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UFC and WEC to merge


Shmee

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This may not be big news to many, but for MMA fans this has been a long time coming. Beginning in January, the World Extreme Cagefighting brand will stop running shows and fold into the UFC brand. (Source)

WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will be named the new UFC champ at 145 lbs, same for the winner of the 135 lb title fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen at the last WEC card in December. A mini-tournament will be held for lightweights, with the winners of Ben Henderson/Anthony Pettis (WEC) and Frankie Edgar/Gray Maynard (UFC) squaring off to determine the champion.

This isn't quite as big a splash as the UFC and PRIDE merger from a few years back as there is only one shared weight class between the two brands, but it's still pretty exciting. WEC consistently puts on the most exciting fight cards in the business, and now the energy from the lighter guys will be seen on a bigger stage.

 

 

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Long time coming is right. Ever since Zuffa bought em, this has been inevitable. But yeah, this is still very good news. Those WEC fights are entertaining 9 times out of 10, & putting these guys in the UFC will do nothing but good for the sport. Another good move for MMA.

 

 

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In all honesty, I think this is great idea. The possibility of a title fight in every card, a lot of talented fights could happen plus, I finally get to see Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo on a UFC card. Plus, the possibility of Ben Henderson fighting Frankie Edger or Gray Maynard. I could see it happening because of Bruce Buffer announcing & the Faber/Aldo fight was presented by UFC. This is a great idea. The Bantam & Feather weights put on great fights plus with the possible addition of Flyweights coming in, The U IS the most dominant MMA organization in America. Almost the world.

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In all honesty, I think this is great idea. The possibility of a title fight in every card, a lot of talented fights could happen plus, I finally get to see Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo on a UFC card. Plus, the possibility of Ben Henderson fighting Frankie Edger or Gray Maynard. I could see it happening because of Bruce Buffer announcing & the Faber/Aldo fight was presented by UFC. This is a great idea. The Bantam & Feather weights put on great fights plus with the possible addition of Flyweights coming in, The U IS the most dominant MMA organization in America. Almost the world.

In April, the first WEC PPV was not even billed as a WEC event, just for a title. That was a sign that full integration was going to occur sooner than later (even thought Zuffa owned them since 2006). The additional weight classes may allow them to have every PPV with a title fight, if they continue with 15-18 PPV events a year. This week also had the talk of the UFC on network TV, the WEC relationship with Verses could lead them to NBC.

On the downside for fans is that cards which had tickets ranging from $35-200/ticket will now go into the UFC range which are basically double.

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