WEC 50: Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez II , Urijah Faber Debuts at 135 lbs.

Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (15-1) will step back into action to make his first title defense on Aug. 18 against Joseph Benavidez (12-1).

The Carmichael Dave Show and

MMAWeekly were the first to report the fight. Since then, sources close to the bout have confirmed it to Bleacher Report MMA.

The two first met back at WEC 42 and Cruz walked away with a unanimous decision victory.

Since that bout, Cruz went on to defeat Brian Bowles at WEC 47 (TKO—doctor stoppage) to become the No. 1, 135-pound fighter in the world and secured his place in the pound-for-pound rankings.

His opponent, Jospeph Benavidez, has won back-to-back fights since dropping the decision to Cruz. Those wins include the likes of Rani Yahya (TKO) and most recently Miguel Torres (submission).

In addition, something that is worth looking at is that Benavidez's Alpha Male teammate, Urijah Faber, has now dropped down to the bantamweight division. Faber will make his debut in the division against Takeya Mizugaki in the co-main event of the card.

Both fighters from Team Alpha Male have faced Cruz and have gone 1-1 against the bantamweight champion, but 0-1 in this division.

Although we cannot predict the future, if Cruz is successful in defending his championship and Faber wins his debut at 135 pounds, then it could set up a blockbuster rematch between the two of them as well.