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WEC 48 takes place this Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California marking the first Pay Per View event in the WEC’s history. Atop the WEC fight card is fan-favorite and hometown hero Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, facing the current champ, Brazilian Jose Aldo. In an effort to boost the WEC’s first PPV fight card they wisely chose to add a WEC Lightweight Championship bout featuring fast-rising Benson Henderson, the reigning champ, and the popular Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Two preliminary WEC fights will be televised on Spike TV on Saturday night at 9 pm with the PPV portion of the card to begin at 10 pm ET. For complete WEC 48 fight previews look to the MMA news leaders at ProFighting-fans.com, and after the fights be sure to check out the WEC 48 fight results.

WEC 48 Main Event: Jose Aldo vs Urijah Faber

In the last fight of the night, Sacramento’s own Urijah Faber takes on Brazilian Jose Aldo in his attempt to regain the WEC Featherweight title. If Faber’s career were to be summed up in a highlight reel, it may have to be put on a double disc DVD because the California Kid has had many a war inside the cage, and always seems to come out smiling. Faber is a guy that just seems likeable when he fights because he fights with tenacity and skill, but brings a laid-back attitude to the cage as well. Faber may look like any of the countless surf bums that you may find on a beach in California, but his toughness sets him apart. In a rematch with Mike Brown last June, Faber broke his right hand and injured his left wrist but refused to quit, only changing his plan of attack to include elbow strikes and modified punches. Jose Aldo is a young fighter that has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, but seems determined to show off his other talents in the cage. All 6 of his WEC fights have ended by TKO with Aldo as the victor. Take a look at the 8 second knockout of Cub Swanson for further proof that Aldo’s striking is a legitimate threat. The fight on April 24th will take place in Faber’s stomping ground, and it seems likely that he will put on a show for his hometown fans. Despite the location and Faber’s never-say-die attitude, Aldo is above and beyond in both striking and jiu-jitsu. Faber will probably not want to use his wrestling to take this fight to the ground in order to stay away from an Aldo submission. Urijah’s best bet is to stand and trade with Aldo and hope to catch him out of position for a knockout or to grind out a decision victory. While heart and determination may have been the deciding factors in Rocky II, I don’t see Faber winning this one in front of his hometown crowd.

Prediction – Aldo by knockout

WEC 48 takes place this Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California marking the first Pay Per View event in the WEC’s history. Atop the WEC fight card is fan-favorite and hometown hero Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, facing the current champ, Brazilian Jose Aldo. In an effort to boost the WEC’s first PPV fight card they wisely chose to add a WEC Lightweight Championship bout featuring fast-rising Benson Henderson, the reigning champ, and the popular Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Two preliminary WEC fights will be televised on Spike TV on Saturday night at 9 pm with the PPV portion of the card to begin at 10 pm ET. For complete WEC 48 fight previews look to the MMA news leaders at ProFighting-fans.com, and after the fights be sure to check out the WEC 48 results.

Benson Henderson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone

In a co-headlining bout, the Lightweight championship will be on the line in a rematch between Benson Henderson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Henderson is a high-energy fighter with an amazing cardio aspect to his game. Henderson was able to ward off several slick submission attempts by Cerrone in the first match between the pair en route to a unanimous decision. Since defeating Cerrone, Henderson has defeated the tough Jamie Varner to unify the championship. Cerrone is another fighter that trains with Greg Jackson in New Mexico, so he is likely to be improving everyday by working with the elite fighters in Jackson’s camp. Cerrone has a muay thai and kickboxing background to fall back on, but inside the cage, he most often lets his jiu-jitsu do the talking. Greg Jackson has a reputation for preparing a solid game plan for his fighters that focuses on the fighter’s strengths as well as taking advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses. It’s tough for me to pull for a guy that is rarely seen outside of the cage without a cowboy hat, but Cerrone is one tough customer with adequate standup and top-notch submissions and a solid training camp. I’ll take the Cowboy in this one for the belt.

