The matchup started with a frenzied pace and rarely slowed, as Cerrone strung together several submissions early in the opening round that appeared close to ending the fight, but Henderson managed to escape and turn the tide with takedowns and ground and pound to steal the frame. Henderson repeated the formula in rounds two and three, escaping more Cerrone submissions while taking the fight to the ground and largely cominating on the canvas.

Cerrone rebounded in the later rounds, shrugging off several takedowns in the fourth while connecting on the feet before finishing strong in the fifth and final round with more striking and several near-submissions.

With Henderson winning the second and third frames, and Cerrone taking the final two, the bout ultimately came down to the opening round and the judges sided unanimously with Henderson’s escapes and ground and pound, earning him 48-47 scores across the board, the interim title, and a future matchup with lightweight champ Jamie Varner.

Henderson improves to 10-1 with his victory in the “Fight of the Year” candidate, while Cerrone falls to 10-2.

The night’s other notable result took place on the preliminary card but made it onto the Versus broadcast, as newcomer Mackens Semerzier upset Wagnney Fabiano, submitting the former IFL featherweight champ with a triangle choke early in the opening round.

Dave Jansen, Raphael Assuncao, and Damacio Page also picked up main card wins, while Anthony Njokuani, Scott Jorgensen, Eddie Wineland, Charlie Valencia, and Deividas Taurosevicius were victorious on the WEC 43 prelims.

The official results for WEC 43 were:

• Ben Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Dave Jansen def. Rich Crunkilton via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Raphael Assuncao def. Yves Jabouin via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
• Damacio Page def. Will Campuzano via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 1:02
• Anthony Njokuani def. Mushin Corbbrey via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 1:24
• Scott Jorgensen def. Noah Thomas via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:13
• Mackens Semerzier def. Wagnney Fabiano via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 2:14
• Eddie Wineland def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Charlie Valencia def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Deividas Taurosevicius def. Javier Vazquez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Ben Henderson

MMAFrenzy.com will have live results from the WEC 43 preliminary card beginning at approximately 7pm ET, followed by live updates from the Versus-televised main card at 10pm.

Discuss the event in the comments below, follow along with our live results, and stop back after the fights conclude for post-event coverage.

WEC 43 LIVE RESULTS

• Ben Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Dave Jansen def. Rich Crunkilton via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Raphael Assuncao def. Yves Jabouin via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
• Damacio Page def. Will Campuzano via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 1:02
• Anthony Njokuani def. Mushin Corbbrey via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 1:24
• Scott Jorgensen def. Noah Thomas via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:13
• Mackens Semerzier def. Wagnney Fabiano via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 2:14
• Eddie Wineland def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Charlie Valencia def. Coty Wheeler via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Deividas Taurosevicius def. Javier Vazquez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)*

* Decision was met with boos from the crowd and many observers scored the fight in favor of Vazquez.

Click here for more WEC 43 coverage.

Cerrone (154.4) and Henderson (155) meet for the WEC interim lightweight title in the WEC 43 main event, which airs live tomorrow on Versus.

The official weigh-in results for WEC 43 were:

• Donald Cerrone (154.5) vs. Benson Henderson (155)
• Rich Crunkilton (156) vs. Dave Jansen (156)
• Raphael Assuncao (146) vs. Yves Jabouin (146)
• Damacio Page (136) vs. Will Campuzano (135)
• Anthony Njokuani (156) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (156)
• Noah Thomas (136) vs. Scott Jorgensen (136)
• Mackens Semerzier (146) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (145.5)
• Manny Tapia (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
• Cody “Ox” Wheeler (135) vs. Charlie Valencia (134.5)
• Javier Vazquez (145) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (144.5)

Tapia-Wineland was first-reported by the Northwest Times of Indiana, while MMAjunkie was first to report Fabiano-Koch and Assuncao-Jabouin.

Tapia (10-2-1 MMA, 2-2 WEC) challenged for the WEC bantamweight title after going unbeaten in 11-straight fights to start his career, but came up short against title-holder Miguel Torres late last year, suffering a second-round TKO before losing to Akitoshi Tamura in May. Wineland (14-6-1 MMA, 1-2 WEC), who won the WEC bantamweight title in 2006 but lost it in his first attempted defense against Chase Beebe the following year, had won back-to-back fights before losing to Rani Yahya in April in his WEC return.

