WEC 53 line up.

Ivan Menjivar will meet former Cage Rage champion Brad Pickett in a key bantamweight matchup at WEC 53 “Henderson vs. Pettis” on Dec. 16 at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz. Seven fights have been greenlit for the event, which will air live on the Versus network.

Menjivar last appeared under the Warrior-1 MMA banner in June, when he submitted Aaron Miller with a first-round triangle choke at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre in Montreal; it was his first fight in nearly four years. Wins over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 semi-finalist Joe Lauzon, UFC veteran Jeff Curran and 2009 Dream welterweight grand prix semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro anchor the 28-year-old Montreal native’s resume. Menjivar has delivered 16 of his 21 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Only Jason Black and reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre have finished him in 28 professional appearances.

Anchored at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., Pickett has posted nine wins in 10 fights, losing only to the world-ranked Scott Jorgensen in that span. A potent finisher, the 32-year-old Englishman has secured 15 of his 19 career victories by KO, TKO or submission. Pickett has not lost back-to-back bouts in more than three years.

A pair of five-round title bouts will headline WEC 53, as lightweight champion Benson Henderson defends against Duke Roufus protégé Anthony Pettis and bantamweight titleholder Dominick Cruz squares off with Jorgensen, the top contender at 135 pounds. The event will also feature lightweight matchups pairing Donald Cerrone with Chris Horodecki and former WEC champion Jamie Varner with Shane Roller.

WEC 53 “Henderson vs. Pettis”
Thursday, Dec. 16
Jobing.com Arena
Glendale, Ariz.

WEC Lightweight Championship
Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis

WEC Bantamweight Championship
Dominick Cruz vs. Scott Jorgensen

Donald Cerrone vs. Chris Horodecki
Jamie Varner vs. Shane Roller
Ivan Menjivar vs. Brad Pickett
Danny Castillo vs. Will Kerr
Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado vs. Chris Cariaso
* Bart Palaszewski vs. Kamal Shalorus
* Tie Quan Zhang vs. Daniel Downes
* Yuri Alcantara vs. Ricardo Lamas

I like it, too bad that one isn't in Chicago.

Roller vs Varner should be a good one not a bad card at all

This is the final WEC.

I wonder how Varner will bounce back after getting the ever loving shit kicked out of him by Cerrone just a couple months ago.

Henderson vs Pettis should be a war!

This bantamweight dude has almost 30 fights and is 28 years old. He lost once to GSP. If he were to win the UFC title the BW champ would have fought the WW champ at one time. Kind of like Machida being champ and having beaten Penn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Menjivar

More like BJ having been Champ and having fought Machida

LA wrote:

More like BJ having been Champ and having fought Machida

Well that works the same way. I was speaking more about a larger weight champion having a notable victory over a small fighter though. How do you look at wins like that?

More impressed by BJ going to DECISION AGIANST mACHIDA

AH FUCK, TOO LAZY

Machida only trained two weeks for that though. I think that was possibly his heaviest fight.

I know it was open weight, nothing else, still BJ hangin in ther with Machida is crazy