Dominick Cruz To Defend Bantamweight Title Against Joseph Benavidez At WEC 50 On August 18

Ready for round four?

Recently crowned WEC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz’s first title defense will come against a very familiar opponent in Joseph Benavidez.

The Team Alpha Male product has suffered just one loss in his 13 professional fights, that of course a unanimous decision defeat to Cruz at WEC 42. The bout earned both competitors “Fight of the Night” honors, and considering the raised stakes for the rematch, fight fans are in for a classic showdown.

“The Dominator” confirmed the fight, set to go down on August 18 from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, via his Twitter account last night.

MMA Mania has more on the match up.

The newly-minted 135-pound kingpin snatched the gold from the clutches of one-and-done champion Brian Bowles at WEC 47 back on March 6.

It was his sixth straight win since a submission loss to former featherweight champion Urijah Faber way back at WEC 26 in March 2007. His path to the title included a unanimous decision win over the previously unbeaten Benavidez in August of last year.

Now Benavidez gets a chance at both the belt and revenge.

Fortunately his 2009 loss to Cruz did little to disrupt his momentum.

Benavidez quickly bounced back with a technical knockout win over Rani Yahya at WEC 45 back in December before a convincing submission win over former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres in March.

Will he be able to learn from his first encounter with Cruz and adjust his gameplan accordingly? Or has the champion further distanced himself from the rest of the pack?

Whatever the case may be, it’s certainly going to be an exciting to watch.

Keep it locked to SB Nation for more news on WEC 50 as it becomes available.