WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis Fight Card Finalized

WEC 53, , is set for Dec. 16 in Glendale, Ariz., in the Phoenix area.

A lightweight title fight between champion Ben Henderson and challenger Anthony Pettis headlines the WEC 53 fight card. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defends his title against Scott Jorgensen in the co-main event.

“This event will go down as one of the most important in the history of the lighter weight classes,” WEC General Manager Reed Harris said. “The winner of Henderson and Pettis will fight for the UFC lightweight title next year, while the winner of Cruz-Jorgensen will immediately become the UFC bantamweight champion. The stakes have never been higher.”

As the anticipation builds for the Dec. 16 event, WEC on Monday confirmed the remaining bouts for this historic card in Arizona.

The fights are: Chris Horodecki vs. Donald Cerrone, Kamal Shalorus vs. Bart Palaszewski, Danny Downes vs. Tiequan Zhang, Shane Roller vs. Jamie Varner, Ivan Menjivar vs. Brad Pickett, Ken Stone vs. Eddie Wineland, Will Kerr vs. Danny Castillo, Yuri Alcantara vs. Ricardo Lamas and Chris Cariaso vs. Renan Barao.

“Each of these fights has added importance,” Harris said. “All of these competitors want to prove that they are the best in the world and each wants to head to UFC in 2011 riding momentum. We expect some explosive fights at Jobing.com Arena on Dec. 16.”

WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis will be televised nationally live on Versus beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.