E. Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com breaks down Joseph Benavidez’s mission on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, when he steps into the cage with Dominick Cruz.

Most fighters have two goals in mind when it comes to the sport. One is to where championship gold around their waist, and since making through an entire career unbeaten is about as likely as winning the lottery, being able to avenge any losses incurred along the way comes in a close second.

Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Joseph Benavidez will have the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone as he steps into the cage with Dominick Cruz, the WEC bantamweight champion and the only man to hold a victory over the Team Alpha Male trainee.

“This is huge, man,” stated the 26-year-old 135-pound contender about the opportunity that awaits him later this week at The Pearl at The Palms. “It’s the world championship which is the goal – should be the goal of any fighter – and definitely is for me. That’s why I train. Right under that on the list is to avenge my only loss, and I get to do it both on the same night.”

Benavidez and Cruz first faced each other in August 2009. As a protégé of WEC poster boy Urijah Faber and coming off an impressive decision win over savvy veteran Jeff Curran four months earlier, the then-unbeaten Benavidez entered the fight as the favorite.

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Jeremy Botter of Heavy.com writes that WEC 50 is now set, as the official lineup will have 10 fights.

World Extreme Cagefighting has finalized the 10-bout card for “WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez 2.”
WEC officials made the announcement today.

The event — headlined by a bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez — takes place Aug. 18 at the Pearl at the Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas.

“We are really excited to bring the best lighter weight fighters in the world back to the Palms,” WEC General Manager Reed Harris said. “All 10 fights on this card are dynamic and we expect to put on another one of the year’s most memorable events.”

The Versus-televised event will feature four bouts in addition to the headlining title fight: Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis, Cub Swanson vs. Chad Mendes, Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett and Bart Palaszewski vs. Zach Micklewright. Featured preliminary bouts include Anthony Njokuani vs. Maciej Jewtuszko and Javier Vazquez vs. Mackens Semerzier.

The event was originally scheduled to include Urijah Faber’s bantamweight debut, but an injury forced the former featherweight champion off the card.

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