The Top 10 Fighters in the WEC—March Edition

The WEC features some of the most exciting fighters in mixed martial arts. They are featuring the top fighters in the world at Bantamweight, Featherweight and a strong Lightweight division.

Reed Harris and the WEC have produced a organization that is a surefire bet to produce fireworks at every show.

Up next for the organization, WEC 48 on Pay-Per-View. The event features two championship bouts: Jose Aldo(145 lbs. Champ) vs. Urijah Faber and Ben Henderson(155 lbs. Champ) vs. Donald Cerrone.

Miguel Torres

Torres is the WEC's former Bantamweight champion and owns a record of 37-3. At one time, he put together a 17-fight win streak and was considered to be one of the top fighters in the sport. He then ran into fellow top 10 fighters, Brian Bowles and Joseph Benavidez, whom he lost to quite decisively.

Up next: After a bloody loss to Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47, the former champion may be set for a long layoff to recover and sort out his career.

Joseph Benavidez

Benavidez defeated former divisional kingpin Miguel Torres at WEC 47. A huge underdog in the fight, he silenced doubters by turning Torres into a bloody mess and submitted him via guillotine choke in the second round.

Up Next: A potential rematch against champion Dominick Cruz later this fall. Whether he gets a shot at the title is to be determined but there may not be a challenger more deserving than Benavidez.

Donald Cerrone

Cerrone is 11-2 and possesses a solid jiujitsu game that has earned him 90% of his victories. Danny Castillo, Rob McCullough, and most recently Ed Ratcliff have all fallen in defeat to Cerrone. Outside of the WEC, Cerrone owns submission victories over UFC veterans Nate Mohr and Ryan Roberts.

Up next: He steps back into action for a rematch against Lightweight champion Ben Henderson at the WEC's first ever PPV at WEC 48.

Jamie Varner

The former WEC Lightweight champion of the world owns a record of 16-3 with nine of those being by way of submission. Varner has posted victories over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Rob McCullough, and Marcus Hicks inside of the WEC. He was on a red-hot five-fight win streak until he met Ben Henderson whom he lost to via third-round Guillotine Choke Submission.

Up Next: The former champ was set to return at WEC 48 but an injury to his opponent has pushed back his return to action. One can be rest assured that when Varner makes his decision we will all know.

Brian Bowles

Bowles knocked out Miguel "Angel" Torres back at WEC 42 to capture the 135 lbs. championship. He owns wins over Miguel Torres, Will Ribeiro, Damacio Page, and Charlie Valencia. None of Bowles' eight professional bouts had gone the distance with three wins via knockout and five via submission

He then met Dominick Cruz at WEC 47 where he broke his right hand early in the fight and was overwhelmed by Cruz for the duration of the bout. Bowles didn't return for round three and lost the championship.

Up Next: Medical suspension and surgery on the broken right hand.

Urijah Faber

Faber is the former Featherweight Champion of the world. "The California Kid" has a record of 23-3 with the most recent win coming via submission against Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46. Faber owns victories over the likes of Dominick Cruz (Sub), Bibiano Fernandez (TKO), Jeff Curran (Sub), Jens Pulver (2x), and Charlie Valencia (Sub).

Up Next: Back in the title limelight against Jose Aldo at WEC 48 on the organization's first trip to PPV in what is destined to be a fight of the year candidate.

Mike Brown

Brown had the best Urijah Faber in their first matchup in which he won the Featherweight title. He then defended against Leonard Garcia where he was successful by first round submission and followed up with a rematch Faber where he again victorious.

Enter Jose Aldo and Brown loses the title to the dynamic Brazilian striker. Aldo has looked invincible since entering the WEC, so it's not much shame in losing to him. Since losing the belt, he last fought at WEC 46 where he won via submission against Anthony Morrison.

Up next at WEC 48, Brown will face former "TUF" star Manny Gamburyan in a matchup that will most certainly determine the next contender to the winner of Aldo/Faber.

Dominick Cruz

Cruz holds a record of 15-1 and is on a six-fight win streak. His only defeat came at a higher weight class to the hands of WEC star Urijah Faber. Cruz holds wins over Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Charlie Valencia, Ivan Lopez, and Ian McCall inside the WEC.

Cruz last defeated Brian Bowles at WEC 47 to become the Bantamweight champion. He showed great footwork, speed, combinations, and takedowns against Bowles.

Up Next: Time to heal up a few injuries and his first title defense around August.

Ben Henderson

Henderson is fresh off of a title unification win over Jamie Varner (Sub) at WEC 46 last month. Henderson has spent time training between current UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and UFC lightweight contender Kenny Florian's camp. Henderson possesses solid wrestling and fight ending submissions both of which have led to his success in the sport, as seven of his 11 victories have came by submission.

With wins over Varner, Donald Cerrone, Shane Roller, and rising prospect Anthony Njokuani noone is doubting Henderson's ranking as a top 10 lightweight.

Up Next: A rematch with Cerrone on April 24 at WEC 48. If the rematch proves to be anything like the first fight, everyone will get their moneys worth.

Jose Aldo

The current Featherweight champion last fought at WEC 44 dethroning then-champion Mike Brown by TKO. Aldo features elite athleticism and powerful striking that has led to him finishing 11 of his 16 victories by TKO or KO. The scary thing is that Aldo is only 23 years old and probably has not stopped growing yet which could lead to him jumping up weight classes in the future.

Up Next: The Nova Uniao fighter is set to make his first title defense against fellow top ten WEC fighter Urijah Faber at WEC 48.