Chase Beebe

(Masakazu Imanari during his win over Mike Brown at DEEP 22 in December 2005. Photo courtesy of stephenfactory.)

DREAM's next multi-event grand prix kicks off at DREAM 7 (March 8th; Saitama, Japan), featuring featherweights; the exact weight limit will be either 63 or 63.5 kilograms, which is closer to 140 pounds than the 145-pound Western definition of the weight class. According to Nightmare of Battle, eleven fighters have been officially announced so far. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto's participation is still a question mark, though he'd probably get seeded to the second round if he signs on. Here's what the field is looking like currently:

Masakazu Imanari: #5-ranked featherweight. Is the reigning Cage Rage World Featherweight champion, and DEEP Bantamweight champion.

Hiroyuki Takaya: Shooto/K-1 vet who most recently fought for the WEC, where he has lost consecutive fights to Leonard Garcia and Cub Swanson.

Takafumi Otsuka: DEEP/Fury FC vet

Hideo Tokoro: Has had nearly 40 career fights, with three appearances at DREAM events. Most recently lost to Daisuke Nakamura at Dynamite!! 2008 on New Year's Eve. Holds wins over Alexandre Franca Nogueira and Royler Gracie; once fought Royce Gracie to a draw.

(Urijah Faber: Never a dull moment.)

Though EliteXC's CBS show is grabbing most of the attention for this weekend, WEC is putting on its biggest event to date on Sunday at Sacramento's ARCO Arena, headlined by the monumental featherweight championship match between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver, and also featuring Miguel Torres, "Razor" Rob McCullough, Jeff Curran, Chase Beebe, and Charlie Valencia. If you get Versus, you can watch the action live starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. — and judging from recent WEC shows, missing it wouldn't be in your best interest. Let's take a look at the four main card fights...

Urijah Faber [champion] vs. Jens Pulver (featherweight title fight)
Don't let his beautiful anaconda choke of Cub Swanson at WEC 31 fool you — Jens Pulver is still a stand-up banger, and his greatest advantage over the California Kid is his dynamite-loaded striking. Faber will probably try to trade shots for a while, but he'll eventually employ his superior wrestling to get the fight to the mat and look for a submission or ground-and-pound TKO. If Faber can neutralize Pulver's boxing and avoid getting caught early, the hometown boy's relentless aggression and inventiveness will win the day. Prediction: Faber via 3rd-round submission.

Miguel Torres [champion] vs. Yoshiro Maeda (bantamweight title fight)
Miguel Torres owns one of the most impressive records in MMA (33-1, 21 wins via submission), but he didn't start getting name-checked as one of the best fighters in the world until he tore through Chase Beebe in February to win WEC's bantamweight title. Torres has never been stopped, and he avenged his sole loss to Ryan Ackerman in 2003 by submitting him two years later. Known more as a striker, Maeda is a seasoned veteran of Pancrase and DEEP, and made his impressive U.S. debut at WEC 32 when he delivered a knockout body-kick to Charlie Valencia midway through the first round. It'll be a tough test for Torres, but he's looked incredibly impressive in his last few matches, and he's got enough momentum to defend his belt. Prediction: Torres extends his streak of five-straight submission victories to six, and does it in the second round.

(Rob McCullough and Jamie Varner face off next to some bored douche with a backstage pass; photo props to MMAWeekly.)

If you rely on this site for MMA news — terrible idea, by the way — you'd hardly be aware that World Extreme Cagefighting is holding an event tonight at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Apologies; we had other things to deal with. But if the last WEC show was any indication, you could be in store for a wild time if you tune into Versus beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT, especially since three championship belts are on the line. Here's what the matchups look like:

MAIN CARD
Carlos Condit (champion) vs. Carlo Prater (for WEC Welterweight Title)
Rob McCullough (champion) vs. Jamie Varner (for WEC Lightweight Title)
Chase Beebe (champion) vs. Miguel Torres (for WEC Bantamweight Title)
Manny Tapia vs. Antonio Banuelos (bantamweights)
Leonard Garcia vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (featherweights)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Josh Grispi vs. Mark Hominick (featherweights)
Del Hawkins vs. Coty Wheeler (bantamweights)
Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda (bantamweights)
Micah Miller vs. Chance Farrar (featherweights)
Scott Jorgensen vs. Damacio Page (bantamweights)

Let's take a look at that main card, shall we?

— Garcia vs. Takaya: The last time I remember seeing Leonard Garcia, his face was being punched into burger by Roger Huerta at UFC 69. Following his rough UFC debut, Garcia beat Allen Berubie, lost a decision to Cole Miller, and decided to drop to a more competitive weight of 145 and join the WEC. But he won't have an easy time against "Streetfight Bancho," who has been in the cage with stars like Gilbert Melendez, Genki Sudo, and Gesias Calvancante during his residencies with Shooto and K-1. Sure, he lost to those guys, but experience counts, and we think his striking power will be too much for Garcia to handle.

— Tapia vs. Banuelos: If Manny Tapia wins this fight, he could be next in line to challenge for the bantamweight belt after the dust settles on Beebe/Torres. The jiu-jitsu specialist was a destroyer in King of the Cage, racking up an 8-0-1 record before winning his WEC debut last May against Brandon Foxworth. Banuelos is a good friend of Chuck Liddell's, and even though he's got the Iceman and John Hackleman feeding him pointers at The Pit, his recent fight history — four wins by decision and two losses by first-round knockout — raises some concerns. Not being able to finish a fight will hurt him against someone as aggressive as Tapia. We're thinking this is one of those "loss by first-round knockout" kind of nights for Banuelos.

(Carlos Condit: "You'll never grow old, and you'll never die...but you must feed!")

The WEC has announced the full lineup of fights for their next event, which will go down Feburary 13 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dubbed "Wec: Condit vs. Prater," the event features three championship bouts. Welterweight champ Carlos Condit (thought by many to be one of the top ten welterweights in the world) will try to avenge a 2004 loss to contender Carlo Prater; lightweight champion "Razor" Rob McCullough faces off against Jamie "The Worm" Varner; and bantamweight top dog Chase Beebe defends his belt against 19-1 jiu-jitsu sensation Miguel Torres. Also fighting on the card are undefeated Mexican bantamweight Manny Tapia, 19-year-old Boston native Josh Grispi (who already has a 10-1 record in the featherweight division), UFC vet Leonard Garcia, former featherweight title challenger Chance Farrar, and the WEC debut of K-1/Shooto star Hiroyuki "Streetfight Bancho" Takaya.