Fabiano (12-1 MMA, 2-0 WEC), the former IFL featherweight champ, was emerged as a 145-pound contender in the WEC with back-to-back victories over Akitoshi Tamura and Fredson Paixao to extend his unbeaten streak to 8-straight. Koch (8-0 MMA, 0-0 WEC) won two fights on a single night in April, defeating Tom Ahrens and Will Shutt via first-round rear naked chokes to earn a contract with the WEC.

Despite just one WEC bout, a unanimous decision over Jameel Massouh in April, Assuncao (13-1 MMA, 1-0 WEC) too is a featherweight contender, with wins in 5-straight fights following his lone career loss to bantamweight veteran Jeff Curran. Jabouin (14-4 MMA, 0-0 WEC) will make his WEC debut on a 4-fight win streak, most-recently beating JT Wells with a spinning back kick KO in November.

For the latest WEC rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

[Pictured: Wagnney Fabiano]

Miguel Torres and Takeya Mizugaki

• Miguel Torres (c) def. Takeya Mizugaki via unanimous  decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
  WEC Bantamweight Championship
• Joseph Benavidez def. Jeff Curran via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Ben Henderson def. Shane Roller via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:41
• Raphael Assuncao def. Jameel Massouh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Anthony Njokuani def. Bart Palaszewski via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:27
• Dominick Cruz def. Ivan Lopez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Wagnney Fabiano def. Fredson Paixao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rani Yahya def. Eddie Wineland via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 1:07
• Akitoshi Tamura def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Rafael Dias def. Mike Budnik via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Miguel Torres

WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres, challenger Takeya Mizugaki, and the rest of the ten-bout WEC 40 card tipped the scales Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

The event takes place on Sunday at the UIC Pavilion and airs live on Versus.

Both Torres and Mizugaki weighed in exactly at 135-pounds for their bantamweight championship matchup. Except for Mike Budnik, who weighed in at 149-pounds for his 145-pound featherweight preliminary bout, the remainder of the card successfully made weight for their contests.

The official WEC 40 weigh-in results were:

• Miguel Torres (c) (135) vs Takeya Mizugaki (135)
  WEC Bantamweight Championship
• Joseph Benavidez (134) vs Jeff Curran (135)
• Ben Henderson (156) vs Shane Roller (156)
• Jameel Massouh (146) vs Raphael Assuncao (145.5)
• Anthony Njokuani (156) vs Bart Palaszewski (155)
• Ivan Lopez (134.5) vs Dominick Cruz (135)
• Fredson Paixao (144) vs Wagnney Fabiano (146)
• Rani Yahya (136) vs Eddie Wineland (135)
• Akitoshi Tamura (135.5) vs Manny Tapia (135.5)
• Rafael Dias (145) vs Mike Budnik (149)*

* Dias and Budnik will fight at a catchweight of 149 pounds.

Bantamweight contender Brian Bowles (7-0) remained undefeated in a featured undercard bout, submitting Will Ribeiro (9-2) early in the third round.

WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia Results

• Miguel Torres (c) def. Manny Tapia via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:04
  WEC Bantamweight Championship
• Wagnney Fabiano def. Akitoshi Tamura via submission (arm triangle) — Round 3, 4:48
• Brian Bowles def. Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine) — Round 3, 1:11
• Joseph Benavidez def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Johny Hendricks def. Justin Haskins via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:52
• Mark Munoz def. Ricardo Barros via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:26
• Diego Nunes def. Cole Province via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Bart Palaszewski def. Alex Karalexis via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 1:11
• Cub Swanson def. Hirouki Takaya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Shane Roller def. Mike Budnik via submission (guillotine) — Round 1, 1:01

A knee injury suffered during training camp has forced top bantamweight contender Manny Tapia to withdraw from his June 1st title bout against WEC 135-pound champion Miguel Torres. There is no word as of yet as to how long Tapia will be sidelined, and a suitable replacement opponent for the newly crowned Torres will be announced shortly. The June 1st WEC card at Sacramento’s Arco Arena is headlined by the epic WEC featherweight championship showdown between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver.

Though a replacement has not been officially confirmed, Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2), who was originally set to face Damacio Page at the event, has reportedly signed on to face Torres (33-1) for the WEC Bantamweight Championship.

Maeda made his debut with the promotion at WEC 32 in February with a first round knockout of Charlie Valencia. Torres captured the bantamweight title at the same event with a first round submission of Chase Beebe.

For more on WEC 34 check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.

The promotion announced that WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres will also be in action that night, defending against challenger Manny Tapia.

In rumored bouts for the card, Jeff Curran will reportedly face Mike Brown, while Mike Munoz and Jose Aldo are scheduled to face to-be-named opponents in separate bouts.