The Transformation of the WEC

Promoted from the FanPosts.

The WEC has become known for exciting, free cards that bring non-stop action and great attention to the featherweight and bantamweight divisions in mixed martial arts.  Fighters like Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Uriah Faber and Miguel Torres have proven that the "smaller" guys bring the fight every time and are capable of putting on barnburning fights filled with world class striking, elite Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and effective wrestling.  What these divisions do not have is world class depth. And having successfully transitioned its Lightheavyweight, Middleweight and Welterweight divisions into the UFC, it is time for the WEC to continue this progress and merge its Lightweight, Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions into the UFC.  More after the jump...

The WEC's first foray into the pay-per-view (PPV) model, which has made the UFC so successful, was met with a tepid response at best.  Zuffa was optimistic about a card showcasing Jose Aldo versus Urijah Faber, the promotion's biggest draw, for the featherweight championship,  the rematch between Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone for the lightweight championship, and Manny Gamburyan versus Mike Brown to establish a number one contender for the featherweight strap.  The initial estimate for PPV buys was around the 250,000, but the promotion did not reach this lofty goal and came in around 150,000 buys, with initial estimates being as low as 50,000 buys.  The interesting item to note is that Zuffa used its UFC PPV team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan to announce the event and the WEC logo was nowhere to be found.  Why would Zuffa create the strongest PPV card that they could possibly create, at the time, but remove the WEC logo from both the center of the octagon and the fighter's gloves?

The answer to this question is that Zuffa management is not confident in either the growth potential of the WEC or the ability of the lighter weight classes to carry an independent organization.  No other national promotion continues to promote fights without a heavyweight or lightheavyweight division, and the WEC will not be successful with the PPV model without having the heavier weight classes, or a large infusion of talent with their current weight classes.  The solution to this problem, like referenced earlier, is to merge the best of their weight classes into the UFC.  By adding the 135, 145 and the best of the 155 pound weight classes to the UFC, the UFC increases the depth of its organization and ensures that the fans will not be subject to cards such as UFC 108 or UFC 109.  Although these cards ended up having really great fights, the initial reaction from both hardcore and casual fans was a distinct, "meh".  Imagine adding Aldo/Faber as a Co-main event and Brown/Gamburyan as main card fights for UFC 108? 

So what happens to the WEC?   It becomes the triple A of the UFC.  By partnering with Spike, the WEC becomes both a feeder league for the UFC and the replacement for "The Ultimate Fighter" (TUF) series.  TUF has become stale.  Only the introduction of Kimbo Slice has brought any attention to the franchise in the last 5 seasons, and the greatest concern from fans is that there is too much "reality" show and not enough fights.  By replacing the TUF franchise, the WEC will give the hardcore fans what they want (more fights) and exposes the fighters to the same level of marketing that  TUF currently provides.  The biggest difference will be that the fighters will not be a product of the Zuffa marketing machine (hint, hint Yager), but a product of their ability.  By holding monthly cards, on free television, the WEC can compete with lower level promotions, such as Bellator, for both ratings and new prospects.  The Cole Konrad's and Ben Askren's of the world have no need to not be under the Zuffa umbrella.  Instead of cutting fighters, such as Ben Saunders, Dana White can "demote" fighters to the WEC and continue to reap the benfits of the prior marketing that had been leveled on those fighter's behalf. 

The transformation of the WEC into a minor league will provide Zuffa with instant competition to rival promotions, a solid replacement to TUF and provide quality talent for the UFC.  It will provide fans with free fights and new prospects to watch. The WEC will allow proud veterans to go out on their own terms without sacrificing the quality of the UFC PPV cards.  What more could we ask for?  What did I miss?

Disclaimer: I posted this late Friday on another site.