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Glendale, Ariz. – UFC, are you ready for “Showtime?” Because he’s coming soon. On a night wrapped in historical overtones, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis dethroned WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson at Jobing.com Arena to earn a UFC title shot. Both fighters waged a back-and-forth battle that was worthy of Fight of the Night and may have been decided in the final 80 seconds of the fifth round. With the fight apparently up for grabs, Pettis went airborne, acrobatically bounced off the cage fence and executed a beautiful high kick that landed flush on the hometown champ’s jaw and dropped him to the canvas. It was an electrifying and unprecedented move that no one in press row had ever seen, like something out of a “The Matrix” movie. It sent the live crowd at the arena into mass hysteria. Henderson gamely weathered the crucial assault and got back to his feet, but that sequence may have anchored his defeat by unanimous decision. The riveting match was fittingly the last bout ever for the decade-old WEC, which is set to merge with its sister organization, the UFC. That means Pettis, a Milwaukee native who starred in an MTV episode of “World of Jenks,” is slated to fight the winner of the Jan. 1 bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and unbeaten challenger Gray Maynard. An emotional Pettis, whose father was murdered during an armed robbery in 2003, credited his coach Duke Roufus for the one-of-a-kind kick that made a lot of people’s jaw drop. “We practice that all the time,” Pettis said, “and I’ve got 10 more kicks like that coming when I get to the UFC.” Roufus called the kick an “Ong Bak” kick, noting it is an old Muay Thai technique. Pettis dropped Henderson on another occasion with a stiff right hand, but barely survived a rear naked choke in the fourth round that was close to being dead on. Pettis was not the only man to make history Thursday night. Dominick Cruz did, too. Cruz’s handsome reward for a night’s work: Two world titles and a slice of history. The super-quick Californian used his ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ striking style to beat up No.1 challenger Scott Jorgensen for five rounds to become the UFC’s first-ever bantamweight champion.

While Thursday’s WEC event in Arizona marks the end of an era for the home of the best lighter weight fighters in the world, it’s a journey that’s far from over for lightweight prospect Tiequan Zhang, whose second WEC fight, against Danny Downes, will be seen by millions in his home country of China, a nation rapidly becoming a hotbed of mixed martial arts excitement and coverage. Guangdong Television and Shanghai Greater Sports will televise the Zhang vs Downes bout in China, and the bout may also be viewed on QQ.com and Sohu.com, which, along with being the UFC’s online home in the country, is also the official web partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the official partner of the NBA, ESPN, Adidas and Sports Illustrated in China, with over two billion registered worldwide users. QQ.com has also brought Zhang to the masses with over 110 million page views over a 30 day period for articles and pictures related to his upcoming fight . Zhang, 32, is taking such attention in stride, even though his pre-fight blogs on Sohu.com are reaching more people than any professional fighter has ever reached at one time. Unbeaten in 17 fights, including a stirring first round submission win over current UFC fighter Pablo Garza in his WEC debut in September, Zhang is the first fighter from mainland China to fight in the organization. And since he displayed his talents for fans around the world, the buzz at home in Beijing has gotten louder and louder, even prompting new visitors to the China Top Team gym. “We don’t change a lot at CTT, but there has been an influx of training partners since my first debut at WEC 51,” he said. “Many old Sanda teammates, and MMA friends from the old days have come back to start training again.? It has given me a lot more opportunities to work with different types of fighters.” And while his status as a pioneer is established as he helps clear the way for more and more Chinese fighters and fans to embrace mixed martial arts, he is not looking towards his 2011 future in the UFC; his focus is strictly on talented prospect Danny Downes. “He is young, but he is a solid fighter,” said Zhang. “He never hesitates to move forward and isn’t afraid to crash into another fighter.? I like that style as I am in some ways the same.? I think my experience in Chinese Sanda is definitely going to be beneficial for me as I will be bringing strikes and movements he will probably not be accustomed to, and hopefully that will give me an advantage.? I am also comfortable on the ground and will use this mixture to win this fight.”