R.I.P, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC 53 spoilers)

**Toad** · 12-17-10, 06:27 PM

The WEC had it's last show last night. It was around for 9 years and never hit big-time status, but consistently put on some really amazing and free cards on Versus. Watching Urijah Faber, Donald Cerrone, Miguel Torres, Cub Swanson and Jose Aldo was what got me into MMA. It focused on lighter weight classes (155, 145, 135, 125 at the end) and was renowned among knowledgeable MMA fans as a great promotion. It was bought out by the UFC awhile ago, and now UFC is rolling the WEC into it's main cards. This means that fighters getting fight of the night (and there are awesome fights in the WEC so they have a great shot) get $80K a piece instead of $10K. It'll mean a big payday for those that stick around and I'm happy for them, but sad that a promotion that consistently put on cards that many hardcore MMA fans liked more than a bunch of the UFC cards.

Famous for fast paced action, the WEC tried to put on a great last show. It's main event was Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis at 155 lbs, for the WEC belt (being retired) and a title shot for the UFC 155 lb belt against the winner of Jan 1st's Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard title fight. Everyone wondered if the WEC would be able to summon up the magic one last time, and Henderson/Pettis put on a fantastic 5 round war, with fast-paced striking, takedowns/reverses and great submission attempts. Round 5 with most people scoring the fight 2 rounds to 2 rounds so far. And then, with 1 minute to go in the 5th round, Pettis pulls this absolutely amazing move off and takes the fight:

That is how you say goodbye to a promotion, and let the UFC know the new blood has arrived! WEC never die!

**Consultant** · 12-21-10, 09:43 AM

That's the wildest kick I've ever seen...who's going to be the first copycat?

**BigHub** · 12-22-10, 02:29 AM

Ya I saw that on TV the other night... pretty crazy how he round houses' his ass with the same leg he plants off the cage with.

**Toad** · 12-26-10, 03:47 PM

Yeah, I loved that match so much. It is also nice in that the winner of the Henderson/Pettis fight was granted an automatic title shot against the winner of the Frankie Edgar/Gray Maynard fight on Jan 1st, for the UFC lightweight belt.

Many people were questioning that and saying that it would be a tough fight for people to get into because the WEC belt holder would be outclassed vs the winner of Edgar/Maynard, but Pettis showed a lot of creativity and versatility in his fight and now that fight is going to get a lot more popularity. It desperately needs it, too, since a lot of people can't seem to get behind Frankie Edgar even though personally I thought his 2nd fight with BJ Penn was incredible, and that he showed amazing footwork, speed and cardio. Gray Maynard (aka Lay Praynard) is a fairly boring fighter. He has a strong wrestling base and generally takes his opponent to the ground and elbows him until the fight clock stops and he gets a decision victory. It'd be a different story if he had good jiu jitsu and was going for sub attempts while he was on the ground (or if he would posture up and throw bombs to finish the fight), but that's not the case.

Edgar vs. Pettis would be a GREAT fight where you're going to see a wide array of great striking attacks and counters from both fighters (and probably some great takedowns/reversals/sub attempts), and Maynard vs. Pettis will still have people watching since Pettis is far from one-dimensional and puts on exciting fights, with a strong ground game to match his striking.