The Weekly Wrap: Aug. 14 - Aug. 20

The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA, recapping and putting into context the week's top story, important news and notable quotes.

Top Story

Dominick Cruz turned back his first title challenger and took the spotlight in the latest offering from World Extreme Cagefighting on Aug. 18, defeating Joseph Benavidez in a fight that made a good accounting for the excitement of the bantamweight division. Still, the WEC 50 card from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas took the dubious distinction of drawing the smallest audience for the promotion’s three-year history on the Versus network.

Cruz, 25, used his unique footwork to get it on Benavidez in the opening frames, though he ate more punches than he did when he first met Benavidez last August. Enjoying a three-inch reach and four-inch height advantage, Cruz landed 103 strikes to Benavidez’s 46, according to Fight Metric, and switched to a takedown and top control game in the championship rounds, shortly after Benavidez landed leg kicks that disrupted Cruz’s ability to bounce around at will. A knee to the bridge of the nose in the fourth left Cruz bloody. The fight marked the first time both competitors went five rounds.

While a nip-and-tuck affair, there was widespread surprise when Cruz was declared the winner by split decision. Judge Nelson Hamilton awarded the bout to Benavidez, 48-47, while Lester Griffin (48-47) and Adelaide Byrd (49-46) gave Cruz the nod. Fight Metric’s point-scoring analysis gave Cruz all five rounds. Three Sherdog.com judges were spread out, with unanimity only for the first and fourth round in Cruz’s favor. Benavidez did not end up with a nod from any of the Sherdog judges; two cards came in for Cruz, with the other a 48-48 draw.

Cruz was heavily booed both pre- and post-fight, projecting an apparently off-putting confidence that may become his calling card. WEC 50 marked the steadiest promotion the San Diego product, undefeated at 135, has received to date, as an interesting rivalry develops between him and Team Alpha Male. Urijah Faber, once slated to face Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 50, prepares to embark on a bantamweight campaign that could result in a showdown that boosts Cruz’s notoriety to casual fight fans.

It apparently will take Faber-level star power to spark a main event interest in Cruz. WEC 50 drew an average audience of 316,000 viewers over the course of its three-hour broadcast, according to MMAJunkie.com, putting it below the 324,000 average for WEC 49 in June, headlined by Jamie Varner vs. Kamal Shalorus. The Wrestling Observer reported WEC 49 drew the lowest rating in the history of WEC fights on Versus, which began with WEC 28 in June 2007. That card, headlined by Faber vs. Chance Farrar, drew an average audience of 416,000.

Cruz did not leave with the biggest payday of the night. That distinction went to his likely next challenger, Scott Jorgensen, whose eventful scrap with Brad Pickett earned him a $10,000 bonus for “Fight of the Night” on top of his $25,000 disclosed purse. Cruz earned a disclosed $22,000. Benavidez took home $17,500.

In a hard-hitting affair, Jorgensen took three rounds from Pickett, who landed several punches and a knee on the explosive wrestler and showed good resilience bouncing up from takedowns. Jorgensen secured extended ground control in the third, leaving a strong impression with judges and locking in his fifth straight win. He declared himself ready for a title shot.

Another contender setting himself apart at WEC 50 was lightweight Anthony Pettis, who did a remarkable job staying out of dodge and landing strikes against three-time All-American wrestler Shane Roller. Pettis worked tae kwon do kicks at odd angles and squirmed out of vulnerable positions on the ground. He impressively blocked several takedowns and took down Roller on several occasions. The charismatic Milwaukee product stayed on Roller, tapping his exhausted foe with a triangle choke with nine seconds left in the fight and locking in a $10,000 best submission bonus. He called out 155-pound WEC champion Benson Henderson, who acknowledged him at cageside. A WEC show on Dec. 16 will be held in Henderson’s stomping grounds in Phoenix, after fans voted for the city in an Amp Energy contest; it seems likely to be the site of his next title defense.

Also picking up wins at WEC 50 were Chad Mendes (unanimous decision over Cub Swanon), Bart Palaszewski (round-two TKO over Zachary Micklewright), Maciej Jewtuszko (first-round TKO over Anthony Njokuani), Javier Vazquez (round-two rear-naked choke submission over Mackens Semerzier), Ricardo Lamas (unanimous decision over Dave Jansen), Fredson Paixao (split decision over Bryan Caraway) and Danny Castillo (unanimous decision over Dustin Poirier).

Jewtuszko, a little-known Polish prospect, earned the $10K best knockout bonus for his win over Njokuani. The finish was shown on the Versus network’s “The Daily Line” sports talk show, which went live with analysis from a panel that included former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres.