Brian Bowles is aware of the saying “A champion isn’t really a champion until he defends his belt.” But he’s also aware of “To be the Champ, you have to beat the champ.”  Which he did last August when he brutally beat Miguel Torres to win the WEC Bantamweight title.  Standing in his way is 15-1 Dominick Cruz who has also been dominating the bantamweight division in the WEC.

Brian Bowles is coming off a successful win against WEC fan favorite Miguel Torres who’s only two losses out of his 39 fights has come from Bowles, and Ryan Ackerman back in 2005. After only three professional fights in MMA, Bowles broke onto the WEC scene in 2007 when he submitted Charlie Valencia only 1:38 into the first round.  His next 5 fights have seen either a first round or second round stoppage, except for a third round submission against Will Ribeiro.  Bowles gained the Bantamweight title after a KO victory against Torres, after Torres went in for a rush, and Bowles countering with a right hook and a flurry of ground-and-pound punches.  He is set to face off against Dominick Cruz March 6th.

When asked about Bowles last fight, Cruz had this to say. “I don’t see it as a lucky punch, I think that anybody that fights knows that if you have a standup battle with four-ounce gloves on, somebody is going to get knocked out. Brian has good power in his hands and he hit a calculated counter. It’s something they obviously went over in camp. You could see it in the video. People can say what they want, but you know what you’ve done to prepare for a fight and I’m sure that’s what’s going through Brian’s head now.”

As well on the card Torres makes his way back into the cage after his loss to Bowles.  Joseph Benavidez is the only person standing in the way of the road back to his belt.  If both Torres and Bowles happen to pull off the win, it could be one of the most anticipated rematches of the year. Although Torres has already proclaimed he wants to fight Bowles next, even if the belt isn’t on the line, Bowles said he hasn’t really considered a rematch yet and is just focusing on what’s in front of him.

“At this moment, all I’m focusing on is Cruz,” Bowles said. “That’s easy to say, but that’s what I’m doing. If it works out (Torres and I) fight again, cool. If it doesn’t, whatever. All I have to do right now is worry about defending my title.”