Youngstown Ohio To Host WEC 43

The WEC will look to capitalize on the booming success that the UFC has had in Ohio when it brings its brand of mixed martial arts to Youngstown Ohio on September 2nd.

According to Vindy.comthe Covelli Centre will host WEC 43.

Youngstown is the hometown of middleweight boxing kingpin Kelly Pavlik and has been looking to bring in the UFC for the longest time according to Eric Ryan who is the centre’s executive director.

The UFC has held four events in Ohio starting with UFC 68 which marked the return of Randy Couture to the octagon back in March of 2007. After that they held UFC 77 featuring a rematch between Anderson Silva and hometown boy Rich Franklin. Silva made another appearance in Ohio at UFC 82 where he defeated Dan Henderson in a battle of UFC & Pride champions. Last but not least was UFC 96 which was held this past March featuring a main event of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson taking on Keith Jardine.

At the time UFC 68 broke the attendance record for an MMA event held in North America with 19,049 fans. 16,054 fans packed the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati for UFC 77. UFC 82 marked a return to the Nationwide Arena in Columbus and drew 16,431 fans this time around. UFC 96 which lacked a real main event still managed to draw 17,033 fans to the Nationwide Arena, the event coincided with the Arnolds Sports Expo. The track record speaks for itself and the WEC should do well as the Covelli Centre can hold anywhere from 6,500 to 7,000 fans.

The main event will be for the interim lightweight championship as Donald Cerrone will take on Ben Henderson. Cerrone is the man who has put current title holder Jamie Varner on the shelf with hand and foot injuries which don’t seem to be healing properly. The card is expected to showcase 10 or 11 bouts as of right now. WEC President said the WEC also looked at Pittsburgh as well as Cleveland but chose Youngstown because it is a centralized venue.