Reed Harris says UFC and WEC Lightweight Superfights are possible
Posted on July 18, 2010, 07:17 PM by Joey SantosusWhen the UFC's parent company Zuffa LLC purchased World Extreme Cagefighting in 2006, it didn't take long before their rosters began to merge. While the WEC's light heavyweight, middleweight, and welterweight divisions were absorbed by the UFC, their lightweight division remained, making it the only common weight class between the promotions.
WEC General Manager, Reed Harris recently discussed the idea of their lightweight division becoming one with the UFC's, however he does not feel it is likely at this time.
“Joe Silva’s got a ton of guys at 155 that he’s got to get fights for too. I don’t think he’d be that excited about taking on all our guys."
However, with guys like Ben Henderson (12-1-0), all but cleaning out the division, it makes sense to test him against the best competitors available. In fact, the idea of Henderson facing BJ Penn or Jamie Varner stepping in the cage with Frankie Edgar is not as far fetched as one may have previously thought. According to Reed, that is something that has already been considered:
"Dana has mentioned maybe he'd like to do superfights; maybe we could see Henderson against one of their guys or something like that. We're certainly open to all that," Harris stated.
As for the time being, the WEC lightweight division will remain intact. With no official word of any such cross-over fights at this time, Ben Henderson is expected to defend his title before the year is out.
HT: mmaweekly.com
Comments
would be more than a year away
would be cool
It's nice to see professional MMA organizations under quality management and direction. WEC lw's are good too, lot of good competition in the WEC. Love to see Aldo give BJ a beating.
Hope this pushes through.. It's gonna be great!!
i wanna see benson vs bj penn
The LW's interest me big time. The people that came over when WEC dropped weight classes aren't doing that great with the exception of Munoz. Some could make an arguement for Condit but I don't think he is doing that great. Aldo of course is an exciting fighter but I think his game would change if he put on weight.
i think the factor with lower weights are the size, alot of them can put muscle but not reach and height
aldo is a decent sized lightweight... taller than some and longer reach as well... tyson griffin is smaller than aldo technically speaking
feather*
ild like to see aldo move up to 155 (not for good) and face a real good wrestler in the ufc.. maybe a sherk, maynard even edgar.. see how he deals with that...
I don't see any reason to have WEC and UFC separate, Aldo would easily draw as many ppv's as a main event as any but the heavyweight division champions and it would just allow UFC to have more champions which would mean more cards each year with title fights.
As for the LW division it just feels like UFC has a A group and a B group which is not exactly fair to a fighter like Henderson. Also what would happen if they did a super fight and the WEC champion won? Would he suddenly become UFC champion and drop his WEC title or would WEC be considered the A group suddenly?
I'd love to see it but in the end, I think the UFC is just too big for their britches and wouldn't go along with it. I hope I'm wrong.