With plans to hold as many as three events per month in 2010, Zuffa, LLC is reportedly considering merging its Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotions into a single brand in order to add new talent and competition to its events next year.
The report comes on the heels of the latest cancellation of a high-profile UFC fight after former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira withdrew from his scheduled bout with Cain Velasquez on the upcoming UFC 108 card due to a staph infection.
Rumours of a merger between the UFC and the WEC have run rampant since the Versus network, which airs live WEC events, was dropped from DirecTV earlier this year.
While the UFC focuses primarily on the heavier weight classes, the WEC has gained critical praise for its explosive and competitive bouts in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions.
With injuries creating havoc in the UFC, especially in the embattled heavyweight division, and a need for more top fighters in the WEC’s divisions, a merger does make sense and would provide current WEC athletes with a much larger stage to compete on.
The concern, however, comes in the proposed plan of holding as many as three events per month – 36 events in total – in 2010, as there is a very real danger that this could lead to lacklustre or hastily-assembled cards that do not showcase the top talent.
On the other hand, particularly in the lightweight division (which is present in both the UFC and the WEC), new challengers will ensure that there will be tough competition for all of the top 155-pound fighters for years to come.
Past and present WEC champions such as Mike Brown, Brian Bowles, Jamie Varner, Miguel Torres, Urijah Faber and Ben Henderson will be able to display their incredible skills in front of huge UFC audiences on pay-per-view or televised broadcasts on Spike TV.
While no official announcement has yet been made, the proposed plan of showcasing over 30 events next year will almost certainly require talent from both brands and a merger would help to faciliate this.
How it impacts the future of the UFC and the rest of mixed martial arts remains to be seen.