2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
Home > Blogs > Mixed Martial Arts > Archives > 2009 > August > 26
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
World Extreme Cagefighting cancels Sept. 2 card in Youngstown
Citing the loss of main-event fighter Benson Henderson because of an injury, World Extreme Cagefighting recently canceled its Sept. 2 show, which was slated for the Covelli Center in Youngstown.
In the official announcement, WEC officials said the event will instead take place Oct. 10, though no location has been determined.
That doesn’t bode well for Ohio, which expected to host its first-ever WEC event. (The WEC is the UFC’s sister promotion, which airs on Versus and focuses on the sport’s lighter weight classes.)
The Dayton Daily News spoke to Ohio Athletic Commission executive director Bernie Profato just hours before the WEC announced the cancellation. At the time, Profato made no mention of a cancellation and said he planned to be in Youngstown next week for the nationally televised event.
Despite rumors of slow ticket sales and the potential loss of DirecTV as a broadcast partner on Sept. 1, WEC General Manager Reed Harris told MMAjunkie.com Radio on Tuesday neither factored into the decision.
Instead, Harris said, the loss of a headliner was the only reason. Henderson (9-1) was slated to fight fellow contender Donald Cerrone (10-1) for the WEC’s interim lightweight title. (Current champ Jamie Varner is sidelined with injuries.) And despite a 10-bout lineup and four-fight televised card, Versus and WEC officials felt the cancellation of Cerrone vs. Henderson was just too big of a loss and could doom ratings.
WEC officials first spoke about the possibility of making an Ohio debut in April. Officials, including Harris, pointed to Ohio’s strong MMA fan base (the state regulates more MMA shows than any other U.S. commission) and strong TV ratings for other WEC shows.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: WEC 43
