Full lineup and televised bouts set for WEC 39 on March 1

World Extreme Cagefighting on Tuesday finalized its full card and announced the television schedule for its upcoming WEC 39 event set to take place on March 1 from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Scheduled to headline the event is WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown (20-4) making his first career title defense in a bout against number one contender Leonard Garcia (16-3).

Eleven total bouts for the event are scheduled with five slated to be televised on VERSUS starting a 9 p.m. ET. In addition to Brown vs. Garcia, other bouts slated to be broadcast include Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (26-11-1) in featherweight action; Richard Crunkilton (17-1) vs. Bart Palaszewski (30-11); “Razor” Rob McCullough (16-5) vs. Marcus Hicks (6-1) in a battle of lightweights; and welterweight action between former NCAA champion Johny Hendricks (4-0) and Alex Serdyukov (12-4).

The WEC is expected to disband its welterweight division and Hendricks’ matchup against Serdyukov could be a final evaluation as to whether the former Oklahoma State college wrestling standout is ready to move onto the UFC. Also, the winner of Crunkilton vs. Palaszewski is expected to earn a guaranteed WEC lightweight title shot.

The non-televised portion of the card will include matchups between bantamweights Marcos Galvao (9-2) and Damacio Page (9-3); lightweights Mike Budnik (8-1) and John Franchi (4-0); welterweights Justin Haskins (5-2) vs. Mike Pierce (6-1); lightweights Greg McIntyre (5-2) vs. Alex Karalexis (9-4); lightweights Danny Castillo (6-1) vs. Phil Cardella (7-2); and bantamweights Kenji Osawa (13-7-1) vs. Rafael Rebello (5-2).

The complete card is as follows…

Televised Main Card (VERSUS) -

• MIKE THOMAS BROWN VS. LEONARD GARCIA
• RICH CRUNKILTON vs. BART PALASZEWSKI
• JOSE ALDO vs. CHRIS MICKLE
• ROB McCULLOUGH vs. MARCUS HICKS
• JOHNY HENDRICKS vs. ALEX SERDYUKOV

Non-Televised Preliminary Card -

• DANNY CASTILLO vs. PHIL CARDELLA
• MARCOS GALVAO vs. DAMACIO PAGE
• KENJI OSAWA vs. RAFAEL REBELLO
• ALEX KARALEXIS vs. GREG McINTYRE
• MIKE BUDNIK vs. JOHN FRANCHI
• JUSTIN HASKINS vs. MIKE PIERCE

Sam Caplan is the President of Combat Sports Media, LLC, the parent company of FiveOuncesOfPain.com. CSM is a B-2-B outsource solution in the MMA industry and provides PR, web management, and other consulting services to MMA companies. Clients of CSM include the Combat Sports Championships and Showtime.
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