The fighters at WEC 53 on Thursday night gave company officials no easy decisions when it came to post-fight awards and bonuses. The final show in World Extreme Cagefighting history was one to be remembered.
New, and final, WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and former champ Ben Henderson put on such a tremendous back-and-forth battle that it couldn’t have been too difficult to declare them the Fight of the Night. They put on a battle for the ages in the final WEC title fight, each taking home an extra $10,000 for their efforts.
The undercard leading up to the Versus telecast wasn’t short on excitement either. Five of the seven preliminary bouts were first-round finishes.
Eddie Wineland scored the Knockout of the Night award, albeit in rather unorthodox fashion. He scooped Ken Stone up and slammed him to the mat, knocking him out cold.
Also on the preliminary card, Shane Roller made a mark in his final WEC fight, scoring the Submission of the Night bonus for his win over former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner. Roller overcame a knockdown by Varner to take his back on the mat and finish with a rear naked choke, pocketing a $10,000 bonus check.