Rich “Cleat” Crunkilton (16-2) and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (7-0) will meet in a 155-pound clash at WEC 34: “Faber vs Pulver ” at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on June 1.
Crunkilton — a grizzled veteran in the WEC — is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Sergio Gomez at WEC 33 last March. ‘Cleat’ is on fire as well, winning seven of his last eight fights. His last defeat was at the hands of former WEC lightweight champion, “Razor” Rob McCullough.
Meanwhile, Cerrone returns to the cage after serving an eight-month suspension because of a failed post fight drug test (diuretic) at WEC 30. His bout with Kenneth Alexander, in which he won via armbar, was later ruled a no contest.
Prior to that bout Cerrone — known as a submission machine — won all seven of his victories by submission. He is also a very skilled Muai Thai fighter, meaning that he is a threat striking as well. Cerrone was also featured in the TapouT reality series in its first season.
In a division as deep as the WEC’s lightweight class, this is a very intriguing matchup. With fighters like Marcus Hicks and Rob McCullough looking for a title shot, this fight will be another climb up the ladder for the winner of this showdown.
It’s also a fine addition to a card that is rounding out nicely:
Main Event
145 lbs.: WEC Featherweight Champion Urijiah Faber vs. vs Jens Pulver
Main card
135 lbs.: WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia
155 lbs: Rich Crunkilton vs. Donald Cerrone
145 lbs.: Jeff Curran vs. Mike Brown
145 lbs.: Jose Aldo vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira
Perhaps the best part of WEC 34 is that it will air on the Versus network (not pay-per-view) at 9 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for more updates.
16 Comments »
this WEC event should be really exciting!
looks like a great card. what was the failed drug test for?
It was a banned diuretic I believe.
damn.. he failed a drug test? i liked him on Tapout, and he didnt’ seem like the type to take drugs.
Crunkilton is on a streak of fighting guys featured on TapOut. Wasn’t Sergio Gomez on TapOut? I believe he lost to Marcus Hicks in both of their WEC debut’s.
i feel bad for pulver hes gonna get destroyed
Hopefully Urijah keeps it standing for a couple of minutes to keep the fight exciting. after all, who really wants to see Jens pulver’s weak ground game?
Jens wont last a minute on the ground with urijah
miguel torres vs. manny tapia is gonna be crazy. I love lanky unathletic looking fighters with tons of technique like miguel. Torres first round triangle
Torres is crazy good on the ground. With his build and fighting style he is a lot like Nick Diaz.
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Looks like a good card and you cant beat free tv. Cant wait to see the Torres fight. He looked sick his last time out.
I want the 145’s in the UFC.
I’m looking forward to Faber Pulver almost as much as I am looking forward to Penn Sherk, and with Torres on the same card with his extremely slick ground game this is shaping up to be another great event from the WEC.
I am almost as excited for this fight as I am for Pulver-Faber. Add in the bantamweight title fight, a little Nogeuira, and Jeff Curran and this could be one of the best cards this year. I love the WEC. They haven’t failed to entertain me yet. And it’s free.
WEC puts on some crazy fights. Almost all of which are highly entertaining. Adding to that, I’m moving to Daytona soon, which is where Rich Crunkilton trains, so thats going to be pretty sweet if I get to train with him.