UFC Will Absorb WEC Starting Jan. 1, 2011

Added on Nov 01, 2010 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Many websites speculated that the news coming from UFC President Dana White would be about the beginning of a New UFC Network. However, in a media call this afternoon he has announced the UFC will absorb the WEC. The WHOLE thing. He mad it a point to mention, all 61 fighters in the WEC, are now under contract by the UFC. PERIOD.

This has been a desire for the UFC for a long time. A few years ago, they absorbed the bigger weight divisions in the WEC, and the transition went really well. According to Dana this was all a matter of time, and it was always the intent to roll them together. “The Timing is Now!” White said. He continued “The timing was right, The reality is we purchased the WEC, we started getting these lighter-weight guys exposure on television. Now, as the UFC continues to grow globally, and we’re doing more and more fights, now we’re bringing in those lighter weight classes.”

The UFC will still do Free UFC fights on Versus network, but all in all there will be a net loss of free MMA on the channel. “We did a contract to bring 4 UFC cards to versus in 2011,” Dana continued “We did two in 2010, and they went well. They were never upset with the WEC numbers, but obviously the UFC fights were bigger draws for them. So they are happy about this too.”

Versus said in a statement today “VERSUS today announced it will expand its partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) to feature four UFC events as part of its live programming in 2011, following the announcement that the UFC will be adding championship divisions at bantamweight and featherweight next year. VERSUS will air two remaining live WEC events this year, scheduled for November 11 and December 16, and the network’s 2011 schedule will include classic WEC fights and other taped programming.”

With regards to the staff of the WEC employees, Dana made sure everyone knew no one was going anywhere. “The UFC just got bigger, we have a lot of work to do. We haven’t figured out the new roles of the staff, but EVERYONE who worked for the WEC still has a job with ZUFFA and the UFC.” In case you were wondering gentlemen, YES, that includes Ring Girl Britney Palmer.

UFC purchased Pride fighting so they have experience combining organizations. “Yes we will have to unify the titles. Kind of like what we did with Dan Henderson with the light heavyweight belt. The winner of Benson Henderson’s next fight will fight the winner of UFC Main Event Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard.”

Everything will stay the same. Many people have pointed out the Octagon is much larger then the WEC cage, but the Octagon isn’t going anywhere. Every fight will be in that cage. Also, expect to see WEC video’s in the run up to these bouts coming up for the UFC. “We have the biggest fight library in Mixed Martial Arts,” Dana said “Yes we will see those fights on episodes of ‘Unleashed’ and in the pre fight packages for the fights.”

So when will the change take effect? “Right away! At UFC 125, January 1, Jose Aldo will be defending his belt. We haven’t sorted out his opponent yet, but he will be fight at UFC 125.”

This does have a few negatives, but all in all they pale in comparison to the positives for the UFC, and is a big step forward in their efforts to take MMA into more countries efforts.