10 Fights Signed for WEC 49

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

French submission specialist Bendy Casimir will take on with the once-beaten Erik Koch in a preliminary matchup at WEC 49 “Varner vs. Shalorus” on June 20 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Ten bouts are now official for the event, which will mark the promotion’s debut north of the border.

A champion under the Shooto banner, Casimir has posted 15 wins in his last 17 fights. The well-traveled 29-year-old made an inauspicious WEC debut in March, succumbing to a first-round knockout on the end of a Ricardo Lamas knee strike. Casimir holds a 2008 victory over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 finalist Andre Winner and has delivered 12 of his 19 career wins by submission. He has not lost consecutive fights in nearly five years.

Koch tasted defeat for the first time as a professional at WEC 47 two months ago, as he dropped a unanimous decision to unbeaten featherweight prospect Chad Mendes. Based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the 21-year-old former Mainstream MMA titleholder has secured more than half (six) of his nine victories by submission.

Two up-and-coming bantamweights will also collide at WEC 49, as American Top Team’s Rafael Rebello meets Will Campuzano on the undercard.

Rebello has won five of his last six fights. The 29-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt last appeared at WEC 41 in June, when he submitted Kyle Dietz with a first-round rear-naked choke. In nine professional appearances, Rebello has never been finished.

The Mexican-born Campuzano has not competed since January, when he outpointed Coty Wheeler en route to a unanimous decision. The bout earned the two bantamweights matching $10,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night.” Only one of Campuzano’s eight fights has reached the judges.

A lightweight match pitting former WEC champion Jamie Varner against the unbeaten Kamal Shalorus will headline WEC 49, along with a key featherweight bout pairing fast-rising contenders Josh Grispi with L.C. Davis. Varner has not set foot inside the cage since he was dethroned by Benson Henderson in January.