| WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki | ||||
| Promotion | World Extreme Cagefighting | |||
| Date | April 5, 2009 | |||
| Venue | UIC Pavilion | |||
| City | Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Attendance | 5,257 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on April 5, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. [1] The event aired live on the Versus Network.
This was the first WEC event to exclusively feature fights in the lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight weight classes. The organization's heavier weight classes had been folded into the UFC over the previous four months. World Extreme Cagefighting would maintain this weight class structure for the remainder of the promotion's existence.
WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres was to defend his title against Brian Bowles at this event, but Bowles was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a back injury, and was replaced by WEC newcomer Takeya Mizugaki. [2] The Torres/Bowles bout was rescheduled for WEC 42 that August, where Bowles won the title by knockout.
Early reports suggested that Wagnney Fabiano could face former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber at this event, though he was later confirmed to be facing Fredson Paixao instead. [3]
Anthony Pettis was scheduled to make his WEC debut at this event against Anthony Njokuani, but was forced from the card with a broken hand and was replaced by Bart Palaszewski.
Cole Province was originally slated to face Rafael Dias at this event, but bowed out due to an injury and was replaced by Mike Budnik. [4]
A featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Diego Nunes was once scheduled for this card, but was cancelled after Nunes suffered a hand injury three days prior to the event. [5]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Bantamweight | Miguel Torres (c) | def | Takeya Mizugaki | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Bantamweight | Joseph Benavidez | def | Jeff Curran | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Benson Henderson | def | Shane Roller | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:41 | |
| Featherweight | Raphael Assunção | def | Jameel Massouh | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Lightweight | Anthony Njokuani | def | Bart Palaszewski | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:27 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Bantamweight | Dominick Cruz | def | Ivan Lopez | Technical Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) | 3 | 3:24 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Featherweight | Wagnney Fabiano | def | Fredson Paixao | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Rani Yahya | def | Eddie Wineland | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 1:07 | [lower-alpha 4] |
| Bantamweight | Akitoshi Tamura | def | Manny Tapia | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Rafael Dias | def | Mike Budnik | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses. [8]
Miguel Torres vs. 
Takeya Mizugaki
Anthony Njokuani
Rani Yahya
Urijah Faber is an American former mixed martial artist and actor. He competed at bantamweight and featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Male.
Bart K. Palaszewski is a retired Polish-American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC's Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2014, Palaszewski has also formerly competed for the WEC, the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL, and King of the Cage.
Rani Ahmad Yahya is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner. He won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Fredson Paixão Melo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. He has competed as a featherweight the UFC, WEC, Deep, and Jungle Fight. He is also a world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Eddie Wineland is an American retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor from 2003 until 2022, Wineland was the inaugural WEC Bantamweight Champion.
Brian Bowles is a retired American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor from 2006 to 2013, Bowles is also the former WEC Bantamweight Champion.
Miguel Angel Torres is an American former mixed martial artist. He is a former WEC Bantamweight Champion and has also formerly competed for the UFC and Ironheart Crown. Torres received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Carlson Gracie Jr. in September 2008.
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Dominick Rogelio Cruz is an American professional mixed martial artist, sports analyst and commentator. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz has also competed for World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and was the final WEC Bantamweight Champion. As of August 27, 2024, he is #14 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Takeya Mizugaki is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor from 2005 to 2020, Mizugaki also competed for Absolute Championship Berkut, WEC, Shooto, and Cage Force.
WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on August 9, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 10, 2009, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on December 19, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. It marked the first time the WEC has held back-to-back events at The Pearl at The Palms. The event drew an estimated 330,000 viewers on Versus.
WEC 46: Varner vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 10, 2010. It took place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on March 6, 2010. It was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
UFC Presents: Aldo vs. Faber, also referred to as WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on April 24, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was WEC's first and only event on pay-per-view before their merger with the Ultimate Fighting Championship later that year.
WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on August 18, 2010 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on November 11, 2010 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
The year 2009 was the 9th year in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2009 WEC held 8 events beginning with, WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone.