Reed Harris Blog - Youngstown, Here We Come

(WEC founder and General Manager Reed Harris will provide an exclusive blog to WEC.tv. Once a week, fans will have the opportunity to take a peek inside the life of the man who co-founded the WEC in 2001.)

By Reed Harris

As you may have heard, we are going to Youngstown, OH on Sept. 2 to host a live show that will air on Versus. I know that Youngstown has great fight fans, so I’m really excited to bring a show to that area. Plus, the fans in Cleveland and Pittsburgh are only a short drive away, so it will be fun to have them at our first event in Ohio.

Unfortunately, lightweight champion Jamie Varner is injured and out indefinitely. With that said, we’ve decided to match up our two top contenders and have them fight for the interim 155-pound belt on Sept. 2. If you haven’t had a chance to see Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson fight, make sure you make it a point to check this one out in September. It’s going to be an awesome showdown. These guys absolutely deserve a crack at the title and I expect this one to go down to the wire.

“Cowboy” is coming off a big submission win over James Krause on June 7. From Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, Cerrone is one of my favorite fighters to watch. A good striker and grappler, he likes to trade with his opponent and always brings an exciting style to the cage. We all know that he wanted a rematch with Varner, but this fight with Henderson could be better. I talked to Donald late last week and he’s really anticipating this bout.

In his two fights since joining the WEC, Henderson has impressed me a lot. He is a ferocious wrestler and rarely ever fails on a takedown attempt. That could pose problems for “Cowboy.” Plus, he is a phenomenal striker, as he showed against Shane Roller in April. Could this fight begin a long title reign for Henderson? Never say never. All I know is that we’ve delivered some really solid main events lately and this one should continue the trend.

With Torres-Bowles on August 9 and Cerrone-Henderson on Sept. 2, my travel schedule just got a lot busier. Next week, “Cowboy” and I will fly to Youngstown to meet with the media in the Ohio area. We’ll do our best to get the area fired up about the September show. The Covelli Centre in Youngstown is an awesome arena to see a fight, so we know the fans will respond once tickets go on sale. The buzz there is already building…

As soon as I come back from Youngstown, I have a media breakfast to attend at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. The nation’s top reporters will join Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, and I as we pump up our August show at Hard Rock. From there, it’s off to the UFC Fan Expo to meet with fans. If you are planning to attend the Expo (and you should), make sure to stop by the WEC booth and say hello. I always like interacting with fans and I’d love to meet some of you.

After the Expo and UFC 100 conclude, I’ll be joining Miguel on a media tour in Los Angeles. We have some great meetings planned and it will be nice to touch base with the fight reporters in California. Both the English and Spanish media have embraced us well and this will be a good chance to catch up with them.

As you can see, my schedule is a bit hectic. I might even owe Mrs. Harris a vacation after it’s all said and done. Ha ha. But all in all, it’s exciting to see the WEC really taking off. That makes all the miles logged worth it. When I founded this company in 2001, I knew it had the potential to explode. Eight years later, I am watching it grow and gain more fans by the day. WEC is here…and it’s here to stay.