WEC

(Enjoy your victory now, Shane Roller, for it appears that you're about to be brought back to Tatooine to answer for your unpaid intergalactic debts. Props: WKR)

Those of you watching last night's Shane Roller-Danny Castillo fight at WEC 44 may have found yourselves wondering, Who is the guy in the Boba Fett get-up, and when's the last time he got laid?  Face it, except for the morning after Halloween, one sentence that no woman has ever proudly uttered to her girlfriends is, 'I totally went home with that guy at the party last night whose face was covered by his "Star Wars" outfit.'  At least, no height-weight proportional woman ever has, unless that sentence is followed by, 'Will you give me a ride to rehab?'

Word has it that the nerd in question here is jiu-jitsu coach Marc Laimon, who appears to be wearing this zip-up Fett hoodie from designer/MMA fan Marc Ecko.  It retails for $98, making it slightly cheaper than the Storm Trooper jacket and X-Wing Pilot hoodie, for reasons that are known only to Ecko.  We just hope that they come out with an Ewok hoodie by the next time Urijah Faber has to corner one of his buddies at a WEC event.  If anybody could make it seem almost cool, it's that chronically laid-back son of a bitch.

(If he can handle that, he can handle anything.)

According to a new report by MMA Weekly, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will return to action for the first time since his decision loss to Mike Brown in June, when he takes on top contender Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 (January 11th, Sacramento). Faber has spent the last few months rehabbing the hand injuries he suffered against Brown, but described the January event as "perfect timing for me."

Though Assuncao may not be a household name yet, the 14-1 submission specialist has won both of his appearances in the WEC (decisions over Jameel Massouh and Yves Jabouin) and we consider him to be one of the ten best featherweights in the world right now. Faber vs. Assuncao is slated to be WEC 46's co-main event, supporting the lightweight title unification bout between Jamie Varner and Benson Henderson — unless Henderson needs more time to recover from his own injuries, in which case it'll be up to the California Kid to carry the card. Will Faber be able to re-establish himself in the division he ruled for almost three years, or will Assuncao put himself on that map as the WEC's next featherweight star?

(Ed Ratcliff KO's Brett Cooper with a spinning back kick at Total Combat 12, 12/17/05.)

Donald Cerrone may have to wait a little longer to get his rematch with Jamie Varner. Contrary to previous rumors that Cerrone would be facing Varner in December while interim champion Benson Henderson recovers from their epic five-rounder at WEC 43, Sherdog is reporting that Cerrone will instead fight fellow lightweight contender Ed "9mm" Ratcliff at a WEC show on December 19th in Las Vegas. The bout could serve as the card's main event — not an ideal situation, but at least Henderson will get his rightful shot at Varner's belt when he's healthy again.

In case you're unfamiliar, Ed Ratcliff (7-1), has won three of his four fights in the WEC, most recently taking a unanimous decision over Phil Cardella at Torres vs. Bowles, and his aggressive, unpredictable style should match up well with Cowboy's. Ratcliff grew up in Chicago studying traditional martial arts, earning black belts in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, and began his MMA training with Ken Shamrock at age 17; he had his first pro fight when he was 18. He now lives and trains in San Diego, and describes his primary motivation for fighting as "$$MONEY$ LOL."

(After they showed that video entitled 'Good Touch/Bad Touch' in his Health class, Horodecki couldn't help but regard every adult in his life with constant suspicion.)

When Shawn Tompkins announced that he was leaving Xtreme Couture and taking some fighters with him, you didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that one of those fighters would probably be long-time Tompkins protégé/surrogate son Chris Horodecki.  Those two have been down since the IFL cartoon logo days, back when Tompkins was just Bas Rutten’s assistant coach and Horodecki was still getting carded at R-rated movies.  But now Tompkins says that Horodecki is very close to finalizing a deal to send him to the WEC, and he expects to have the contract signed in “a day or two.” 

(Eh, it was mostly plastic anyway. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone's five-round war at WEC 43, lightweight champ Jamie Varner said he'd be down to take on Henderson in December, which seemed a little selfish considering Varner had spent the last nine months recuperating from his Cerrone-related injuries, while Henderson had just sustained his. Certainly Varner and the WEC would allow their new interim lightweight champ at least a three-month turnaround before putting him in another tough battle, right? Well, if Rashad Evans has the correct information, that's not the plan, and Bendo is about to get screwed: