Last Saturday night the WEC, the UFC's talented little brother, arrived at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio for WEC 47: Bowles v Cruz.

Newly-crowned WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles (8-1) was denied a defence of his belt by quick and hungry Dominick Cruz (15-1).

Impressive Bowles had taken the title from pound-for-pound contender Miguel Angel Torres in one of the biggest upsets in MMA last year.

But former 145lb title contender Cruz turned into Sugar Ray Robinson for the night and peppered the West-Viginian champion mercilessly for two rounds.

One of the few punches that an increasingly desperate Bowles managed to land in round two connected poorly, leading to a broken hand and a subsequent retirement before the third.

First defence for Cruz may well be a rematch against Uriah Faber-trained powerhouse Joey Benavidez, who Cruz outpointed in August to earn his shot at Bowles.

On the undercard, Benavidez (12-1) scored the biggest win of his career, stopping former champion Miguel Torres (37-3) with a deft guillotine choke in the second round of their bantamweight clash. Former pound-for-pound contender Torres has now dropped two straight fights, both by the short route.

Former UFC lightweight champion Jens 'Lil' Evil' Pulver (22-13-1) was armbarred into retirement by skillful Cuban Javier Vazquez (14-4) 3:41 into round one.

AJJ Academy graduate L.C. Davis (15-3) dropped a dull majority decision to Renzo-Gracie trained Lithuanian Deividas Taurosevicius (13-3)

Former IFL star Bart Palaszewski (32-13) shocked Armenian Judoka Karen Darabedyan (10-2), tapping him with a surprise armbar with just twenty seconds left of the first frame.

Last Sunday night had MMA action across the Pacific with World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 from the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

Topping the bill was be a fight for the Sengoku middleweight title between champion Jorge Santiago (22-8) and in-form Chechen-Polish banger Mamed 'Cannibal' Khalidov (20-4-1).

When the two met in a non-title affair last November, ATT's Santiago was K.O.'d in the first round by the hard-hitting Khalidov. This time around, the contest was almost bereft of fireworks, with the canny Brazilian weathering some early pressure to stab out a uninspiring, but deserved, unanimous points win.

PRIDE hero Akihiro 'Magic Man' Gono (32-15-7) danced and counter-punched his way to a unanimous decision over fellow Dan Hardy-victim Diego Gonzalez (13-4), taking his win streak to three.

Yoshida-trained Venezuelan Maximo Blanco (5-2-1, 1nc) blew away South Korean Chang Hyun 'Armbar' Kim (15-6) with strikes, punctuated by some 'soccer kicks' in an efficient 1:10.

Brick-handed Nova União man Marlon Sandro (16-1) earned another highlight-reel KO, this time at the expense of Shooto and Cage Force veteran Tomonari Kanomata (15-5-5), who was pole-axed with punches in just nine seconds of the opening round.

Strikeforce and M-1 Global look set to sign a deal to co-promote more events together in the U.S.A. in 2010.

This will hopefully mean the return to action of Fedor Emelianenko, the world's best heavyweight and M-1 represented fighter.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that a June event, headlined by Emelianenko, was entirely possible. Fabricio Werdum, a former top-five UFC heavyweight who defeated former EliteXC champion Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva last November, has been touted as the most likely opponent.