WEC 39 Late Change: Crunkilton Off, Lamas In

by DCRage on Feb 25, 2009 9:15 AM EST

MMAWeekly reports that Rich Crunkilton is now off Sunday's WEC 39 due to a knee injury. Ricardo Lamas is in on 4 days' notice to face Bart Palaszewski.

A change has been made to the upcoming WEC 39 card in Corpus Christi, Texas, as lightweight Richard Crunkilton has been forced out of his matchup against Bart Palaszewski due to a knee injury. Stepping in to replace him will be WEC newcomer Ricardo Lamas, who takes the fight on just four days notice.

The injury and new opponent were confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Tuesday evening.

Palaszewski and Crunkilton were set to be the co-main event of the evening opposite of the WEC featherweight title fight between champion Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia. All indications point to the fight between Palaszewski and Lamas still staying on the main card with the same slot as the previous bout.

Lamas will make his WEC debut with a record of 5-0 as a professional, training out of Chicago. He was a wrestler and also an assistant coach at Elmhurst College in Illinois, and trains jiu-jitsu with Jeff Neal.

WEC 39 takes place Sunday night from the American Bank Center. It will be televised live on the Versus Network.

Word going around was Palaszeski may have been in line for a WEC Lightweight Title shot when Jamie Varner returns with a win, not sure if those plans will change with Crunkilton being off.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

“Word going around was Palaszeski may have been in line for a WEC Lightweight Title shot when Jamie Varner returns with a win, not sure if those plans will change with Crunkilton being off.”

Um..they better book a rematch with Cerrone first.

by Bigperm on Feb 25, 2009 10:00 AM EST reply actions

The Cerrone rematch is the most likely scenario.

"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry

by Blackout612 on Feb 25, 2009 4:28 PM EST up reply actions

I don’t think the opponent change for Palaszewski will affect his standing in the Lightweight division. The division simply isn’t fleshed out enough to hold off reasonable options for contenders because they haven’t beaten other potential contenders.

I don’t see Cerrone getting the next fight with Varner. While the match ended under unfortunate and dubious circumstances, it was pretty clear that Varner had the match under control, hence the judges scoring in his favor. With another win under his belt, however, I think Cerrone can easily get back in line for another title shot.

"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard

by Brett Jones on Feb 25, 2009 10:26 AM EST reply actions

Wasn’t clear to me or several other people, I thought that Varner was gassed and ready to be finished not to mention I had the fight a draw until the knee. Cerrone more than deserves a rematch and Varner needs to give it to him to make up for a very shady finish to his title defense.

by Raker on Feb 25, 2009 5:22 PM EST reply actions