I figured it is time to do a list of WEC fighters from the merger (and from the merger only) who have fought/will fight on one of the UFC's various broadcasting platforms. For fairness I will also include fighters who were originally put on the "dark fights" but had their bout shown on Spike/Versus/PPV on delay.
To be considered a "WEC fighter" in this fanpost you must have been affiliated with the WEC at the time of the full merger on January 1st, 2011 and have had at least one fight with the organization. I will count fights from TUF 12 Finale as it began the partial merger of 135 and 145.
Fighters put in italics currently have fights scheduled to air on TV/Facebook
Bantamweight
Demetrious Johnson (UFC 126, Facebook Prelims)
Miguel Torres (UFC 126, PPV Main Card and UFC 130, Spike TV Prelims)
Antonio Banuelos (UFC 126, PPV Main Card)
Brian Bowles (UFC on Versus 3, Versus)
Damacio Page (UFC on Versus 3, Versus)
Urijah Faber (UFC 128, PPV Co-Main)
Eddie Wineland (UFC 128, PPV Co-Main)
Brad Pickett (UFC 130, Spike TV Prelims)
Total: 8 of 19 fighters from WEC/UFC merger
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Featherweight
Josh Grispi(UFC 125, ION Prelims)
Dustin Poirier (UFC 125, ION Prelims)
Mike Brown (Fight For the Troops 2, Facebook Prelims)
Rani Yahya (Fight For the Troops 2, Facebook Prelims)
Mark Hominick (Fight For the Troops 2, Spike TV)
George Roop (Fight For the Troops 2, Spike TV)
Chad Mendes (UFC 126, Spike TV Prelims)
Zhang Tie Quan (UFC 127, Facebook Prelims)
Raphael Assuncao (UFC 128, aired on Spike TV and PPV via delay)
Erik Koch (UFC 128, aired on Spike TV and PPV via delay)
Leonard Garcia (TUF 12 Finale and UFN 24, def. Spike TV by split decision)
Chan Sung Jung (UFN 24, Spike TV)
Jose Aldo (UFC 129, PPV Co-Main)
Mark Hominick (UFC 129, PPV Co-Main)
Diego Nunes (UFC 131, PPV Main Card)
Total: 15 of 24 fighters
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Lightweight
Donald Cerrone (UFC 126, Spike TV Prelims)
Danny Castillo (UFC on Versus 3, Facebook Prelims)
Shane Roller (UFC on Versus 3, aired on Versus via tape delay)
Anthony Njokuani (UFC 128, Spike TV Prelims)
Kamal Shalorus (UFC 128, PPV Main Card)
Ben Henderson (UFC 129, PPV Main Card)
Anthony Pettis (TUF 13 Finale, Spike TV Main Event)
Total: 7 of 10 fighters
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UFC 131 is schedule for June 19th so by June 19th, 30 of the 53 (57%) fighters who made it from the WEC to the UFC will have been broadcast. In case you're wondering, here's a list of the 21 who either haven't been shown or aren't schedule to be shown any time soon:
Bantamweight
Will Campuzano (Released)
Dominick Cruz (Champion)
_______________________
Featherweight
Javier Vasquez
Yuri Alcantara
Fredson Paixao (Released)
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Lightweight
So what you can make of this is that 135 is indeed not getting a whole lot of broadcast action but the UFC is trying to focus on showcasing the featherweight division and the few lightweights they didn't decide to chop off after WEC 53.
Hopefully with Cruz/Faber on the horizon the UFC starts to push the 135 brand more because it sucks when guys like Benavidez and Jorgensen are in the dark zone.
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