We're a few hours away from the 40th event in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, and as I was looking at the fight card today, I got to thinking: Is this the best collection of bantamweights ever assembled at one MMA event?
Take a look at the bantamweight fights on this card:
Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Joseph Benavidez vs. Jeff Curran
Ivan Lopez vs. Dominick Cruz
Rani Yahya vs. Eddie Wineland
Akitoshi Tamura vs. Manny Tapia
Although WEC 40 suffered somewhat when the undefeated Brian Bowles had to drop out, it still includes six fighters who are on my list of the Top 10 bantamweights in MMA: Torres, Mizugaki, Yahya, Benavidez, Tapia and Cruz.
And that's not all. Curran is one of the Top 10 featherweights in MMA, and he's dropping 10 pounds to make his bantamweight debut, so with a good showing against the undefeated Benavidez, he'd have to be considered among the Top 10 bantamweights. Tamura, who has fought well at featherweight in the past, is also making his bantamweight debut. Wineland is on some lists of the Top 10 bantamweights, and the undefeated Lopez could earn recognition as a Top 10 bantamweight if he beats Cruz.
Bottom line: We have five bantamweight fights featuring 10 of the best 135-pounders in MMA. If you like seeing the little guys fight, you'll want to be at the UIC Pavilion or watching Versus Sunday night.
Take a look at the bantamweight fights on this card:
Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Joseph Benavidez vs. Jeff Curran
Ivan Lopez vs. Dominick Cruz
Rani Yahya vs. Eddie Wineland
Akitoshi Tamura vs. Manny Tapia
Although WEC 40 suffered somewhat when the undefeated Brian Bowles had to drop out, it still includes six fighters who are on my list of the Top 10 bantamweights in MMA: Torres, Mizugaki, Yahya, Benavidez, Tapia and Cruz.
And that's not all. Curran is one of the Top 10 featherweights in MMA, and he's dropping 10 pounds to make his bantamweight debut, so with a good showing against the undefeated Benavidez, he'd have to be considered among the Top 10 bantamweights. Tamura, who has fought well at featherweight in the past, is also making his bantamweight debut. Wineland is on some lists of the Top 10 bantamweights, and the undefeated Lopez could earn recognition as a Top 10 bantamweight if he beats Cruz.
Bottom line: We have five bantamweight fights featuring 10 of the best 135-pounders in MMA. If you like seeing the little guys fight, you'll want to be at the UIC Pavilion or watching Versus Sunday night.