WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING® ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL BOUTS FOR WEC®: TORRES VS. TAPIA

Courtesy of World Extreme Cagefighting:

For Immediate Release
November 19, 2008

Live From The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino In Las Vegas, Wednesday, Dec. 3

BRIAN BOWLES vs. WILL RIBEIRO
WAGNNEY FABIANO VS. AKITOSHI TAMURA
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. DANNY MARTINEZ

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – World Extreme Cagefighting® today announced three more thrilling fights for WEC®: Torres vs. Tapia, live from The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Wednesday, December 3. Leading up to what is sure to be an instant classic between WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres and No. 1 contender Manny Tapia are three high-energy bouts, featuring Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro, Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura and Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez.

World Extreme Cagefighting will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

Tickets for World Extreme Cagefighting are on sale and are priced at $225, $175, and $75 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

Charleston, W.V. native Brian Bowles (5’7”/135 lbs.) has been on a tear since joining the WEC. Bowles, who now fights out of Athens, Ga., is 6-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career and 3-0 in the organization, earning a first-round submission victory against Damacio Page in his last bout. No one in the WEC has been able to get to the third round against Bowles, but if someone is going to take the 28-year-old to the limit it might very well be Will Ribeiro (5’7”/135 lbs.). The Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fighter owns a 9-1 pro MMA record and a three-round split decision victory against MMA veteran Chase Beebe in his WEC debut.

The WEC brings in another top tier featherweight with the signing of Wagnney Fabiano (5’6”/145 lbs.). The former IFL 145-pound champion and Brazil native dominated his weight class, ending all six of his fights, with five victories coming in the first round. Now the 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt turns his attention to Japan’s Akitoshi Tamura (5’9”/145 lbs.), a veteran Shooto fighter who owns a 12-6-2 MMA record.

“I think the toughest fights in my career will without a doubt be in the WEC,” said Fabiano, who now lives in Canada. “For sure I will have to make adjustments to fighting in the cage. I don’t know how hard it will be to make such adjustments.”

Another fighter making his WEC debut will be the undefeated Joseph Benavidez (5’4”/135 lbs.). The San Antonio, Texas born fighter now trains with former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber in Sacramento, California. The 24-year-old is 8-0 as a professional fighter and relies on his strong wrestling base, which delivered a high school state wrestling championship in New Mexico eight years ago. Benavidez will have to display his greatest focus yet when he faces Tempe, Arizona’s Danny Martinez (5’5”/135 lbs.). The 23-year-old carries a 12-2 record and is on a three-fight win streak as he gets set to make his WEC debut.

The WEC also announced that, starting in 2009, the organization will focus on four weight classes: welterweight (170 pounds), lightweight (155 pounds), featherweight (145 pounds), and bantamweight (135 pounds). The WEC will no longer actively promote light heavyweight and middleweight fights after the Dec. 3rd event. This increased attention to the sport’s lighter divisions makes the WEC the undisputed home of the most exciting lighter weight fighters in mixed martial arts.

All bouts subject to change. For more information about WEC: Torres vs. Tapia and current WEC fight news, visit www.wec.tv.

About World Extreme Cagefighting

The WEC brand is recognized as one of the premier mixed martial arts organizations in the United States. Founded in 2001, the WEC features many of the most prominent athletes in the sport of mixed martial arts today. Owned and operated by WEC Holdings LLC., and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the WEC produces live and taped events annually that are distributed through the Versus network. In addition to its U.S distribution, WEC programming is shown on the TSN network in Canada and Cadena Tres in Mexico. For more information and current WEC fight news, visit www.wec.tv. World Extreme Cagefighting® and WEC® are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by WEC Holdings, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions and are licensed to WEC Productions, LLC.

About VERSUS

VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), the Indy Racing League and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.