Is the WEC Getting Outshined Again?
by Kid Nate on Nov 11, 2009 2:54 PM EST
in MMA News
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From Kevin Iole's mailbag:
Brown and Aldo will meet for Brown’s World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight title in what legitimately figures to be one of the finest matches of 2009 on Nov. 18 at the Palms in Las Vegas.
That will put it three days before UFC 106, in which Lesnar was scheduled to defend his title against Shane Carwin in the main event. With Lesnar forced to withdraw because of mononucleosis, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin were bumped to the UFC main event. However, the move also affords Brown and Aldo to escape Lesnar’s considerable shadow.
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WEC general manager Reed Harris said more conflicts with the UFC are inevitable in 2010. He said choosing a date is a tricky process that involves working with Versus, which broadcasts WEC cards, as well as venues.
Here's Reed Harris talking to Heavy.com:
When we decided to focus on the lighter weights we knew we had our work cut out for us. But if you look at boxing for example, it took many yeas, but now the lightweight guys are the guys everybody is interested in. If you look at the time frame, I only started really focusing on the light weights about eight months ago. Now look where we are at. Everyone in the MMA industry says the best lightweights in the world fight for WEC. I get calls from across the world, from Japan, from Korea, from Brazil, with coaches saying 'I've got lightweight fighters we want to bring into the WEC, because these guys want to fight the best.' It used to be the other way around. We used to have to chase after them.
I think in the next year you're going to see a lot of things happening in the WEC. We've got a new deal with Versus. We're going to go to the PPV model. We're going to possibly go to Mexico and Canada and expand internationally. We're going to do more shows. I'm looking forward to next year. You're going to see alot of things happen with the WEC and I think that we are starting to step out of the shadow of the UFC. They are our parent company and they cast a big shadow. I think going to the lighter fighters, which was something Dana (White) wanted us to do and, by the way, I didn't want to do. Now I look back and I'm really glad we did that.
It's often been said here and elsewhere online that the UFC and the WEC should merge. That would allow WEC champs like Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres Mike Brown and Brian Bowles to beef up UFC cards in desperate need of top tier fights. It would also dramatically increase the pay for the top fighters in the smaller divisions.
But the reality is that Zuffa signed a deal with Versus that insists on a strong branding separation between UFC and WEC. And Spike TV is very mindful of their prerogatives. They're not going to let anything that can be perceived as a UFC fight to air on the Versus network.
With Versus' declining reach, that deal is looking less attractive by the day. It served its purpose to box out competitors from getting significant cable coverage but now Zuffa is paying the price.
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It's really sad that the 1 of if not the best fight this month will be the least watched
As for the PPV comments, be prepared to fail. I honestly dont see any company right now besides the UFC that is going to be able to a successful PPV.
If the Strikeforce card was on PPV instead of CBS you would have seen it do Affliction numbers at best.
As for the WEC, I love the WEC, but if your biggest fights draw about the same amount of viewers as an episode of TUF do you really believe anyone is gonna pay to see WEC fights.
It surprising that their even still talking about this. Because they have people that watch sites like these and the comments and the over whelming response to a WEC PPV has been fuck you I’m not gonna start paying for more fights.
WEC/Versus deal is a case of Zuffa trying to expand market share rather than expanding the market itself. This may have been a viable strategy earlier, but they’ve cemented their place as the top dogs of MMA and need to redirect their strategy. Dana publicly shows no signs of doing that. I expect/hope his conversations with Lorenzo are significantly different than what he says to the media.
so much hate for Versus.
Even worse when I have to watch a shitty Edmonton vs Colorado? game instead of this event.
Get better coverage for the WEC Zuffa, esp in Canada
There's hate to be spread
I’m pissed as hell that I’m gonna miss this fight because Comcast (owner of Versus) decided to get in a pissing match with DirecTv and jack up rates. Don’t believe it for a second when Comcast insinuates they aren’t asking for more money – they are. Look at the wording: “zero total dollar increase”. That’s weasel words for “We’re willing to lose subs so we can keep the ones that stay more money”.
Just make Spike the Official UFC/WEC/CSI rerun channel and be done with it…
"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK
The WEC will sell 2 ppv’s…
If you look at all the major sports what sold it was the format not the athletes. Now taking into account that this is a combat sport it can still work.
The WEC needs to become a product of brand/format rather than brand/topfighters like the UFC is because that space is taken and gone.
The only format structure that works in this business are tournaments. So the proper tournament format needs to be utilized then sold to the viewer. Once the viewers get hooked on the format then it’s gravy.
Primary monetization for the WEC needs to be TV as ppv is a non-starter.
The best at 135 and 145 is coming to the UFC… it’s inevitable. Versus needs to accept the concept of “guys who used to fight on UFC ppv’s can now be seen for free on versus in a unique and novel format” being better than where things are now and headed.
If I had to rank the problems with WEC
1. Being aired on Versus
2. Those weight classes are never going to be big sellers
3. Programming dates haven’t been great but the first 2 items on my list are much bigger killers.
Saying the weight classes will never be big sellers is incorrect. Lightweight used to not draw for shit, now UFC 101 is one of the top selling PPVs of the promotions history, featuring BJ Penn as the main draw. One can argue that post UFC 100 hype helped, but those were still huge numbers. Not to mention that Pretty Boy Floyd fights at comparable weight to Faber, and is one of the top draws in boxing.
I don’t understand the conflict of having a WEC event 3 days before a UFC event?
I used t think WEC should stay independent of UFC, now I’m indifferent…they and Zuffa should do whatever is best, business-wise. I still think having some WEC fights on a UFC card is the best way for WEC to gain more fans.
Why not bring the top guys from the WEC to the UFC and keep the WEC as a B-League? That way the contract with Versus can still be completed, and the top 135 and 145 guys can compete on the big stage where they belong.
If it wasn’t for the fighters’ pay, I wouldn’t complain at all. Free top level MMA is great and I look forward to WEC shows as much as UFC PPVs.
Maybe the WEC would be getting outshined if people focused more on writting articles about how great their shows and fighters are. Instead of continually writting the same crap about the the WEC should merge with the UFC, How Fedor is god or how the UFC is in shambles because a couple of their top fighters got hurt. But hey why not make yet another repetetive thread about something we’ve gone around and around with for months now because that’s really going to help the WEC shows get exposure.
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