More Fights Added to WEC 37 Card

World Extreme Cagefighting have announced three more thrilling fights for World Extreme Cagefighting 37: Torres vs Tapia, live from The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Wednesday, December 3. Leading up to what is sure to be an instant classic between WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres and No. 1 contender Manny Tapia are three high-energy bouts, featuring Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro, Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura and Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez.

Charleston, West Virginia native Brian Bowles has been on a tear since joining the WEC. Bowles, who now fights out of Athens, Ga., earned a first-round submission victory against Damacio Page in his last bout. No one in the WEC has been able to get to the third round against Bowles, but if someone is going to take the 28-year-old to the limit it might very well be Will Ribeiro. The Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fighter won a three-round split decision victory against Mixed Martial Arts veteran Chase Beebe in his WEC debut.

The WEC brings in another top tier featherweight with the signing of Wagnney Fabiano. The former International Fight League 145-pound champion and Brazil native dominated his weight class, ending all six of his fights, with five victories coming in the first round. Now the 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt turns his attention to Japan’s Akitoshi Tamura, a veteran Shooto fighter.

“I think the toughest fights in my career will without a doubt be in the WEC,” said Fabiano, who now lives in Canada. “For sure I will have to make adjustments to fighting in the cage. I don’t know how hard it will be to make such adjustments.”

Another fighter making his WEC debut will be the undefeated Joseph Benavidez. The San Antonio, Texas born fighter now trains with former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber in Sacramento, California. The 24-year-old relies on his strong wrestling base, which delivered a high school state wrestling championship in New Mexico eight years ago. Benavidez will have to display his greatest focus yet when he faces Tempe, Arizona’s Danny Martinez. The 23-year-old is on a three-fight win streak as he gets set to make his WEC debut.

The WEC also announced that, starting in 2009, the organization will focus on four weight classes: welterweight (170 pounds), lightweight (155 pounds), featherweight (145 pounds), and bantamweight (135 pounds). The WEC will no longer actively promote light heavyweight and middleweight fights after the Dec. 3rd event. This increased attention to the sport’s lighter divisions makes the WEC the undisputed home of the most exciting lighter weight fighters in mixed martial arts.

The World Extreme Cagefighting brand is recognized as one of the premier mixed martial arts organizations in the United States. Founded in 2001, the WEC features many of the most prominent athletes in the sport of mixed martial arts today. Owned and operated by WEC Holdings LLC., and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the WEC produces live and taped events annually that are distributed through the Versus network.