WEC Officially Axes Welterweight Class; Adds Tiny, Tiny Man Division

( Welcome to the WEC, fellas. )

From a new press release on WEC.tv : Las Vegas, NV (USA) – World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC®) today announced that WEC will add a flyweight division to the WEC championship divisions. The organization will no longer actively promote the welterweight division, continuing its focus on the lighter weight classes including lightweight (155 pounds), featherweight (145 pounds), bantamweight (135 pounds) and flyweight (125 pounds). Carlos Condit, reigning champion of the WEC welterweight division, and Brock Larson, as well as other top 170 pound WEC fighters will transition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization to continue their athletic careers as UFC® welterweight fighters. With the addition of the flyweight division, the WEC has cemented its status as the home of the greatest lighter weight fighters in the world,” said Peter Dropick WEC Vice President of Operations and Production. “We are excited to launch the 125 pound championship division, and look forward to giving our fans the best and most action-packed flyweight fights in the sport.” More information about the WEC flyweight division will be announced at a later date.

So that’s it — Condit and Larson are gone, and they’ve taken the 170-pound division with them. And it’s only a matter of time before the WEC completes its differentiation from the UFC, axes the lightweight class, and sends Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone up to the big leagues. But while it’s good to see the WEC adding divisions to make up for the ones they cut, you’d think a women’s division (or two) would come before a horse-jockey division. It kind of bothers me when women’s MMA is roadblocked due to a perceived lack of depth , then Zuffa installs a new men’s division where the #1-ranked fighter doesn’t even have ten wins yet, and the #8 fighter has won four of his ten fights . (And of course, how many American MMA fans out of 100 would be able to pick them out of a lineup?) Does this make any sense from a marketing perspective?

And the idea of 125-pound men fighting — doesn’t that seem kind of, I don’t know, unnatural to you? All your talk about their speed and endless gas tanks will seem beside the point when Frank Mir enters the cage and asks them to take us through the fight. Either the flyweights are going to have to stand on a step-ladder to reach the mic, or Mir is going to talk to these boys on his knees…

Comments

nicey Says:

…….

New Brunswick Says:

I don’t know, but I have a hard time watching a couple fighters that I could in all probability kick their a**. Christ I weighed 125 lbs when I was 13 years old.

squirrelnuts Says:

i wonder if my opinion of flyweight fighters (amusing little garden gnomes) is what super heavyweights think of everyone else in the world?

Pac-Man Says:

Seriously, doesn’t Zuffa know that were still waiting to see Gina Carano and Christianne Santos beat the s**t out of each other?

BuckWild Says:

I think the flyweight div is a good idea……..

as long as they are forced to wear pointed shoes ! 🙂

FMJ-Junkie Says:

All jokes aside, anyone who will step into the ring and compete have my respect. Although the flyweight division is under-developed, I hope WEC will change that. It is not the the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.

Canadian hoser Says:

that last comment was terrible

Canadian hoser Says:

vick made that line famous

BM2 Says:

It’s not particularly hard to pick Mamoru Yamaguchi out in a line-up.

Cinders Says:

the caption under the photo made my day. please tell me where i can send you a tshirt!

flyweight kid Says:

hey. mark my words. if i ever get a chance to compete, ill show some love to cagepotato and maybe yall will see my ugly mug up here soon. alls i gotta do is drop 10 pounds and ill wreck that division.

Canadian hoser Says:

I think the MOSTCOMMENT THIS MONTH section of this site agrees with the rest of us that the best show so far this year was affliction 2. There were a couple good highlights in the penn vs gsp card but overall was a very weak card. The last 2 ufc cards were terrible, plus all the injuries sustained in the fight for the troops card, the ufc is on the decline. With all the lightheavies in the ufc they should have atleast 2 top contender fights in that division on each card. Putting Fitch on the undercard was a huge mistake, the ufc think they own the mma world. Why not put anderson silva against one of the top 5 guys in 205 division, they gave penn a title shot at 170 without even a fight in that division in 2 years yet silva fight the sandman and cote now leites what the f**k, talk about protecting your main man.

Scar Tissue Says:

“Either the flyweights are going to have to stand on a step-ladder to reach the mic, or Mir is going to talk to these boys on his knees…”

That made me picture Mir bringing a chair into the cage so the wee little fella’s can sit on his lap.

Canadian hoser Says:

I’m surprised dana hasn’t offered TUG GUY a shot at the spider, seems like a pretty marketable fight for the potato fans.

Skippybob Says:

I think that they should shrink the cage, for god’s sake. That’s a long distance to go when your legs are so short. They are going to gas before they start.

TUF Guy Says:

Anderson Silva is too small to fight me. I don’t care how fast and elusive he is, he couldn’t not cause any real damage. On the other hand, I would cause major damage on any point I conected with him.

Dana White Says:

Hey TUF Guy we have been f’king reading up on some of your work. We f’king like it. It’s f’king gold. So my question is, do you wanna be a f’king fighter?

Surfin Dave Says:

I like the photo of the Oompa Loompa cast reunion!

And I can’t wait for the controversial fight when one of them is accused of rubbing some orange slippery substance all over his body.

