Two Chicago-area fighters are leaving Columbus, Ohio with victories, while Miguel Torres is leaving with his second consecutive loss.

Bart Palaszewski took on the very tough Karen Darabedyan in a lightweight battle. Bartimus immediately felt the power and quickness of Darabedyan, who was coming off an impressive win against former WEC champ Rob McCullough. Darabedyan had Bart on the ground and was delivering punishment. Bart absorbed a lot of blows but kept looking for subs. Near the end of  round 1 Palaszewski latched on to an arm and hyperextended it until he got the tap. Itwas an amazing submission and Bartimus moves to 34-13 with the win.

Team Top Notch fighter Ricardo Lamas was coming off a TKO loss to Danny “Last Call” Castillo at WEC 42. He needed little time to get back on a win streak with a stunning defeat of France’s Bendy Casimir. In round 1 action, Casimir went for a takedown and Lamas delivered a fierce knee to Casimir’s head that crumbled him to the canvas and left him unconscious. The Bully got the win and improves to 8-1 overall and now 3-1 in the WEC.

Miguel Torres never really got going against Joseph Benavidez, his first fight since losing his WEC title to Brian Bowles. Miguel was active in moving and circling the cage, but couldn’t find the timing on his strikes or kicks. The faster Benavidez easily nullified the nearly 10-inch reach disadvantage with takedowns and easily working his way inside against Torres. The last takedown in round 2 proved fatal for Torres. Benavidez had him up against the cage and delivered a vicious elbow that gashed open Torres’ forehead and immediately started to gush blood. Torres tried to escape but Benavidez caught him in a tight guillotine and Torres was forced to tap. It was a stunning defeat for Torres. Brian Bowles lost the title to Dominick Cruz, so perhaps we will see a Bowles/Torres rematch down the line.

Photos taken from Sherdog’s WEC 47 gallery

Northwest Indiana’s Miguel Torres once again defends his WEC banatamweight title.  This time the challenger is Brian Bowles, the man he was originally supposed to fight at WEC 40 back in April.  But Bowles had to drop out of the fight after suffering a back injury.  Torres successfully defended the belt against Takeya Mizugaki in an exciting back-and-forth getting consideration for fight of the year.  Watch this preview as both men talk about the match-up, as well as the analysis from WEC TV commentator Frank Mir.

The Bully Is Back at WEC 42

The WEC has confirmed that Chicago’s Ricardo Lamas will be fighting Danny Castillo at WEC 42 in Las Vegas. Jeff Curran will be fighting Takeya Mizugaki on that card and Miguel Torres will try to defend his belt against Brian Bowles. Another WEC card with a lot of local flavor.

Lamas beat local fighter Bart Palaszewski at WEC: Brown vs. Garcia in March to improve to 6-0. The Ironheart Crown vet will be making his 2nd appearance in the WEC.

Castillo will be a tough test for “The Bully”. Castillo holds a record of 7-1 and is 2-1 in the WEC. He lost to Donald Cerrone is his WEC debut, but since then has defeated Rafael Dias and Phil Cardella.

WEC 42 is live on Versus August 9th.

Curran announced last week at XFO 29 in Lakemoor he’d be fighting in the WEC’s August event.  The company that manages the Big Frog, Suckerpunch Entertainment, also posted a message on their website saying, “I will be back in August for a big fight.  I can’t wait to make that news public.”

According to a report on Fanhouse.com, Curran could be facing Takeya Mizugaki.  The Japanese fighter’s stock is high right now after his battle with East Chicago’s Miguel Torres at WEC 40, which took place at the UIC Pavillion earlier this month.  Torres/Mizugaki earned “Fight of the Night” honors and is getting buzz for fight of the year.

Jeff is on a three fight losing streak, but those came against highly ranked opponents in Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, and Joseph Benavides.  His last match against Benavides was his debut at 135 pounds.  A win against Mizugaki puts Curran on the right path to meet Miguel Torres.  Local fans have been waiting for this fight to happen for a long time.

The stakes are high for Mizugaki as well.  If he comes away victorious he earns an instant re-match with Torres, provided Miguel succesfully defends his title against Brian Bowles.

A spokesperson for the WEC told Chicago’s MMA no fights have been officially signed for the August event.

August’s World Extreme Cagefighting show will be WEC 42.  Fanhouse.com says the main event could likely be a bantamweight title match between Torres and Bowles.