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The UFC merging little sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting into the fold beginning in 2011 will have the biggest impact on not only the UFC, but the sport of MMA as a whole. It's a move that will be beneficial to the fighters, beneficial to the fans and ultimately, beneficial to the bottom line for the UFC.
There is one drawback to losing the WEC, and that's the numerous free cards that the organization ran on the Versus network, featuring some of the best MMA action around from event to event; but this new reality in the MMA landscape features far more positives to out-weigh the loss of some free MMA.
The UFC has taken some criticism for a few of the cards that have been put together recently, most notably the highly disappointing UFC 119 event and next month's UFC 122 in Germany, but by bringing in the roster of lightweights, featherweights and bantamweights from the WEC, there is less of a chance of seeing cards like those.
For starters, bringing two more champions into the mix assures that most events, and certainly a vast majority of the pay-per-view events, will have title fights on them. Part of the issue with pay-per-view events like September's 119 and the UFC 108, 109 and 110 events that kicked off 2010 were the fact that they had less than ideal headliners that didn't have much on the line. With seven champions the UFC will have an easier time in having a meaningful fight atop a pay-per-view event.
Now, they're going to need to build up the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to make those championship fights draw to the UFC audience, but that's the other benefit of this move: every fighter will instantly gain more viewership and fanfare by being in the UFC. While the Versus shows almost always delivered high level MMA and exciting entertainment, it was really only the hardcore fans that were tuning in from event to event. The ratings continued to suffer despite the quality of the product, leaving these potential star fighters without the exposure or money they deserved.
Just adding the UFC name to the product boosts the level of recognition these fighters are going to get. Having Jose Aldo promoted as the UFC Featherweight Champion and having the UFC showcasing his highlight reel heading into his UFC debut on New Year's Day will bring him more fans and recognition than anything he's done in the WEC thus far. The same goes for all of the smaller weight fighters who have been featured by the WEC. The UFC name will bring the eyeballs, and they'll be able to do their thing until they get to the point where their name can keep those eyeballs coming back time and time again.
The excitement level these fights bring to the UFC will also help to flesh out the UFC's lesser cards to a point where the overall quality of event will be raised. There have been plenty of top heavy UFC events over the years, where the level of fight or fighters drops off after the main or co-main event, but with a fresh new roster of bantamweight and featherweight fights to throw into the mix that drop off should lessen.
For the fighters themselves, the added exposure from being in the UFC will mean increased paychecks as well. One of the major detriments of the WEC system was the fact that the biggest stars in the organization were making peanuts compared to their UFC counterparts. And when there's little to no difference in the level of excitement or skill that the top bantamweights and featherweights brought to those events, the fact that they weren't paid accordingly was more than unfortunate.
The next step for the UFC is a season of The Ultimate Fighter dedicated to the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. If both Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres are ready, willing and able, you match them up as coaches and lead into a #1 contender bout for the Bantamweight Championship. That season can then be used to introduce either a number of fighters already under WEC contract, or some new blood in both divisions. Either way, they'll want to focus on building the recognition of these fighters.
After that, the UFC can look to snag some of the top talent at 135 lbs. and 145 lbs. that are available, including Japanese MMA standouts such as Michihiro Omigawa, Marlon Sandro and Bibiano Fernandes.
In addition to the excitement that it can bring to fans, it's a great move for the UFC and the sport as they continue to expand. Dana White discussed during the conference call the fact that there is such a demand for the sport in so many different markets that they need to continue putting on big events and entertaining events. Adding in two more weight classes gives numerous options to help boost cards and fill events, and will help the UFC in their continued worldwide expansion.
And although there will technically be less free MMA throughout 2011, what's being paid for on pay-per-view should be of a much higher level for the fans plopping down their money.
For the UFC, having the best fighter in each and every division is a long term goal. If and when the sport gets bigger at both flyweight and in the women's weight classes, and there is an opportunity to bring in those divisions to the fold, the UFC will make those moves, but they've now got control of seven weight classes. It will help further the sport with the smaller fighters getting their due, and it's a new destination that fighters fighting under lightweight can look forward too.
Today's news is nothing but welcome, and a long time coming. Fans, fighters and the UFC will be reaping the benefits of this move for years to come, but for right now everyone looks forward to January 1 and a new era in the sport of MMA.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/penickstake/article_7349.shtml
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