Two Major Title Matches Set for WEC 53

Jose Aldo vs. Manny Gamburyan is slated to occur this Thursday at WEC 51, and Urijah Faber is slated to face former WEC Bantamweight title contender Takeya Mizugaki in a battle that could decide an eventual contender to Dominick Cruz's WEC Bantamweight title, but that's not all that's going down in the WEC as we approach the end of 2010.

MMA Junkie reported today that two major title defenses will take place at WEC 53 live from Phoenix, Arizona.

One you may have very well expected, while the other may surprise you a little bit.

Want to check it out for yourself?

This isn't too long, so don't worry about length, just read on to check out the fights.

WEC Bantamweight Title Bout: Dominick Cruz Vs. Scott Jorgensen

This may be one thing that probably does surprise you, considering that Cruz's defense against Joseph Benavidez was only at WEC 50 a few months back, but it's tough to find an argument that says Scott Jorgensen hasn't earned a shot at the belt.

Jorgensen has left little doubt in anyone's mind of his dominance in his last two bouts against Brad Pickett and Antonio Banuelos, while Cruz has been a dominant force in the Bantamweight division ever since he dropped down to Bantamweight after his loss to Faber.

The champ will have the edge on the feet, but unless Jorgensen finds a way to control the fight with his grappling, the fight could be a standoff on the ground.

If you ask me, I can't pick a winner, but this could be one of the best Bantamweight fights of the year -- and it couldn't come at a better time than December 16th, near the end of what's already been a wild year in Mixed Martial Arts.

WEC Lightweight Title Bout: Ben Henderson vs Anthony Pettis

In another clash of well-rounded fighters, WEC's Lightweight king Ben "Smooth" Henderson will look to make another successful title defense in his training grounds of Arizona, but in order to be successful, he'll have to make that successful title defense count against the ruthless stand-up and ground game of Roufusport prospect and WEC Lightweight Title challenger Anthony "Showtime" Pettis.

As unpredictable as Pettis is as a fighter, he has to keep in mind that "Smooth" is equally unpredictable, especially with his well-documented submission game and grit.

Remember, this same man is the same man who should've been choked out by some of Donald Cerrone's best submissions in what was one of the best fights of 2009, yet he held on tight and withstood Cerrone's submissions en route to winning the Interim Lightweight belt of the WEC before eventually submitting Jamie Varner in round three of their bout.

Scary thing about Varner-Henderson and the ending to that bout: Henderson didn't even have the choke in as deep as many thought he should've had it to get the full effect of the hold. It was the pressure the crank that Ben was able to get on Varner's neck coupled with the tight constriction of the body scissors applied that forced the tap from Varner.

What will Pettis have to do to avoid that predicament?

I guess working on his takedown and submission defense would help, but if he doesn't do anything tp block Henderson's attempts, he'll be another notch on the belt of The Smooth One.

Brace yourselves, kids: if this isn't one of MMA's best lightweight scraps of the year, you can guarantee that this is going to be one of the best WEC Lightweight bouts of 2010.