We hit the WEC Bowles vs. Cruz undercard in our previous post, and now we’ll move on to the televised main card.  As we discussed in our previous post, the undercard of this event actually has better wagering opportunities than the main card:

WEC BOWLES VS. CRUZ MAIN CARD:

BART PALASZEWSKI VS. KAREN DARABEDYAN

Palaszewski has a ton more experience, but is only 4-5 in his last 9 fights dating back to the IFL.  Darabedyan is a real up and comer on a 7 fight winning streak.  He trains with Karo Parisyan and Manny Gamburyan, so he’s got sick judo skills but prefers to stand and bang which he’s also very good at.  Not sure how much Palaszewski has left but can’t justify laying -255 with Darabedyan.

PASS

LC DAVIS VS. DEIVIDAS TAUROSEVICIUS

This could be the sleeper fight of the card as two evenly matched IFL veterans face off.  Taurosevicius is a slight favorite at -145 with takeback on Davis at +115.  Maybe some value with the dog, but we’re not getting enough of a takeback to make it worth taking a position in a very even fight.

PASS

JENS PULVER VS. JAVIER VASQUEZ

Pulver is a legitimate legend in the sport, but not sure how much he has left in the tank.  He’s lost 5 of his last 8 fights, admittedly to the very top of the food chain including Urijah Faber twice, BJ Penn, Joe Lauzon and Leonard Garcia.  He all but announced his retirement in the ring following his loss to Josh Grispi in his last fight and that might have been the more prudent course of action.  He’s in against a very tough customer in Javier Vasquez who may be fighting for his WEC career after two straight losses (though both were by split decision to solid opponents in Deividas Taurosevicius and LC Davis).  Vasquez will likely win, but not worth a position at -220

PASS

MIGUEL ANGEL TORRES VS. JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ

This should be an excellent fight featuring two legit badasses.  Torres was considered one of the ‘pound for pound’ best in the sport until he lost his WEC bantamweight title in an upset to Brian Bowles.  Benavidez is yet another training partner of Urijah Faber and may be the most insanely well conditioned fighter in the sport.  It’s a very even fight but not its not priced accordingly.  Torres is a -335 favorite and you won’t find a better example of a ‘live underdog’ than Benavidez.

PLAY JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ +275 OVER MIGUEL ANGEL TORRES

BRIAN BOWLES VS. DOMINICK CRUZ

Bowles makes his first defense of the WEC bantamweight title he won from the aforementioned Miguel Angel Torres last August.  Cruz defeated Joseph Benavidez on the undercard that night, and this should be another excellent matchup.  It’s important to keep in mind that Bowles has only had 8 professional fight–he’s won them all via stoppage (5 submission, 3 KO) but Cruz is more experienced with a 14-1 mark.  Cruz’s only career loss was at featherweight against Urijah Faber when ‘The California Kid’ was at the top of his game.  Once again, we’ll go with an underdog that offers a lot of upside in a very evenly matched fight.

PLAY DOMINICK CRUZ +205 OVER BRIAN BOWLES