WEC may merge with the UFC

[kdawg32086]

I think giving the WEC 155 champ a title shot right away is stupid. I mean Varner is good by WEC standards. But guys like Penn, Florian, Edgar, Sherk, Huerta, Stevenson, Lauzon, Maynard, Griffin would prob beat him. I mean, unless he can beat all the other top dudes in the weight class, he shouldn't be getting a title shot. I think the talent difference is obvious by the impact the top WEC guys at 170, 185, and 205 all have had in the UFC. If WEC gets disbanded, it might actually be good to see Varner go to Japan or to PFC to fight while he improves his skills. Because as of now, I'd say he's the 10th best 155er at best.

Varner was in the UFC before he went to the WEC. He clearly is good enough to be in the UFC right now, though I agree a title shot is a bad idea. Unifying titles only works if both orgs are on the same level.

Unifying the titles was a bad choice of words, what I meant was the WEC champ vs. the UFC champ for the UFC championship. Sorta like when Hendo and Page fought and Hendo came out with the Pride Championship but it was nothing but for decoration.

As Cammo said, I think that only works if the organizations are on the same level. Pride and UFC were big worldwide powers. WEC is still pretty small and is exclusive to versus.

[CPT]

Another thing that just occurred to me (may have occurred to others already, but since I don't buy PPVs, it didn't) is that if they absorb the BW and FW divisions into the UFC, you will have to pay to see the top fights in those divisions.

[Posey H8er]

Report: UFC-WEC merger in 2010
http://www.tatame.com/2009/11/15/Report ... er-in-2010

Biggest MMA event of the planet, UFC has plans even bigger to 2010. Sources close to WEC informed TATAME.com that the UFC will add new weights categories on the next year, bringing athletes with contract with WEC, that was bought by Zuffa – same organization that commands the UFC – in 2006.

This year, UFC scheduled 20 events – WEC made only eight –, but the bigger amount of athletes would force the organization to make a bigger number of annual shows. According to sources close to the event, Zuffa called all the fighters with contract with WEC in Las Vegas earlier this month, telling about the merger and revealing that they plan three events for month in the future.

[damo[23]]

I actually have to say I like it.

I mean when you see the likes of Torres, Faber and Brown talked about in the same sentences as some of the other great champs, but see how much coverage and compensation they get for being as skilled ... its a bit of a cop for them.

More belts in the UFC means more "exciting" on paper main events (who doesn't like the prospect of a title fight?) and should, in theory, mean less down time between title fight cards (and more chances for multiple title fight cards as well).

Not to mention you gain two great divisions that I am sure the fans will love.

Cammo made the point back in August, it will mean that, especially with the likes of light weight, there should be more free cards to compensate, since you can't over load the buyer with more PPV's.

[Cammo101]

TUF 12 should be 135 and 145 pounders.

[damo[23]]

They could get Rob Browning back for that, maybe have Junie as a coach.

[CPT]

My post from Cammo's thread about that possible BW/FW season of TUF:

I'd love to see a FW/BW season of TUF. However, it clearly won't be for a while, as I think they already have plans for TUF 11 (I forget what weight class it is though). That probably puts it a year or so away, so it's hard to pick a coaching matchup that makes sense. Hendo/Marquardt would be pretty good. I think any 2 of Tito, Forrest, and/or Franklin would make a pretty interesting season, and each guy would hopefully get a win or two between now and then.

As for the contestants, it's a tough call. The top 4-5 guys in each division should be exempt, but then I really think the winner would have more name recognition to the average fan. It depends how they handle the merger.

I think I have a pretty good idea to introduce them to the fans though. They would have to have title fights and contender fights on or around the same time the show debuts. So, let's say, they hold Brown, Faber, Aldo, and Fabiano out of the FW tournament, and Bowles, Torres, Mizugaki, and Cruz out of the BW tournament. These names could (and probably will) change in the time between now and the show. For the sake of argument, let's go with the fights we have lined up right now, just to illustrate how it would work.

On or around the debut of the show, have the title fights (Brown vs. Aldo and Bowles vs. Cruz), most likely on PPV. On the Fight Night leading into the premiere, have the other guys fight in #1 contender fights (Faber vs. Fabiano and Mizugaki vs. Torres).

Then, on the season finale, or possibly the PPV immediately following the finale, have the winners face off in a new title fight. Then, the winners of each weight class on the show can get a title shot, without it seeming like they jumped over a bunch of guys, and against a champ that fans have now seen at least twice.

It would be tough to say who the contestants might be, but I think Cammo did a pretty good job of putting the lists together. There might be guys willing to come in from other promotions to fight for a spot in the UFC. Conversely, there might be some guys who are already established and don't want to have to go through the TUF experience to get in.

I still have my reservations about a merger anyway. I like the idea of the smaller guys getting more exposure and more money, but I'm not sure if I want it to come at the expense of the awesome (free!) cards that the WEC puts on every month or so.

[wade2bosh]

145 and 135 should be added to the UFC. Each of these divisions is just as talented as 170 (GSP, Fitch, Alves, Hardy, Kos) and 185. (Silva, Nate, Dan, Vitor, Maia).

We would also see a bunch of asian fighters coming over to test themselves and some guys moving down to 145. We might even see some catchweight superfights at 150.

Putting WW, MW, BW and FW and crappy fights elsewhere on free tv and fight night while LW, LHW, HW and title fights are on ppv would be great.

Sengoku/Dream have the best 123/125 fighters tho so we cant add that.