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. ...

"Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (18-4) TKO'd "Hands of Steel" Scott Smith (13-5) at 2:35 of round two to retain his EliteXC Middleweight Championship. Nick Diaz (18-7) TKO'd "Wildman" Thomas Denny (26-17) at :30 of round two. Jake Shields (21-4-1) defeats "The Goat" Nick Thompson (36-10-1) by guillotine submission at 1:03 of the first round for the EliteXC Welterweight Championship. "Big Foot" Antonio Silva (11-1) TKO'd Justin Eilers (20-8-1) at :19 of round two for the EliteXC Heavyweight Championship. "Feijao" Rafael Cavalcante TKO'd "Gladiator" Travis Galbraith (15-6) at 3:01 of round one. Wilson Reis (5-0) won a unanimous decision over Bryan Caraway (10-3). Carl Seumanutafa (4-0) KO'd Mike Cook (5-2) by slam at 1:21 of round one. Drew Montgomery (5-3) TKO'd Brandon Tarns (1-2) by doctor stoppage at 4:23 of round three. ...

"Punk" Josh Thomson (15-2) won a five-round unanimous decision over "El Niño" Gilbert Melendez (14-2) for the Strikeforce lightweight title Friday night in San Jose by scores of 50-45 on all three cards. "[Melendez] is the toughest motherfucker I've ever fought," Thomson declared after dominating the former top ten 155-pounder. In the final round, Thomson landed a front kick to Melendez's face as if to say, "All night, Gil" All night, Thomson kept Melendez at bay with a front kick. And, when Melendez passed that, he got zapped with a jab, and a hammered with a knee after that. Melendez stalked for five rounds, right hand cocked; but, Thomson never set long enough for Melendez to get a beat on him with his knockout punch. In the fourth and fifth rounds, Thomson shot and scored takedowns, nearly finding a rear naked choke as the fourth round dinged closed. But, Melendez was just out-kickboxed in every round and gassed trying to corner Thomson for the big shot. Stack Attacks Palacios Crowd favorite Bobby Stack (5-1) out-wrestled lightweight San Shou fighter Jose Palacios (3-1) over three rounds for a UD by scores of 29-28 three times. The southpaw Palacios's right hook over Stack's jab convinced Stack to take the fight to the mat after that punch popped Stack's mouthpiece free in the first round. Stack took damage for the single-leg shots, but muscled Palacios down and nearly sank an armbar with 25 seconds left in round two. Stack declined the stand-up again in the third session and rode Palacios across the mat most of the round, though Palacios defended adeptly. The "W" was sealed in the last half of the round when Stack mounted and landed shots to Palcios's head. ...