WEC 47 Lineup Finalized

Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight title contender Leonard Garcia will square off with fellow UFC veteran George Roop in a preliminary matchup at WEC 47 “Bowles vs. Cruz” this Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The WEC on Tuesday made the bout official, finalizing an 11-fight lineup.

Finished only once -- by former WEC featherweight king Mike Thomas Brown -- in 18 professional bouts, Garcia finds himself on the rebound following his unanimous decision loss to “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 runner-up Manny Gamburyan at WEC 44 in November. The 30-year-old former Ring of Fire titleholder has secured nine of his 13 wins by submission but has become known more for an increasing willingness to brawl. Based at Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in Albuquerque, N.M., he owns wins against former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver and 2009 Dream featherweight grand prix finalist Hiroyuki Takaya.

Roop, a two-division Rage in the Cage champion who replaces an injured Diego Nunes on short notice, dropped a unanimous verdict to the world-ranked Eddie Wineland in his WEC debut two months ago. A semi-finalist Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the 28-year-old Tucson, Ariz., native now trains under Shawn Tompkins at the Tapout Training Center in Las Vegas. Roop has never been knocked out in 16 professional appearances.

A bantamweight title fight pairing champion Brian Bowles with the once-beaten Dominick Cruz will headline the WEC 47 lineup, along with a key 135-pound bout pitting former titleholder Miguel Torres against Joseph Benavidez. In addition, surging featherweight contenders Deividas Taurosevicius and L.C. Davis will collide in a featured 145-pound tilt, while Karen Darabedyan will take on International Fight League veteran Bart Palaszewski. A showdown between Pulver and Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Javier Vazquez rounds out the main card menu.