WEC 47: Brian Bowles Loses Title to Dominick Cruz After Breaking Hand

It certainly wasn’t the ending former champ Brian Bowles was hoping for at “WEC 47 : Bowles vs. Cruz,” and it probably wasn’t how Dominick Cruz envisioned capturing the bantamweight title, but after Bowles broke his right (punching) hand in the scrap’s opening ticks, the doctor was forced to put an end to the title bout before it could reach the 3rd round.

“The first punch I threw in the fight, I broke my hand and I kinda knew right then,” stated a disappointed Bowles. “It kinda just threw me off. My mind started thinking about my hand. I broke my hand in my last fight, that started going through my mind instead of fighting.”

His last outing was quite a bit different than what went down inside the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday night. Not only did Bowles hand former 135-pound king Miguel Torres his first professional blemish in over six years en route to capturing the belt, but he also did it in electrifying 1st round knockout fashion.

His broken mitt must have really done a number on his dome as he was got thoroughly trounced throughout the entire 10-minute contest. Cruz was more aggressive and quicker, constantly beating the former title holder to the punch, jab, kick, take-down and just about everything else.

After the loss, the American Top Team-trained fighter was asked where and when he expected to pick the pieces back up, however Bowles left that decision up to the same factor that cost him to go home without a certain little bling-bling.

“I’m sure I have to fight somebody before I fight for the belt again,” Bowles said in response to an immediate mulligan. “I just got to get this hand better. I don’t know how bad of a break it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s [broken]. I mean, I’ve had a couple broken hands, I just gotta get better.”

You have to give Bowles credit, he showed championship heart by going two rounds with a broken moneymaker and was classy in defeat.  His record drops to 8-1, so the world certainly isn’t coming to an end for the 29-year-old.

However Cruz looks like he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.