WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff was a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 event held by World Extreme Cagefighting

World Extreme Cagefighting

World Extreme Cagefighting was an American mixed martial arts promotion. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship , in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: 135, 145 and 155 lbs. To accommodate the smaller...

 that took place on December 19, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. It marked the first time the WEC has held back-to-back events at The Pearl at The Palms. The event drew an estimated 330,000 viewers on Versus

Versus (TV channel)

Versus is a sports-oriented cable television channel in the United States. It was previously known as Outdoor Life Network and was launched on July 1, 1995, focusing on fishing, hunting, and other outdoor sports...

.

Preliminary card

• Featherweight bout:   Jameel Massouh
  Jameel Massouh
  Jameel Badih Massouh is an American mixed martial artist who is most known for competing in the featherweight division for World Extreme Cagefighting...
  
   vs.   Erik Koch
  Erik Koch
  Erik Koch is an American mixed martial artist who currently fights as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Personal Life:Koch enrolled in Taekwondo classes at the ripe age of four peaking his interest in MMA...
  
  

Koch defeated Massouh via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

• Bantamweight bout:   Brad Pickett
  Brad Pickett
  Brad Pickett is an English mixed martial artist and the former Cage Rage British Featherweight champion and Ultimate Challenge MMA Featherweight Champion. He currently competes as a Bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
  
   vs.   Kyle Dietz
  Kyle Dietz
  Kyle Emerson Dietz is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights in WEC's bantamweight division. In his last fight, Dietz fought Brad Pickett on December 19, 2009 at WEC 45...
  
  

Pickett defeated Dietz via submission (Peruvian necktie) at 4:36 of round 2. This bout was aired on the live broadcast after the Njokuani/Horodecki bout.

• Featherweight bout:   Brandon Visher
  Brandon Visher
  Brandon Visher is an Hawaiian mixed martial artist. Visher was born and raised on the Island of Maui along with his siblings Jalen Visher and Chandalyn Visher. He is a graduate of King Kekaulike High School, class of 2002. He was also apart of King Kekaulike's wrestling team. Visher currently...
  
   vs.   Courtney Buck
  Courtney Buck
  Courtney Buck is an American professional mixed martial artist. He recently fought in WEC's featherweight division. He lost his WEC debut against fellow WEC newcomer Brandon Visher on December 19, 2009 at WEC 45. Buck then faced Fredson Paixao on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47, replacing an injured Bryan...
  
  

Visher defeated Buck via KO (punches) at 4:45 of round 1. This bout was aired on the live broadcast after the Benavidez/Yahya bout.

• Bantamweight bout:   John Hosman
  John Hosman
  John Hosman is an American mixed martial artist who currently fights in WEC's bantamweight division. He lost his WEC debut against Rani Yahya at WEC 42...
  
   vs.   Chad George
  Chad George
  Chad George is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter best known for his run with World Extreme Cagefighting from 2009-2010....
  
  

George defeated Hosman via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

• Lightweight bout:   Muhsin Corbbrey
  Muhsin Corbbrey
  Muhsin Corbbrey is an American mixed martial artist and former professional boxer. He holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Lloyd Irvin, a black dan in Judo, and is a Shidokan World Champion. He competes in the Lightweight division...
  
   vs.   Zach Micklewright
  Zach Micklewright
  Zachary Dean Micklewright is an American mixed martial artist who is also in the United States Marine Corps. He currently fights in WEC's lightweight division...
  
  

Micklewright defeated Corbbrey via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

• Lightweight bout:   Bart Palaszewski
  Bart Palaszewski
  Bart K. Palaszewski is a Polish-American mixed martial artist. He fought for the Quad City Silverbacks of the now defunct International Fight League. Following the UFC/WEC merger, Palaszewski is now under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
  
   vs.   Anthony Pettis
  Anthony Pettis
  Anthony Pettis is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Pettis has made a name for himself mainly fighting in his home state of Wisconsin. He is a former fighter for the World Extreme Cagefighting , where he was the...
  
  

Palaszewski defeated Pettis via split decision (30–27, 27–30, 29–28).

Main card

• Bantamweight bout:   Takeya Mizugaki
  Takeya Mizugaki
  Takeya Mizugaki is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of October 2011, Mizugaki is ranked the #10 bantamweight in the world by Sherdog....
  
   vs.   Scott Jorgensen
  Scott Jorgensen
  Scott Roger Jorgensen is an American mixed martial artist competing in the UFC Bantamweight division and is a member of the Twisted Genetiks Fight Team based out of Boise, Idaho. He is considered a perennial top 5 ranked bantamweight fighter...
  
  

Jorgensen defeated Mizugaki via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

• Bantamweight bout:   Joseph Benavidez
  Joseph Benavidez
  Joseph Rolando Benavidez is an American mixed martial artist. After fighting in smaller shows while working as a screen printer in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he joined up with Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male in 2007. He has since fought in Dream and most recently the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion...
  
   vs.   Rani Yahya
  Rani Yahya
  Rani Ahmad Yahya is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist. Yahya won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007...
  
  

Benavidez defeated Yahya via TKO (punches) at 1:35 of round 1.

• Lightweight bout:   Anthony Njokuani
  Anthony Njokuani
  Anthony Obinnia Njokuani is a Nigerian mixed martial artist who currently fights as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Early life:...
  
   vs.   Chris Horodecki
  Chris Horodecki
  Christopher Horodecki is a Polish-Canadian mixed martial artist. He is best known for his fights in the WEC and the IFL.-Mixed martial arts career:Horodecki was born in Poland and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada...
  
  

Njokuani defeated Horodecki via TKO (strikes) at 3:33 of round 1.

• Lightweight bout:   Donald Cerrone
  Donald Cerrone
  Donald Anthony Cerrone is an American mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer who fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently competes as a lightweight in the UFC...
  
   vs.   Ed Ratcliff
  Ed Ratcliff
  Edward Norris Ratcliff is an American mixed martial artist. He was recently cut by UFC in January.-World Extreme Cagefighting:Ratcliff debuted at WEC 27, defeating Johnny Sampaio via TKO in the second round....
  
  

Cerrone defeated Ratcliff via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:47 of round 3.

Bonus Awards

Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night:   Donald Cerrone vs.   Ed Ratcliff

• Knockout of the Night:   Anthony Njokuani

• Submission of the Night:   Brad Pickett

Fighters were awarded $5,000 bonuses.

• Second Fight of the Night:  Takeya Mizugaki vs.   Scott Jorgensen

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission

Nevada Athletic Commission

The Nevada Athletic Commission regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, mixed martial arts fighters, seconds, ring officials, managers, and matchmakers...

. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the WEC and also do not include the WEC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.

• Donald Cerrone: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Ed Ratcliff: $9,000
• Anthony Njokuani: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Chris Horodecki: $12,000
• Joseph Benavidez: $25,000 ($12,500 win bonus) def. Rani Yahya: $9,000
• Scott Jorgensen: $14,000 ($7,000 win bonus) def. Takeya Mizugaki: $8,000
• Bart Palaszewski: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Pettis: $3,000
• Zach Micklewright: $4,000 ($2,000 win bonus) def. Muhsin Corbbrey: $4,000
• Chad George: $5,000 ($2,000 win bonus) def. John Hosman: $3,000
• Brandon Visher: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus) def. Courtney Buck: $3,000
• Brad Pickett: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus) def. Kyle Dietz: $2,000
• Erik Koch: $4,000 ($2,000 win bonus) def. Jameel Massouh: $3,000