The Nevada State Athletic Commission has issued medical suspensions to 7 of the 20 fighters who were in action at Wednesday’s WEC 44 event, which took place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Headliner Mike Brown, the former WEC featherweight champ who suffered a second-round knockout to Jose Aldo in the WEC 44 main event, was suspended until January 3 due to facial lacerations, while Diego Nunes, Cub Swanson, and Antonio Banuelos could be out of action until May after suffering fractures in their fights.

Main card winners Manny Gamburyan and Jose Aldo topped the $236,500 payroll for Wednesday’s WEC 44 event, which took place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas and aired live on Versus.

Gamburyan earned $36,000 for his decision win over fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia in the WEC 44 co-main event, while Aldo scored $26,000 (and the featherweight title) for his second-round knockout of champ Mike Brown in the event’s headliner.

Jose Aldo became the WEC’s new featherweight champion on Wednesday with a second-round TKO of title-holder Mike Brown in the main event of WEC 44, which took place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Also on the Versus-televised main card, Manny Gamburyan topped fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision, newcomer Karen Darabedyan scored a split decision win over former lightweight champ rob McCullough, Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo with a third-round rear naked choke, and Kamal Shalorus knocked out Will Kerr in the opening round.

The WEC has announced four bouts for the preliminary card of its WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo event on November 18, while two matchups between four MMA newcomers have been added to the undercard of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on November 7.

A trio of bouts are in the works for November’s WEC 44 event, as featherweight contenders Diego Nunes and LC Davis, former lightweight champ Rob McCullough and Anthony Pettis, and 145-pounders Cub Swanson and John Franchi have reportedly agreed to fight on the card, according to MMAjunkie, Sherdog, and MMA Madness respectively.

WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown and challenger Jose Aldo are expected to headline the Versus-televised event, which is rumored to take place on November 11 at a location and venue to-be-determined.

WEC featherweight Cole Province has failed a Nevada State Athletic Commission drug test following his WEC 42 victory over Fredson Paixao on August 9 in Las Vegas, testing positive for the anabolic steroid Methasterone.

Province was the lone fighter to test positive on the card, with Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, Dominick Cruz, Takeya Mizugaki, Leonard Garcia, Shane Roller, Ed Ratcliff and Diego Nunes all passing their screenings for drugs of abuse and performance enhancing drugs.

Twelve fighters who were in action at Saturday’s WEC 42 event in Las Vegas, including headliners Brian Bowles and Miguel Torres, have been issued medical suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which released the list of injuries on Monday.

As MMAFrenzy.com reported earlier Monday, Bowles suffered a broken left hand in his main event first-round knockout of Torres and must have the injury cleared by a doctor if he hopes to return before the suspension ends on January 8, while Torres is suspended until October 9 for precautionary reasons.

Former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres was the top paid fighter at Saturday’s WEC 42 event in Las Vegas, receiving $25,000 after losing his title to Brian Bowles via first-round knockout in the evening’s main event.

Bowles, Leonard Garcia, Shane Roller, and Rani Yahya were also among the top earners for the card, while Bowles, Yahya, Dominick Cruz, and Joesph Benavidez received $10,000 “Fight Night” bonuses for their performances at the event.

Brian Bowles became the new WEC bantamweight champion on Sunday in the main event of WEC 42, knocking out 125-pound title-holder and top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter Miguel Torres in the opening round of the main event at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Dominick Cruz, Danny Castillo, Takeya Mizugaki, and Leonard Garcia were also victorious on the WEC 42 main card.

A bantamweight championship bout between title-holder and top pound-for-pound fighter Miguel Torres and challenger Brian Bowles headlines Sunday’s WEC 42 event at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Follow along after the jump for live results from the 11-bout card, which is currently in progress…

WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres and challenger Brian Bowles, who meet in the main event of Sunday’s WEC 42 card in Las Vegas, successfully made weight on Saturday for the headliner.

The rest of the 11-bout card also successfully made weight with the exception of lightweight Marcus Hick

World Extreme Cagefighting has released the complete fight card for WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles, which takes place on August 9 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Joining a headlining matchup between bantamweight champ Miguel Torres and challenger Brian Bowles on the Versus-televised main card are Joseph Benavidez vs. Dominick Cruz, Danny Castillo vs. Ricardo Lamas, Jeff Curran vs. Takeya Mizugaki.

Josh Koscheck has been forced off UFC 98 due to a foot injury, UFC President Dana White will reportedly reduce his public UFC role, Strikeforce is considering a rematch between Mitsuhiro Ishida and Gilbert Melendez for its April 11th event, and more.

Featherweights Cub Swanson and Diego Nunes will square off at WEC 40 on April 5th in Chicago.
Swanson recently confirmed to MMA Junkie the bout agreements have been signed for the matchup.
A rising contender in the 145-pound division with 11-straight victories, Swanson (13-2) was derailed with a 35-second loss to Jens Pulver in late-2007. Following a [...]

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (35-1) successfully defended his title on Wednesday night at The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, dispatching 135-pound challenger Manny Tapia (10-1-1) with strikes midway through the second round of their WEC 37 headliner.
Bantamweight contender Brian Bowles (7-0) remained undefeated in a featured undercard bout, [...]