For those who haven't seen the news, the UFC and its little sister organization the WEC merged today effective January 1st. What does it mean?
There are two more UFC titles to contest
Considering that PPVs with title fights draw double the number of buys on average than cards without a title fight, having two more titles is a valuable proposition for the UFC. Add to that that featherweight champ Jose Aldo has already the biggest drawing non-UFC pay per view in MMA history (WEC 48 against Urijah Faber) and there are some new big draws in the UFC
Fight cards that were starting to look weak should start getting deeper again
In the first couple of years after the Ultimate Fighter, fight cards were stacked with great fights among top level fighters even on the undercard and sometimes stretching to the preliminary card. In the last year and a half as the UFC has put on more fight cards on, the depth has suffered on many cards, especially those on free TV or held in Europe. Those European cards should have some halfway decent headliners again instead of Michael Bisping (a great draw in Europe but not worth anything in the US) especially since there is now the possibility of an occasional title fight, especially from the lighter weight classes. The fight night cards also should start regaining depth as many of the WEC fighters coming over have been fighting for free on Versus anyway.
The lightweight division has some time to work itself out
With the winner of the final WEC Lightweight Title fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis getting an instant title shot, the lightweight division has some time to work out a new contender from the masses behind Maynard and Edgar.
WEC fighters get some bigger paydays
The lack of pay certainly had the possibility of stunting the growth in the WEC divisions as the top fighters were making no more and 20-30k instead of the 100k many UFC fighters make. The fight night bonuses also get a whole lot bigger. Previously, most WEC cards were in the 10-15k range. Now the Fight Night and Ultimate Fighter cards are usually at 25-30k and numbered events generally around 60-70k.
The Ultimate Fighter might produce a contender again
The Ultimate Fighter had a great influence on the sport even beyond its reach as early seasons produced many top contenders. Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz, Gray Maynard and Ryan Bader all entered the UFC off of the Ultimate Fighter. There have been none recently except Roy Nelson and he was already an established fighter who was on the Ultimate Fighter to get into the UFC because his physique limited his options otherwise. Now, lighter weight classes will be in the mix and they will be in the mix soon. Considering that the first time each weight class has been used, it has produced a contender (even if not in that same weight class), there is the possibility of featherweights and bantamweights producing contenders from the show extending its life span and relevance.
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