Three titles on the line at WEC 35
by Brian Knapp, The Fight Network
Updated: June 14, 2008, 3:19 PM EST 2 comments add thisRSSblogemailprint
World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion Carlos Condit, lightweight titleholder Jamie Varner and light heavyweight kingpin Brian Stann will defend their respective belts at WEC 35 on Aug. 3 in Las Vegas.
READ MORE AT...
For more MMA news and features, check out thefightnetwork.com.
One of the promotion's cornerstones, Condit (22-4, 4-0 WEC) will put his 170-pound title on the line against former middleweight Hiromitsu Miura.
Condit has been nothing short of sensational since he debuted with the WEC in January 2007. He has won all four of his matches there by submission — three of them in the first round ¹ against opponents with a cumulative record of 104-29-3. Condit will carry a seven-fight winning streak into the bout. The 23-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., native last competed at WEC 32 in February, when he coaxed a tapout from Carlo Prater with a first-round guillotine choke. Condit owns key victories against former Icon Sport middleweight champion Frank Trigg and UFC veterans Brock Larson, John Alessio and Brandon Melendez. Of his 22 career wins, 21 have come by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
Miura (9-4, 2-1 WEC), meanwhile, has posted back-to-back wins since his decision loss to Jason "Mayhem" Miller in May 2007. A veteran of the K-1, Pancrase and Deep promotions, the 26-year-old prefers standing and trading, as more than half of his wins have come by KO or TKO. Miura has not fought since he knocked out Blas Avena at WEC 33 in March but has won five of his past six bouts.
Meanwhile, Varner will defend the 155-pound crown for the first time against unbeaten Marcus Hicks.
Varner (14-2, 2-0 WEC), who turned pro at age 19, appears to be hitting his stride as a mixed martial artist but remains a somewhat obscure figure in global circles. He has lost only once, to Hermes Franca at UFC 62 in August 2006, in his last 14 fights. All but one of Varner's 14 career wins have come by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The confident 23-year-old Arizonan stopped former titleholder "Razor" Rob McCullough on strikes at WEC 32 in February to capture the lightweight belt.
His opponent has never experienced defeat. Hicks (8-0, 3-0 WEC) has finished all eight of his fights. He last appeared in March, when he steamrolled Ed Ratcliff in 1:42 at WEC 33. A former Golden Gloves boxing champion, the 32-year-old Texan once worked security for Wal-Mart.
In addition, Stann will make the first defense of his light heavyweight championship against Steve Cantwell, a man against whom he already holds a victory. He needed just 41 seconds to dispatch Cantwell at WEC 26 in March 2007.
A U.S. Marine, Stann (6-0, 5-0 WEC) last fought in March, when he captured the light heavyweight crown with a TKO win over Doug Marshall. Based out of Team Quest, Stann has never been pushed beyond one round and, at 27, has emerged as a potential centerpiece for the WEC promotion.
Unbeaten outside of his loss to Stann, the 21-year-old Cantwell (5-1, 2-1 WEC) has won back-to-back fights. He scored his latest conquest against Tim McKenzie at WEC 33 three months ago, as he needed only 2:13 to finish the well-traveled veteran with a guillotine choke. All five of Cantwell's victories have come by knockout, TKO or submission.
AI
