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]
| WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson | ||||
| Information | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| ||||
Background
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]
Results
| 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 | [a] |
| 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 | [b] |
| Featherweight | Mackens Semerzier | def | Wagnney Fabiano | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 2:14 | [c] |
| 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 | |
Bonus Awards
Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses, with the Fight of the Night earners having their bonuses doubled to $20,000 each.[10]
- Fight of the Night:
Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson - Knockout of the Night:
Anthony Njokuani - Submission of the Night: Mackens Semerzier
