to date when he meets a scrappy veteran in Ivan Menjivar, who is not unfamiliar with big named opponents or large venues. ...

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. ...

"New York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni (11-10) clocked Scott Jansen (3-3) in the first round of Baroni's 170-pound debut, knocking the Brit stiff in London Saturday night. "I had a lot of doubts going in here," Baroni said after losing three straight and spending his entire career at 185-pounds, "but I erased them with that right hand." The usually brash "Bad Ass" lost a bit of bravado with the 15 pounds of inflated muscle, graciously admitting, "I feel really lucky to have this opportunity." In an unfortunate scene of MMA hooliganism, a friend of Jansen's attacked Baroni in the cage after the knockout; but, order was quickly restored. A reinvigorated Baroni asked after the fight, "Who's next?" CageRage is owned by ProElite, which also owns EliteXC and Icon and has a working relationship with Strikeforce, leaving open a lot of options for Baroni in his new weight class. Heavyweight Neil Grove (6-1) knocked out "Buzz" Robert Berry (12-8) at 1:29 of round two, ending any leftover controversy from a Grove corner stoppage "W" over Berry last December. ...