Prediction – Cerrone by submission

WEC 48 takes place this Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California marking the first Pay Per View event in the WEC’s history. Atop the WEC fight card is fan-favorite and hometown hero Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, facing the current champ, Brazilian Jose Aldo. In an effort to boost the WEC’s first PPV fight card they wisely chose to add a WEC Lightweight Championship bout featuring fast-rising Benson Henderson, the reigning champ, and the popular Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Two preliminary WEC fights will be televised on Spike TV on Saturday night at 9 pm with the PPV portion of the card to begin at 10 pm ET. For complete WEC 48 fight previews look to the MMA news leaders at ProFighting-fans.com, and after the fights be sure to check out the WEC 48 results.

Manny Gamburyan vs Mike Brown

Ultimate Fighter veteran Manny Gamburyan takes a step up in competition in his battle with former champ Mike Brown. Gamburyan has a background in judo, which puts many fighters on edge due to their lack of familiarity with the style. Manny is a stocky fighter which provides leverage in the judo aspect, but poses a problem when striking. If a fighter has a weakness at striking, that fighter most likely will not be pleased to look across the cage and see Mike Brown. Brown, the former WEC Featherweight champ, has excellent standup to complement his wrestling and improving jiu-jitsu. Brown is one tough dude and is dangerous from any position. This fight should be a stepping stone for Brown to get back to the top of the heap in the Featherweight division.

Prediction – Brown by knockout

WEC 48 takes place this Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California marking the first Pay Per View event in the WEC’s history. Atop the WEC fight card is fan-favorite and hometown hero Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, facing the current champ, Brazilian Jose Aldo. In an effort to boost the WEC’s first PPV fight card they wisely chose to add a WEC Lightweight Championship bout featuring fast-rising Benson Henderson, the reigning champ, and the popular Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Two preliminary WEC fights will be televised on Spike TV on Saturday night at 9 pm with the PPV portion of the card to begin at 10 pm ET. For complete WEC 48 fight previews look to the MMA news leaders at ProFighting-fans.com, and after the fights be sure to check out the WEC 48 results.

Anthony Njokuani vs Shane Roller

Powerful puncher Anthony Njokuani has won three straight Knockout Of The Night honors in his last three fights. All of the aforementioned fights ended thanks to Njokuani’s heavy hands, but he has demonstrated skill with his knees in the past. Shane Roller is a well-rounded fighter with wins by submission as well as knockout. It’s hard to pick against the power puncher against Roller, who was knocked out by punches at WEC 40 by Benson Henderson. Roller’s best chance will be to take the fight to the mat to minimize Njokuani’s advantage.

Prediction – Njokuani by Knockout

WEC 48 takes place this Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California marking the first Pay Per View event in the WEC’s history. Atop the WEC fight card is fan-favorite and hometown hero Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, facing the current champ, Brazilian Jose Aldo. In an effort to boost the WEC’s first PPV fight card they wisely chose to add a WEC Lightweight Championship bout featuring fast-rising Benson Henderson, the reigning champ, and the popular Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Two preliminary WEC fights will be televised on Spike TV on Saturday night at 9 pm with the PPV portion of the card to begin at 10 pm ET. For complete WEC 48 fight previews look to the MMA news leaders at ProFighting-fans.com, and after the fights be sure to check out the WEC 48 results.

Antonio Banuelos vs Scott Jorgensen

In a bantamweight bout, Antonio Banuelos takes on Scott Jorgensen in a rematch of a razor-thin split decision. Banuelos won the previous match-up, but it is difficult to beat a fighter twice, especially since the fighters were so evenly matched. Since their fight last summer, Banuelos has won a decision while Jorgensen has won three fights, one submission, one decision that garnered Fight of the Night honors, and one technical knockout. Motivated by his previous defeat, I’ll take Jorgensen.

Prediction – Jorgensen by decision

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