World Extreme Cagefighting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. It is the sister promotion to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), both owned and produced by Zuffa, with a focus on lighter weight classes. The WEC uses the same rules as its older and much larger sibling, but holds its matches in a smaller octagonal cage.
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[edit] History
The organization was started in 2001 by Scott Adams and Reed Harris. Between 2001 and 2006, most of their events were held in Lemoore, California and aired on HDNet.
In December 2006, Zuffa purchased the WEC. With the purchase, the WEC continues as a separate promotion with its own roster of fighters. Adams has been retained after the purchase as the organization's matchmaker. Harris and Adams were named co-General Managers and are both active in the new WEC.[1]
Zuffa made several changes to the promotion after the purchase. It discontinued its pentagonal cage for a modified version of the UFC's octagonal arena. The championships of fighters who were contracted UFC fighters were vacated. The promotion moved to focus on lighter weight classes, abandoning their heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions and championships, and retaining their bantamweight and featherweight divisions—two divisions not currently present in the UFC.[2] Since the purchase, most of the WEC events have been held in Zuffa's hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The WEC currently airs their events live on Versus, formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network and on The Sports Network in Canada. [3] WEC's first live event was broadcast on June 3, 2007 on Versus from The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
[edit] Current champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title Defenses | Previous Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light heavyweight | 205 lb (93 kg) |  Brian Stann |
March 26, 2008 (WEC 33) | 0 | Doug Marshall |
| Middleweight | 185 lb (84 kg) |  Paulo Filho |
August 5, 2007 (WEC 29) | 1 | Vacant |
| Welterweight | 170 lb (77 kg) | Carlos Condit |
March 24, 2007 (WEC 26) | 2 | Vacant |
| Lightweight | 155 lb (70 kg) | Jamie Varner |
February 13, 2008 (WEC 32) | 0 | Rob McCullough |
| Featherweight | 145 lb (66 kg) | Urijah Faber |
March 17, 2006 (WEC 19) | 5 | Cole Escovedo |
| Bantamweight | 135 lb (61 kg) | Miguel Torres |
February 13, 2008 (WEC 32) | 1 | Chase Beebe |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ken Pishna, Ivan Trembow (December 11, 2006). UFC Buying World Extreme Cagefighting. MMAWeekly.
- ^ Savage, Greg (January 4, 2007). The Savage Truth: When is a Loss a Win?. Sherdog.
- ^ Pishna, Ken (December 28, 2006). UFC on HBO; WEC on Versus. MMAWeekly.
[edit] External links
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