Popular featherweight Urijah Faber, sidelined since a June loss to Mike Brown due to a broken hand, will square off with Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 on January 10 in Sacramento, California.

Pictured: Urijah Faber

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)

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.

LaRosa (14-1) will rematch with Modafferi (12-4) on the November card. LaRosa defeated Modafferi via decision in their first meeting in 2006. Since then, LaRosa has won seven-straight, including wins over Julie Kedzie, Shayna Baszler, and Kelly Kobald, while Modafferi has won six of her last seven fights including winning the K-GRACE openweight tournament.

The key women’s matchup was originally slated for the AFL’s November PPV debut event which was recently pushed back.

Assuncao (11-1), a submission specialist, will take on Joe Pearson (30-11-1) at the Chicago event. Assuncao has won three straight bouts following his first career loss to Jeff Curran in late-2006. He holds notable victories over Joe Lauzon and Jorge Masvidal. Pearson, who trains out of Miletich Martial Arts, is also a submission specialist who had won four-straight before being knocked out by Bill Kamery earlier this month.

The full card for the Ironheart Crown XII features:

• Gideon Ray vs. Juan Magana
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Joe Pearson
• Tara LaRosa vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Tommy Lee vs. Charles Wilson
• Matt Fiordirosa vs. Rob Menigoz
• Achour Esho vs. Josh Lee
• Brad Fonck vs. Nick Janowitz
• Louis Taylor vs. Adriel Villa
• Mustafa Hussaini vs. Antonio Canas
• Jeff Serafin vs. Chris Albandia
• Ricardo Lamas vs. Christopher Martins
• Derek Langone vs. Tony Marti
• Joey Benoit vs. Keith Smetana