UFC/WEC Merger?
by Annie83 on Jan 28, 2009 7:03 PM EST
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PrintThere has been many rumours over the course of the last year or two surrounding the UFC and the WEC to merge into one organization. The UFC is by far, the biggest MMA organisation out there today, with no signs of slowing down. The WEC has been the little brother for quite some time now. It is nowhere near as popular as the UFC but it's starting to get some momentum.
With the recent news/rumour of Carlos Condit making the transition to the UFC, many people are questionning the future path of the WEC. Are they going to eliminate the WW devision to make room for the female 145lb division? Are they going to try and focus solely on 155lb and below? Are they going to try to merge the two organisations so they can make cash hand over fist even more than they already are?
In my opinion, IF the UFC is planning on taking over the WW division, they should try to merge the two organisations. Prior to a merging, they could, take one fight from each division in the WEC that made a submission, knock out or fight of the night and broadcast them. For Free. Right before a UFC on PPV.
It would let the average UFC fan see the WEC. I myself, have never missed a UFC since i began tuning in about four years ago. I have yet to watch a WEC card. I have Youtubed WEC fights and seen them on SportsCentre and they are pretty good. The advertising on WEC flat out sucks. I think they need to get it out to there to the casual fan. When you order PPV there is sometimes a pre-fight show you can watch instead of the screen that reads "Thank you for your purchase. Your PPV will start in X minutes," Make that pre-show the best of WEC. Get it out to as many people as possible. Two or Three WEC fights could go a long way to making it just as main stream as the UFC, and make a potential merger quite seemless.
Well, i've had my say. Now its up to all of you.
Cheers.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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I wouldn’t mind the WEC merging into the UFC especially since there have been some rumors of the WEC putting on PPV’s this year. I refuse to fork over more than $50 per month on PPV’s and the UFC has that $50 no matter what the card looks like. The more fighters under the Zuffa umbrella, better for me!
I would buy WEC 34
Over almost any UFC PPV from the last year. Perhaps 84 I’d buy over that.
Gimme 1 Round!
Absolutely against any merger of the two
I would rather see the UFC fighters fight. They already have to many fighters to show, they don’t have enough shows for more divisions, etc…
Do YOU want to pay for 2 ppvs per month from the UFC? Because that is about what it would take to fit all those fighters in and get them the proper number of fights.
So what if Condit leaves the WEC and goes to UFC. He is UFC caliber and probably the only WEC WW that would have much impact.
Let the WEC cater to the lighter weights, 155/145/135/125. I don’t even see them adding a women’s division, and rightly so. I just don’t think there is enough depth in women’s mma to support several divisions as well as other promotions needs. Let them have the occasional women’s superfights like Gina vs Cyborg, that is enough until the sport grows. I don;t want to see women like Kim Couture’s last opponent, just to fill a card.
Additionally, they can use the WEC to enter Japan without the UFC stigma.
Sorry, but I don’t see the benefits to a merger and I don’t think there is any talk of it, beyond mma blogs.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
Would you be interested if they just renamed WEC ## into Ultimate Fight Night ##? This would be a good boost for the little guys to have the UFC name attached to them.
I don’t care what they call it, it just needs to be separate, imo.
If they don’t want to use it as a vehicle to enter Japan, then attaching the UFC name to it could be productive.
i think there is tremendous growth potential for the lighter weights amongst fans. people seem to be really enjoying the 135 and 145s, myself included. I think this is a good niche for the WEC to grow off of. Let’s face it, the higher weight fighters that were in the WEC were not UFC caliber, thus only a few made the move. I would prefer to see the lighter weight guys fight in the WEC, where there seems to be no end to the depth of talented fighters.
Funny you should bring this up, I was thinking during the card Sunday, that they should go with UFC2, much like Arena football has AFL2 or whatever. i know that AFL is in turmoil now, but AFL2 is actually doing quite well. Or something like UFC Light, kind of catchy and actually says exactly what the WEC is or would be.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
And don’t misunderstand me, i enjoy watching the WEC just as much as the UFC, for the most part.
I don’t mean to bash either entity, both are extremely entertaining, imo.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
I don’t misunderstandimentate you, I also think it would be a good thing for them on network TV too. They would get a lot more ad revenue for the fighters (no one will buy space on Donald Cerrone’s shorts, those things are disgusting). It makes me sad to see top 10 135ers making less than TUFers.
WEC is great fun to watch. If I had it my way I would fold the top level talent into the UFC and just say that the WEC is now a farm team for UFC talent. Anyone making their debut would come with footage of past fights too. It would also mean the end of PPVs without a title at stake in the UFC + more free MMA with a higher profile.
Also, lol, I have long been a proponent of adding a WEC title with say something like Faber vs Pulver (before they had fought) to a UFC card as a special WEC attraction. But that would have been a one time only or once per year type of thing, just to get the WEC some exposure.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
I don’t want to be too glib or undermine this fanpost, but there are some underlying business realities which seem to get overlooked when people talk about interactions between WEC and UFC. They are separate entities for a reason, and the only way I see them merging is if WEC is given up on and folded.
Wouldn't be surprised
Wouldn’t be the first time when ZUFFA realized they couldn’t make money with a venture and kicked everybody in the organization to the curb except “selected personnel”
Gimme 1 Round!
The only reason why I upgraded my satellite service was to get Versus so I could watch WEC. I would like to see WEC on ESPN – I think that would be a good fit since Versus is pretty much a sports channel anyway – they could do a Friday night Fight once a month or may be do something like WEC Wired.
On a different note, when are we going to start seeing Pride Unleashed on Spike?
"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
I think I’d like to see a merger when the WEC’s contract with Versus is up. Versus is just not getting the exposure that the WEC deserves. They could still have about the same number of fights with a combination of 2 extra UFC PPVs a year, 4 extra Ultimate Fight Nights, and having more cards be 10 matches. I just prefer the idea of all the weight divisions (other than SHW) being represented in the sport’s #1 promotion.
If they can’t or won’t do that though, I’d prefer they just keep the WEC as it is, with a Welterweight Division, and just promote the top two or so fighters each in the LW and WW divisions about every 18 months, and have 4-man tournaments to determine new champions. Also, they really do need to at least cross-promote on PPV even if they’re contractually barred from cross-promoting on Spike. If it’s Best-Of-WEC pre-PPV specials, plugs for the WEC during the PPV itself, or a UFC-WEC joint show, Zuffa really should be doing more to let people know that the WEC is out there.
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