UFC President Dana White Finally Announces WEC Merging into UFC

UFC President Dana White has finally announced that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) will finally merge early on in 2011.  White stated "the last fight for the WEC will be be in December [2010]."  The UFC President then elaborated that every fight in the 155 lb division will roll into the UFC and the UFC will add all those lower weight classes.


We at MMAMaxim.com think it did not make sense to have a confusion of brands (UFC vs WEC) unless the WEC fighters were amateurs (which they are not) and Zuffa was trying to distinguish the level of proficiency of the fighters by the WEC.

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UFC ALSO ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH VERSUS TO AIR FOUR FIGHTS IN 2011

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – In a media conference call today, Ultimate Fighting Championship® President Dana White announced the UFC is adding two new championship divisions at bantamweight (135lbs.) and featherweight (145lbs.), while also announcing a new television deal with the VERSUS Network to air four UFC fights in 2011.

“As the UFC continues to evolve and grow globally, we want to be able to give fans title fights in every weight division,” said White. “This is a big day for the sport and the athletes who will have the opportunity to fight on the biggest stage in the world.”

The two new divisions feature WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo who will now be recognized as the reigning UFC featherweight champion, and WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. White confirmed that the winner of the Dec. 16 lightweight title fight between WEC champion Ben Henderson and top contender Anthony Pettis live on VERSUS will take on the winner of the UFC 125 main event title bout between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. This upcoming fight will serve as a UFC lightweight title unification bout to be held next year.
White also stated the UFC is expanding its presence on the VERSUS Network in 2011, and will increase its number of UFC events from two to four per year. Versus is scheduled to air the two remaining live WEC events in 2010 on Nov. 11 and Dec. 16. The Nov. 11 event in Las Vegas will feature “The California Kid” Urijah Faber’s debut at bantamweight as he takes on Takeya Mizugaki, while the Dec. 16 event in Glendale, Ariz. will feature Henderson-Pettis and a bantamweight title clash between Dominick Cruz and challenger Scott Jorgensen with the winner becoming the new UFC bantamweight champion.

“We have a great relationship with the VERSUS network, and we look forward to working with them to give UFC fans even more free fights in 2011,” said White.