WEC 47 & Sengoku 12 Previews

Written by Jeff Fox | 06 March 2010

March is shaping up to be a mad month, and not just for NCAA basketball fans.  The MMA calendar is packed in March, with events going off on multiple continents and in multiple organizations.  And April looks to be only crazier.  A mad - and exciting - time to be a MMA fan.  Things kick off in a few hours with WEC 47 going down on Saturday night and Sengoku 12 taking place Sunday night (early Sunday morning in North America) in Japan.  What should we expect from these two events?  Read on.

WEC 47

Likelihood for awesomeness: Excellent

The WEC always delivers exciting events, and WEC 47 in Columbus should be no different.  It will be a bantamweight bonanza, as half of Sherdog's top 10 ranked 135 lbers go at it, including the last two men to wear WEC's bantamweight gold.  The main event pits current champ Brian Bowles against Dominick Cruz, who has only lost once and that was three years ago to Urijah Faber.  Nonetheless, look for Bowles to deliver loss number two to Cruz, as, despite looking like a little boy, he is an assassin in the cage.

The man Bowles snatched the belt from, Miguel Angel Torres, also is on the card, going up against another top contender, Joseph Benavidez.  Look for Torres to stop his challenger and setup a championship rematch with Bowles for the belt.  Beware of The Return of the Mullet!

How stacked is the WEC 47 card?  One of the best bantamweights in the world, Scott Jorgensen, is fighting on the unaired portion of the event.

Sengoku Raiden Championship 12

Likelihood for awesomeness: Fair

There isn't too much to get excited about at Sengoku's twelfth event.  However, the main event should be a dandy, as current middleweight champ Jorge Santiago puts his gold on the line versus Mamed Khalidov.  This match is extra intriguing because Khalidov TKO'd Santiago in a non-title match last November.  Can he do the same with the belt on the line?  Your guess is as good as mine.

The rest of the lineup is rather nondescript, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't deliver some exciting matches.  Plus, it is always worth tuning in to see what fan favourite Akihiro Gono's entrance to the ring will be like.