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.

Jens Pulver, Manny Gamburyan, WEC featherweight title challenger Urijah Faber, and 145-pound champion Mike Brown were the top earners at Sunday's WEC 41 event in Sacramento, according to figures today released by the California State Athletic Commission.

Mike Brown again got the best of Urijah Faber on Sunday at WEC 41, topping the former 145-pound title holder by unanimous decision to retain his title in the anticipated rematch which headlined the Versus-televised event at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.

Welcome to MMAFrenzy.com’s live coverage of WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2, which takes place today, Sunday June 7, 2009, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com all night for live results, plus stop by after the fights for extensive post-fight coverage.

WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown and challenger Urijah Faber came in under the 145-pound limit for their championship matchup, both tipping the scales at 143.5 pounds at the weigh-ins for Sunday's Versus-televised event in Sacramento, California.

Richard Crunkilton has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Donnald Cerrone at WEC 41 due to an undisclosed injury. Stepping in for Crunkilton at the June 7th event is undefeated WEC newcomer James Krause.