Jay Says:

This isn’t going to help my recovery from Midget Tossing addiction any easier. Thx Zuffa!

Creamy CA Roll Says:

Sucks that WEC can’t bring in Gina due to EliteXC’s legal bulls**t. Now that American Gladiators is gone, and after that Pepsi money dries up, I’m really really hoping that Gina will finally pursue a p**no career. POV Pervert would be a nice series for her to star in.

Seriously though, they need to sign Kid Yamamoto ASAP since the Japanese won’t touch his pot smoking a**

Anonymous Says:

Common now, i’m 26, 6 foot and 122lbs, and very healthy 🙂

Surfin Dave Says:

@Anonymous:

Damn! Corey Hill is a Cage Potato reader!!

Joey Says:

Funny you guys would mention that the Flyweight top fighter doesn’t even have ten wins yet, when someone like Brock Lesnar is the Heavyweight champ and your pick for a top ten heavyweight when the guy has one 4 fights and three wins to his name.

Pewnt78 Says:

It will take more time to put together the Woman’s division.

Flyweight is a ready made division, with smaller fighters cutting down, and existing fly’s coming in.

I would like for Zuffa/WEC to have Primetime Show (like BJ/GSP) type show to showcase the women of mma…..After they are lock into a contract.

donnie1st Says:

Zuffa-UFC is just a business , its not passion anymore , sad I dont want to see them go, I want both affliction and UFC to stay so they can bring the best out of them . competition is always good for the fans but wtf with UFC decesions and cards recently makes me sick

Bootylam! Says:

It’ll be neat to see these cute li’l fellas scrap. Why discount these guys just because they weigh what I did when I was like 9? I’m with that guy on his dog/fight post.

KG Says:

I seriously just took a 125lb s**t right now… I wonder if it can get a WEC contract?

Johnny B Says:

I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I could see the UFC getting rid of it’s lightweight division (if/when BJ retires). That would leave each promotion with four divisions. Plus it would give the WEC some bonafide stars (Sherk, Kenflo, etc) for their impending PPV shows.

Whisper Says:

By “flyweight” do they mean ‘pubescent boys?’ I think I’m seeing another possible hurdle to having MMA sanctioned in New York…

Affliction=Geh Says:

Now, moving from the WEC to the UFC means more viewers and more money, right? You made it sound like they were going the way of Gina and that no-talent gorilla “wheres my >banana bread 😀< dawg" Kimbo. I could honestly do without the midget flyweights, but you do see some good knock outs in bantam and featherweight fights, and they usually dont slow down incredibly, so maybe this will make the WEC more exciting? Any thoughts? reply Krazy Kracker Says: Hey look, an entire organization that BJ Penn could DOMINATE. Sounds right up his alley. reply Astroninja Says: "Either the flyweights are going to have to stand on a step-ladder to reach the mic, or Mir is going to talk to these boys on his knees..." Mir: Okay take us through the fight. Flyweight: Sure thing! My, you're a tall fella! Do you need me to fix your shoes or make toys? reply KG Says: For once in my life, I could actually see Kimbo being dominant in this division. I actually believe he could hold the best at this weight class. If he was allowed to fight as his current weight, though. reply walrus Says: Lol @ Dana White reply Boboito Says: The creation of this division is an outstanding idea. Anyone who also watches boxing knows that the little guys are all action, no bulls**t. They can bang. They still have knockout power. Not to compare MMA to boxing too much, but if you look at some of the best fights in boxing in recent years, many have been in the 122, 126, and 130 division. Ex : Vazquez-Marquez I,II, III. Manny Pacquiao vs Morales, Barrera, J.M.Marquez. As far as there being no depth to the... "division where the #1-ranked fighter doesn't even have ten wins yet, and the #8 fighter has won four of his ten fights." This is because these guys realize very quick that (until now) there is no exposure and therefore no money to be made at this weight. With the creation of this division you'll see more guys at this weight. Guarantee once this divsion gets established and a couple of big names rise to the top, we will all thank the WEC for bring this division to the U.S mainstream. I do agree that there is plenty of talent and a market for a womens division too, thats bulls**t. These guys have brains though..they'll figure it out. reply Boboito Says: Exactly my brotha. bantams and feathers have endurance, speed, and enormously big balls for there little bodies (meaning they aint affraid, they throw). Its extremely frustrating and boring to watch two heavies or light heavies dance around for 2 1/2 min throw a two punch combo and dance again for another 2 minutes... or worse...sit there and lay on each other. reply Boboito Says: affliciton= geh that last one was to your last few lines. reply The irish car bomb Says: oompa loompa oompa de dee if you are wise you wont fight me reply FMJ-Junkie Says: Hey, Canadian hoser you must not get out much in the great white north, that phrase been popular in the great US of A for years, way before the Vick scandal! reply Anonymous Says: I have no interest in female MMA matches. If they add them to the cards I wouldn't watch. reply Post new comment Search HELP LIFT THE BAN ON MMA IN NEW YORK Show your support and sign our petition today! FIGHT OF THE WEEK POLLS MOST RECENT COMMENTS MrMox said bret - you think it is ok to on the post B.J. Penn’s Camp Formally Requests Investigation bret said bj is a punk. sure, he could on the post B.J. 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