Live and in living color, the Glendale fighter will make his World Extreme Cagefighting debut Nov. 18 at WEC 44 in Las Vegas when he takes on former lightweight champion “Razor” Rob McCullough as part of the live broadcast airing on Versus. The announcement came as Darabedyan agreed to a reported five-fight contract with the organization on Tuesday.

“I think just about everything,” said Darabedyan of the emotions he was experiencing. “I’m really excited, I’m nervous.

“Finally, all these years and I get on a big show, it’s on TV, everybody will be watching.”

Darabedyan made his mixed martial arts debut in July of 2006 and has built an 8-1 record. He’ll now debut for the WEC, which is owned by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“This is a huge step up,” said Darin Harvey, Darabedyan’s manager. “It’s from the small time to the big time.”

Talks between Harvey and the WEC had been going on for roughly a month and, originally, plans were thrown around for Darabedyan to fight in December for the company. However, McCullough’s original opponent, Anthony Pettis, withdrew from the fight due to an injury and the opportunity was given to Darabedyan.

“That’s why I tell my athletes to be ready at any time,” Harvey said.

Despite a bit of short notice and the caliber of opponent, Darabedyan didn’t hesitate when offered the chance.

“Fighting Rob, being on the main card, I said why not,” Darabedyan said.

McCullough (17-5) is likely to be the most formidable and certainly the most well-known opponent Darabedyan has faced. The 32-year-old, who has trained with Tito Ortiz as a member of Team Punishment and is married to adult film actress Lexxi Tyler, is a former WEC lightweight (155 pounds) champion.

In direct contrast, Darabedyan is far from well-known, at least not yet, anyhow.

“He’s absolutely on his way,” Harvey said. “He’s the best 155-pounder in the world nobody’s heard of. …Win or lose, his name will be on the map.”

And Darabedyan’s hoping that his unknown status may very well help him get the win as McCullough is likely unfamiliar with Darabedyan’s game and will be hard-pressed to find footage of his fights.

Upon hearing the news Tuesday, Darabedyan was back training hard for the fight on Wednesday.

“I don’t have too much time [to train], but I think I have just enough time,” he said. “It’s not the best, but I have to do what I have to do.

“I have a pretty tough fight on my hands, but every time I’m pushed, I push a little bit harder.”

The Second HyeFighter to Walk to the Ring was Bantamweight Gabriel Tolmajyan and amature star in Europe with over 220 fights to his credit including a 2nd place finish in the 2006 world games.  His opponent was another undefeated warrior Sammy “June” Yenenez with a record of 2-0-2. Tolmajyan and Yenenez started the first round exchanging jabs and feeling ther distance with Tolmajyan a tall southpaw getting the better of the exchanges with counter right hooks and crisp left hands. Midway into the second round Tolmajyan Hurt Yenenez with a one two combination having Yenenez cover up and tie up Tolmajyan preventing him from going down, Tolmajyan  showed his growth in the ring  by not getting careless and wasted no energy and went back to work behind his jab, again hurting Yenenez with a hard left hand to the body that got Yenenez back peddling. Tolmajyan went in for the kill but the Bell sounded saving Yenenez. Round 3 was more of the same with Tolmajyan Landing at will as Yenenez tried to end matters with once punch attacks. Tolmajyan used his foot work to avoid getting hit.  In Round Four Tolmajyan again Hurt Yenenez with a body shot and was immediately grabbed  by his opponent. After the Final Bell all three Judges Awarded Tolmajyan with a 40-36 Victory,uUpping Tolmajyan’s Record to 3-1 and dropping Yenenez to 2-1-2.

Third match was in my opinion the Fight of the night as Artyom “LionHeart” Hovhannisyan 6-0 2KO’s and Knock Out Artist Luis “Whiteboy” Lugo 10-3 7KO’s   brought the crowd to there feet from the opening bell as they engaged in a toe to toe War from start to finish. Hovhannisyan after his longest layoff, started the fight with caution feeling out the Dangerous Lugo feeling his range and working his jab as lugo tried to work the body of Hovhannisyan, with 1:30 into the round the two exchanged punches with Hovhannisyan rocking Lugo in the corner, to his credit Lugo shook it off and went right after Hovhannisyan throwing heavy shots to the body.  Round two through six was not only a fight of the night but could very well be a fight of the year, as both fighters threw over a 120 punches in each round Hovhannisyan using sharp uppercuts in the inside hurt Lugo time and time again but the rugged Mexican Warrior would not go down, in round 3 Lugo had his best round as he was able to land his lead right hand and left hook to the body, Hovhannisyan was fighting with a hurt right hand he suffered in the second round. In the Fourth round Hovhannisyan had Lugo in the corner and threw a 12 punch combination that had the referee looking in close, but again Lugo fought out of it and survived another round. Round 6 hand both fighters in the center of the ring throwing punches till the Final Bell. After the bout the Judges Awarded Hovhannisyan with a unanimous decision with the scores of 59-55 and 58-56 twice. Hovhannisyan improves to 7-0 2KO’s as Lugo Drops to 10-4 7KO’s. Hovhannisyan has become a fan favorite in the local boxing scene not only for the Armenian fans but also everyone else. With his two fisted attack he should be showcased on Shotime and HBO in the years to come.

