| WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson | ||||
| Promotion | World Extreme Cagefighting | |||
| Date | October 10, 2009 | |||
| Venue | AT&T Center | |||
| City | San Antonio, Texas | |||
| Attendance | 5,176 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $297,990 [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
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. [2]
The event was scheduled to take place on September 2, 2009, at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. However, due to headliner Benson Henderson having eye surgery, the event was later rescheduled. [3]
The main event was expected to be a WEC Lightweight Championship bout between current champion Jamie Varner and challenger Donald Cerrone. This was to be a rematch of their bout at WEC 38 which ended in a controversial technical split decision, but Varner was deemed medically unable to return to competition. Instead, the WEC had Cerrone face Benson Henderson, for the WEC Interim Lightweight Championship, with the winner fighting Varner in a title unification bout when he was medically cleared. The Varner/Cerrone rematch would later take place at WEC 51 the following year (though after Varner lost the title), where Cerrone won by unanimous decision.
A previously announced bout between Alex Karalexis and Anthony Pettis has been cancelled due to an injury suffered by Karalexis while training. [4] The fight was rescheduled for WEC 48.
Mark Hominick was expected to face Deividas Taurosevičius at the event, but was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Javier Vazquez. [5]
Erik Koch was expected to face Wagnney Fabiano at the event, but was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Mackens Semerzier. [6]
Rafael Rebello was originally scheduled to face Scott Jorgensen at this event, but was removed from the bout and replaced by Noah Thomas. [7]
Akitoshi Tamura was expected to compete against Damacio Page at this event, but was pulled from the card due to injury and replaced by WEC newcomer Will Campuzano. [8]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Benson Henderson | def | Donald Cerrone | Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Lightweight | Dave Jansen | def | Richard Crunkilton | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Raphael Assunção | def | Yves Jabouin | Decision (split) (30–27, 27–30, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Damacio Page | def | Will Campuzano | Submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 1:02 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Lightweight | Anthony Njokuani | def | Muhsin Corbbrey | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:42 | |
| Bantamweight | Scott Jorgensen | def | Noah Thomas | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:13 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Featherweight | Mackens Semerzier | def | Wagnney Fabiano | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 2:14 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Bantamweight | Eddie Wineland | def | Manny Tapia | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Charlie Valencia | def | Coty Wheeler | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Deividas Taurosevičius | def | Javier Vazquez | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses, with the Fight of the Night earners having their bonuses doubled to $20,000 each. [10]
Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson
Anthony Njokuani Mackens SemerzierMark Hominick is a Canadian retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he was the inaugural Featherweight title challenger, the WEC, and Affliction. He is also a former TKO Featherweight Champion. He was well known for his outstanding boxing skills and very accurate punching techniques, often utilizing the jab.
James Varner is a retired American mixed martial artist who fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former WEC Lightweight Champion.
Donald Anthony Cerrone, known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and actor. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and was known and respected by fans for his willingness to fight any time, having completed 38 fights in his 11 year UFC tenure. Cerrone challenged for the UFC lightweight belt in 2015. Cerrone was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2023.
WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 25, 2009. It aired live on the Versus Network. In the main event, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defended his title against undefeated top contender Donald Cerrone.
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. The event aired live on the Versus Network.
Benson Henderson is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Lightweight division for Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. He is considered one of the greatest lightweight MMA fighters of all time and is tied with BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Islam Makhachev, and Khabib Nurmagomedov for most UFC lightweight title defenses.
WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. It took place on November 18, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Deividas Taurosevičius is a Lithuanian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2013, he competed for the WEC, Bellator, the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, and for the New York Pitbulls of the IFL.
Coty Wheeler is an American mixed martial artist, who is perhaps best known for his four fight stint with now-defunct promotion World Extreme Cagefighting. Wheeler currently holds a professional record of 15–5.
William Campuzano is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Campuzano has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Vale Tudo Japan, and Legacy FC.
Mackens Semerzier is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2008 until 2012, he competed for the UFC and WEC.
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.
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 49: Varner vs. Shalorus was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 20, 2010 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the only event that the WEC hosted in Colorado.
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.
UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on August 31, 2013, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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.
The year 2010 was the 10th year in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2010 WEC held 8 events beginning with, WEC 46: Varner vs. Henderson.