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

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.