Write down the date of October 28, 2010 as the day the World Extreme Cagefighting organization was merged with its big brother, Ultimate Fighting Championship. In a conference call which was deemed a “major announcement” UFC President Dana White announced that the UFC would be expanding to include the bantamweight (135 pounds) and featherweight (145 pounds) weight classes. Along with that, the WEC’s lightweight class (155 pounds) will also be merged with the UFC’s lightweight class. As all announcements, the UFC-WEC merger is going to have its fans and opponents. Either way, this is an interesting direction that Zuffa is taking the combat sports game.

What this means for fans
Fans of the WEC may be worried that they will no longer see great fights for free on Versus. While this may not be 100 percent valid, it is a plausible concern. Expect that big name fighters such as Jose Aldo, Uriah Faber, Benson Henderson and others will no longer perform on free television. Instead, their fights will become part of Pay Per View events which the fans sell out their hard earned money to enjoy. Hopefully, more of these events will feature the high action fights that the WEC has displayed during the past few years. I would gladly enjoy watching a UFC event that could feature Jose Aldo, Georges St. Pierre and Cain Velasquez all on the same card. Also, those free events will be can be used as a new outlet for Zuffa to market new names that enter the UFC and help those fighters gain a strong following.