The only WEC event held in Ohio, WEC 47 coincided with the Arnold Sports Festival, which annually draws up to 150,000 sports fans to Columbus, Ohio.[4] Previously, the UFC held three cards – UFC 68, UFC 82 and UFC 96 – in Columbus during this festival.
Bryan Caraway was expected to face Fredson Paixao at this event, but was replaced by Courtney Buck after injuring his knee.[7] The Paixao/Caraway bout was rescheduled for WEC 50 that August, where Paixao won via split decision.
Stephan Bonnar filled in for Frank Mir as color commentator, due to training commitments for Mir.[8] Bonnar was named as the promotion's final permanent color commentator shortly afterwards.
This was the last WEC event to feature announcer Joe Martinez as the regular ring announcer, due to family reasons and to focus full-time on his work with Golden Boy Promotions.[9] Martinez later made a one-off return at WEC 52, as his replacement Bruce Buffer was in Germany to announce UFC 122.
The event drew an estimated 373,000 viewers on Versus.[10]
Fight of the Night: Leonard Garcia vs. George Roop
Knockout of the Night: Anthony Pettis
Submission of the Night: Joseph Benavidez
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Ohio Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the WEC and also do not include the WEC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.[12]