''WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event held by

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

on October 10, 2009 at the

AT&T Center AT&T Center is a list of indoor arenas, multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. The arena seats 18,418 for basketball, and ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Background

The event was scheduled to take place on September 2, 2009 at the

Covelli Centre The Covelli Centre is a multi-purpose arena in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It opened in 2005, thanks in a large part to a $26 million HUD redevelopment grant secured in 2000 by Congressman James A. Traficant Jr. It is home to the Youngstown ...

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. However, due to headliner

Benson Henderson Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes for Bellator MMA, currently competing in their Lightweight division. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. As of Novembe ...

having eye surgery, the event was later rescheduled. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was expected to be a

WEC Lightweight Championship This is a list of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions at each weight class. In December 2006 World Extreme Cagefighting was bought by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an Amer ...

bout between current champion

Jamie Varner Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...

and challenger

Donald Cerrone Donald Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight division for the Ultimat ...

. This was to be a rematch of their bout at

WEC 38 ''WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 25, 2009. It aired live on the Versus (TV channel), Versus Network. In the main event, List of WEC champions, WEC Lightweight Champion Jam ...

which ended in a controversial technical split decision, but Varner was deemed medically unable to return to competition. Instead, the WEC had Cerrone face

, 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 ''WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the only event that the WEC hosted in Colorado. Backgr ...

the following year (though after Varner lost the title), where Cerrone won by unanimous decision. A previously announced bout between

Alex Karalexis Alexander Karalexis (born September 20, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. A professional from 2003 until 2011, Karalexis was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 1, and competed for the UFC and WEC. Background Karal ...

and

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of the ...

has been cancelled due to an injury suffered by Karalexis while training. The fight was rescheduled for

WEC 48 ''UFC Presents: Aldo vs. Faber'', also referred to as ''WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on April 24, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was WEC's first a ...

Mark Hominick Mark Jeffrey Hominick (born July 22, 1982) is a Canadian retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he was the inaugural Featherweight title challenger, the WEC, and Affli ...

was expected to face

Deividas Taurosevičius Deividas Taurosevičius (born August 28, 1977) is a Lithuanian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2013, he competed for the WEC, Bellator, the Cage Fury Fightin ...

at the event, but was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Javier Vazquez.

Erik Koch Erik Jon Koch (born October 4, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the WEC. Background Koch wa ...

was expected to face

Wagnney Fabiano Wagnney Silva Fabiano-Santos (born July 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is best known for fighting in the WEC, as well as for the Toronto Dragons of the International Fight League and is the former IFL Featherweight Champion. ...

at the event, but was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer

Mackens Semerzier Mackens Semerzier (born November 3, 1980) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2008 until 2012, he competed for the UFC and WEC. Background In 1 ...

Rafael Rebello Rafael Rebello (born October 16, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the bantamweight division for the World Extreme Cagefighting, and now currently competes in the bantamweight division of Fight Time Promotions. R ...

was originally scheduled to face

Scott Jorgensen Scott Roger Jorgensen (born September 17, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Jorgensen has formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, and ShoXC. Backgroun ...

at this event, but was removed from the bout and replaced by Noah Thomas.

Akitoshi Tamura Akitoshi Tamura (born May 31, 1980) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed almost exclusively in the Shooto organization, before making his debut in 2008 at the WEC 37. In 2007, he was the lightweight champion of Shooto. He was once rank ...

was expected to compete against

Damacio Page Damacio James Page (born September 30, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing for Legacy Fighting Championship in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Page has also formerly competed ...

at this event, but was pulled from the card due to injury and replaced by WEC newcomer

Will Campuzano William Campuzano (born May 27, 1986) is a Mexican-American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Campuzano has also former ...

. The event drew an estimated 419,000 viewers on

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

Results

Bonus Awards

Fighters were awarded $10,000 bonuses, with the Fight of the Night earners having their bonuses doubled to $20,000 each. *Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson *Knockout of the Night: Anthony Njokuani *Submission of the Night: Mackens Semerzier

External links

Official WEC website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wec 43 World Extreme Cagefighting events Events in San Antonio 2009 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in Texas Sports competitions in San Antonio 2009 in sports in Texas

Background

Results

Bonus Awards

See also

External links

References