However, what few onlookers could have predicted was a phone call from Lorenzo Fertitta asking WEC head Reed Harris to double the amount based on their exciting performance.

The decision resulted in Cerrone and Henderson each netting an additional $20,000 on top of their contracted salaries for the five-round affair.

Anthony Njokuani took home “Knockout of the Night” honors – and an extra paycheck – thanks to his second-round TKO of Muhsin Corbbrey, while Mackens Sermerzier scored “Submission of the Night” by tapping out the heavily favored Wagnney Fabiano with a triangle choke in the first three minutes of their bout.

The following is a summary of WEC 43 bonuses:

Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone ($20,000)

Fight of the Night: Ben Henderson ($20,000)

Knockout of the Night: Anthony Njokuani ($10,000)

Submission of the Night: Mackens Sermerzier ($10,000)

Benson Henderson

Henderson avoided numerous submission attempts in the first round before gaining control from the top and raining down punishment. In the second and third rounds Henderson’s superior wrestling played the deciding factor in his inevitable victory before Cerrone turned it on in the final two rounds to no avail, dropping the unanimous decision by a score of 48-47 on all three scorecards.

Henderson took home the WEC interim lightweight championship with the win, and made it a point to address WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner following the victory, exclaiming, “Jamie Varner, we got a date! Phoenix, Arizona! Let’s do it!”

When Varner had his chance on the mic he shared Benson’s enthusiasm on two separate aspects, stating, “Let’s do this in December, let’s do it whenever. I want this fight in my home state, where Ben trains, where I train. I want to do it in Phoenix, Arizona, so hopefully we can make that happen.”

With both men eager to prove that they are the true champion of 155 pounds in the WEC, and both anticipating a showdown in their backyard of Arizona; a showdown in the desert between the two in the near future seems unavoidable.

Also on the card was undefeated lightweight Dave Jansen who improved to 13-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Rich Crunkilton.

The biggest shocker of the night came when WEC newcomer Mackens Semerzier pulled off the first round triangle submission over top rated featherweight and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Wagnney Fabiano, who was on an eight fight win streak just prior to the upset defeat.

A full list of the results from the event are below:

Benson Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision

Dave Jansen def. Rich Crunkilton via unanimous decision

Rafel Assuncao def. Yves Jabouin via split decision

Damacio Page def. Will Campuzano via submission (rear-naked choke) – round 1

Anthony Njokuani def. Muhsin Corbbrey via TKO (strikes) – round 2

Scott Jorgensen def. Noah Thomas via TKO (strikes) – round 1

Mackens Semerzier def. Wagnney Fabiano via submission (triangle choke) – round 1

Eddie Wineland def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision

Charlie Valencia def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision

Deividas Taurosevicius def. Javier Vazquez via split decision

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone

The winner of the highly anticipated showdown between the two will without a doubt be moving on to a match-up with current WEC champion Jamie Varner, who has been sidelined by a series of injuries, to determine the true king of the hill at 155 pounds in the WEC once and for all.

Also on the card is the fast rising undefeated prospect Dave Jansen taking on the always dangerous Rich Crunkilton, along with a slew of other potentially action packed match-ups.

Below is a full list of the live results for WEC 43 as they take place:

Javier Vazquez vs. Deividas Taurosevicius – Winner: Taurosevicius via split decision

Coty Wheeler vs. Charlie Valencia – Winner: Valencia via unanimous decision

Manny Tapia vs. Eddie Wineland – Winner: Wineland via unanimous decision

Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier – Winner: Semerzier via submision (triangle choke) - round 1

Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas – Winner: Jorgensen via TKO – round 1

Anthony Njokuani vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – Winner: Njokuani via TKO – round 2

Damacio Page vs. Will Campuzano – Winner: Page via submission (rear-naked choke) – round 1

Raphael Assuncao vs. Yves Jabouin – Winner: Assuncao via split decision

Rich Crunkilton vs. Dave Jansen – Winner: Jansen via unanimous decision

Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson – Winner: Henderson via unanimous decision

An injury to main event fighter Benson Henderson, who was set to fight Donald Cerrone for the interim lightweight title, is being reported for the reason for the postponement.

The event has now been rescheduled for a date of October 10 and will still be broadcast live on Versus.

It has not yet been announced if the original venue of Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio will be the location of the postponed event. Had the event gone live, it would have marked the first time the WEC has ventured into Ohio.

There has also been no report on the injury Henderson has suffered, but he will still face Cerrone on the October 10 date.

All ticket refunds for the September 2nd event can be obtained at the point of purchase.

WEC 43

The event will take place on September 2 from the Covelli Centre in Yougstown, Ohio, and will air live on the Versus network.

Headlining the card will be a WEC lightweight championship bout pitting Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone up against Ben Henderson. The interim championship was recently put into place while current champion Jamie Varner is given more time to recuperate from nagging injuries.

A full list of the bouts expected for WEC 43 are listed below:

Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson

Rich Crunkilton vs. Dave Jansen

Damacio Page vs. Akitoshi Tamura

Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Karalexis

Raphael Assuncao vs. Yves Jabouin

Scott Jorgensen vs. Rafael Rebello

Wagnney Fabiano vs. Erik Koch

Manny Tapia vs. Eddie Wineland

Anthony Njokuani vs. Muhsin Corbbrey

Coty Wheeler vs. Charlie Valencia

The news of the match-up between the two comes via Fabiano himself who revealed that the contracts have recently been signed for the bout in an interview with Tatame.com.

WEC 43 will take place on September 2 from the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. The event is set to feature a main event for the WEC lightweight interim championship between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson.

Fabiano has put together an impressive 12-1 record with seven of those victories coming by way of submission. His sole defeat came came in the form of a split decision loss at the hands of Jeff Curran back in 2006, and the talented Brazilian has rebounded with eight consecutive victories.

Koch is undefeated up to this point in his career, sporting an unblemished record of 7-0 fighting in the Midwest region of the United States. Like Fabiano, the bulk of Koch’s victories have also come by tap out.

It appears as though current WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner may be forced to the sidelines indefinitely.

According to a recent report on Vindy.com, WEC founder and general manager Reed Harris said that Varner may never fight again due to the broken foot and hand sustained in his previous bout with Donald Cerrone.

That match-up was cut short when Cerrone struck a downed Varner in the face with an illegal knee in the fifth round. When it was ruled that the defending champion was unable to continue, the fight went to the scorecards where Varner came away with the split decision victory.

It has been reported that the WEC plans to strip Varner of his title shortly.

A previously announced bout between Cerrone and has bee promoted to a title fight to determine the new WEC lightweight champion.

The fight will be the main event at WEC 43 which is set for September 2 in Youngstown, Ohio.

**Reed Harris has recently stated in a report on MMAJunkie.com that his comments were taken out of context in the report by Vindy.com and that Varner would not be stripped unless his injuries prevented him from returning to action. 

“Jamie is not stripped of the title,” Harris was quoted as saying. “We’re all hoping Jamie can come back later this year and defend his title against whoever wins the interim title.”

Cerrone vs. Henderson will be for the interim championship.