WEC 47: A Perfect Set Up for Bowles-Torres II on PPV

August 9, 2009 is a date that has haunted Miguel Angel Torres for six consecutive months. It was on that night where the seemingly invincible bantamweight fell to the canvas after a thunderous array of strikes from Brian Bowles, putting Torres out for the first time in his career.

When an athlete dominates over their competition with seemingly a relative amount of ease, pundits are quick to forget that they are merely human and do indeed have weaknesses. Such was the case for Torres, who, after defending the bantamweight championship three successive times, was drawing comparisons to UFC champions Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre.

Bowles’ knockout came completely out of left field and stunned observers across the globe. Fast forward to today and both bantamweights are set to return at WEC 47 in Columbus, Ohio this weekend, but not against each other, at least not yet.

Bowles will headline the event in his first title defense against dangerous contender Dominick Cruz. Meanwhile, Torres looks to get back on track against the explosive Joseph Benavidez in the night’s co-main event.

Not to look past Cruz or Benavidez, as either one of them could prevail come March 6, but assuming both Bowles and Torres pull out of Nationwide Arena with a victory, it will not be very long before we see the anticipated rematch between the two for the championship.

However, unlike their first encounter, fans will have to pay to see these two 135-pound gladiators test their merits against each other. The WEC is looking to build a strong presence in the pay-per-view market and in order to do that they will need more than just exciting matchups. They will need storylines.

Storylines lead to big names and big names transition into money, and lots of it, in fact. WEC 48, next month, will be the WEC’s PPV debut and they have loaded the card top to bottom with some of the biggest stars in their organization. Both main events present a compelling storyline along with their name recognition.

The main attraction will feature a featherweight-title bout between the devastating champion, Jose Aldo, and the WEC’s poster-boy and former champ, Urijah Faber. Aldo is not quite a marketing machine just yet but he is a vicious animal in the cage and fans will pay to see him compete, especially when up against a popular star such as “The California Kid”.

In addition to that monstrous main event, WEC 48 will also include a rematch for the lightweight title between Benson Henderson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Considering their last fight was so remarkable that it was voted by millions of fans as the 2009 “fight of the year”, the anticipation level for their second encounter is going to be rather high.

An event of that caliber is going to generate a tremendous amount of momentum for the UFC’s sister promotion moving forward, and they will have to ensure that they continue that steam with the rest of their future pay-per-views.

A Bowles-Torres II matchup makes sense for the WEC’s second foray on pay-per-view.

Every fight fan is pondering whether Bowles is truly the best bantamweight in the world or if it was just a matter of Torres “getting caught”.

Anytime you have a dominant champion defeated in such quick fashion it is usually viewed as a fluke win. Look no further than Matt Serra’s shocking upset over St. Pierre in 2007 for proof of that. St. Pierre came back stronger and proved his dominance in the rematch to reclaim the championship.

On the flip side, take a look at Mike Brown’s explosive victory over Faber at WEC 36 just two years ago. Much like Torres, Faber was thought of as an invincible champion and Brown stole his thunder with a big right hand to capture the title.

Faber fought a closer fight the second time but the result was similar, with Brown’s hand raised at the end.

Is Bowles the Brown to Torres’ Faber? This is what every fan is wondering right now, and after WEC 47 the discussions will heat up. Enthusiasts will talk about Bowles and Torres around the water cooler at work and more and more people will tune in to watch their second fight live on pay-per-view.

Hopefully the WEC is buying some bigger wallets because they are set to make a ton of money in the coming years and it all starts this weekend at WEC 47. While that event is free on cable television, the outcomes will lead to another stacked Pay-Per-View which will take the organization to new and exciting heights.