EVENT - WEC 33

On Wednesday, March 26th World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) will explode with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) action from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. With a solid ten-bout fight card, WEC 33 looks to be an exciting night for MMA fans. The action begins at 9:00pm EST and will be broadcast live on the Versus Network.

WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, Doug "The Rhino" Marshall will defend his title for the third time. This fight will be Marshall's toughest title defense thus far however, as he goes up against the US Marine Corps captain and fast-rising MMA superstar Brian "All-American" Stann.
The decorated Iraqi war vet is unbeaten in five fights and has finished each opponent he's faced, something shared in common with Marshall, who also has never gone the distance in nine fights.

“This fight will not go the distance,” Marshall declared. “When me and Brian step in there, there will be some big bombs thrown. One way or the other, there’s going to be fireworks.”
“I see us touching ‘em up, just getting right after it and doing what we both do best: Drop bombs. And the best man wins. I don’t think it will be too much of a technical fight.”

The 185-pound middleweight title defense and rematch between WEC Champ Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen that was originally on the card has been postponed. Filho chose to withdrawl from the March 26th show after voluntarily checking himself into a rehab center in Brazil on March 13th for a substance abuse problem.

Sonnen will still get his chance to fight, just not for the WEC middleweight belt. Stepping in as Sonnen's opponent will be West Covina, California's Bryan "The Beast" Baker.

Baker (6-0) stormed onto the WEC scene in 2007, stopping UFC vet Jesse Forbes in a single round in September and decisioning Eric Schambari in December. Now he’ll be up against Sonnen (21-9-1), a seasoned veteran who has fought against some of the best the sport has to offer.

Also on the card will be a battle of the unbeaten in the lightweight division, when Ed Ratcliff and Marcus Hicks (both 6-0) go to war to see whose "0" has to go.

Plus a war between two welterweight veterans, as John Alessio (27-11) takes on the tough Minnesota fighter, Brock Larson (21-1). The WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit has submitted both fighters, but the winner of this bout could get another shot at the champ.

- WEC 33 FIGHT CARD -

Doug Marshall vs. Brian Stann

Chael Sonnen vs. Bryan Baker

Ed Ratcliff vs. Marcus Hicks

Steve Cantwell vs. Tim McKenzie

Blas Avena vs. Hiromitsu Miura

John Alessio vs. Brock Larson

Sergio Gomez vs. Richard Crunkilton

Ryan Stonitsch vs. Alex Serdyukov

Chris Manuel vs. Kenji Osawa

Logan Clark vs. TBA