The Main Event of the Evening Feature the Popular Vartan “Vito” Gasparyan 9-1 4KO’s vs Heavy handed Anthony Charnell 7-4 6KO’s. This fight brings fresh new start to Gasparyan young career as he is now training at the Glendale fighting Club with Trainer and Fellow hyefighter Edmond Tarverdyan. With his new trainer and managment team lead by older Brother Mher Gasparyan Vartan showed much improvment as he dismentled Charnell in 2:30 into the first round. Gasparyan came out calm measuring his tall opponent behind a stiff jab as Charnell tried to circle away, Gasparyan found the chin of charnell with a sold one two combination that dropped Charnell for the first knockdown. After the mandatory eight count Charnell was allowed to continue but Gasparyan was right back in the face of Charnell Droping him again with a flurry of punches. Charnell was again allowed to continue but after a clean right hand to the chin the Game Charnell was on his back again as the referee waived of the bout 2:30 in the opening round awarding Gasparyan the Win.  The Win moves Gasparyan to 10-1 with 5KO’s and Charnell drops to 7-6 with 6KO’s.  I have followed Gasparyan’s career from his first fight and his improvment was very noticable under the guidences of Tarverdyan and the rest of his team, and with his work ethic and great amatur background we should see Vardan in some high profile fights the next few years.

The journey to become an elite boxing superstar is a marathon, not a sprint. Two well respected young prospects; Anthony Peterson and Vanes Martirosyan desire to become a part of the cream of the crop. And their talents were on display for the boxing world when both combatants won unanimous decision victories on Thursday, June 26, at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada .

Vanes Martirosyan 20-0 (13 KO’s) is spooky inside the ring. The 22 year old Armenian is technical in his approach, working an offensive attack behind a solid left jab. On this night, Martirosyan towered over the much smaller and overmatched Angel Hernandez from the sound of the opening bell. During the first minute of the bout, Martirosyan went for the knockout. The former Olympian used an aggressive assault highlighted by a quick right cross to the temple that sent a lackluster Angel Hernandez’s to the canvas.

At this point, many at ringside expected a short night. Yet, to his credit, Hernandez displayed toughness and rose to his feet. However, the Hernandez girt was not efficient enough to prevent the seemingly obvious Martirosyan triumph. Instead of pressing for the knockout, Martirosyan worked behind his jab, and threw the left uppercut at will, over the course of ten rounds, on way to a unanimous decision victory.

Sometimes in boxing, speed is power. In the main event of the night, the visibly strong Anthony Peterson used his excellent speed to baffle Fernando Trejo inside the ring. Peterson kept Trejo at bay by rapidly throwing a piston like jab towards the torso of throughout the duration of the bout. Most of the fight took place in the center of the ring. But, Peterson controlled the bout. At one point in round nine, Peterson connected with seven jabs in a row before Trejo even threw a punch.

The contest looked like a sparring session at best. If Peterson pressed the action he could have closed the show. However, the Washington D.C. based lightweight prospect was not going for the knockout, to the dismay of the crowd. In the end result was clear Peterson wins via a landslide unanimous decision victory. Peterson’s record improves to 27-0 with 19 KO’s.

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Once again Dennis Warner’s In Sync promotions has put together a great night of action at the San Manuel Casino, Headlining the Evening will be the WBC US title fight Between (champion) Edmond “the Diamond” Tarverdyan and (challenger) Hector “The Aztec Warrior” Pena, this fight will be a true test of Tarverdyan’s Youth vs Pena’s experience. Tarverdyan at the Age of 26 Captured the title via 5rd UD over Ben Yelle on 08-09-2007 which most ringside observer’s thought was the fight of the night with both fighters bleeding from round 2 till the final bell. Now the young armenian gets ready to defend his title for the first time against the very popular and hard nosed challenger Pena, Pena got his title shot By stopping Denny “Hard As” Stelle in his last outing, Pena a ring veteran of more the 70 fights in 15 years of fighting is a true warrior of the ring, Having fought the very best during his career , the most notable mention is none other then Ramon “The diamond”dekker. Tarverdyan is no stranger to the ring having over 30 fights under his belt. When we last had a chance to talk to the young Armenian champion, he had a little message for Pena and the other fighters in his weight class. “I have been in the sport from the age of 16 and have seen Hector fight many time, i have lots of respect for him as a fighter but that means nothing when we get in the ring the best man will win and i belive that i am the best man, i have been training very hard for this fight and nothing is going to stop me from keeping my title, I am ready and willing to fight anyone that is put in front of me.