UFC AND WEC TO OFFICIALLY MERGE

Dana White has just announced that the UFC and WEC will officially merge in January, 2011. White states that the timing is just right since the UFC is becoming more and more global, so adding in the other divisions from the WEC (Bantamweight and Featherweight) to make the shows bigger and better would serve only serve to further the organization's current goals. He also states that the Flyweight division (125 lbs) will also be added sometime down the road.

MAKING HISTORY AT UFC 125

Current Featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who just came off a very convincing knockout against former top contender Manny Gamburyan, will make his UFC debut and defend his Featherweight belt against a currently unknown contender at UFC 125 on January 1, 2011. I'm personally guessing that Mark Hominick will take that top contender spot.

UNIFYING THE LIGHTWEIGHTS 

But what of the WEC's current Lightweight division? Current WEC Lightweight champ Ben Henderson will defend his belt against top contender Anthony Pettis at WEC 53 on December 16, which will also be the last WEC card. Meanwhile, current UFC Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar will defend his belt against top contender Gray Maynard at UFC 125, the same card Aldo's making his debut. The winners of both those Lightweight bouts will then face off to unify the title. 

WEC co-founder and general manager Reed Harris is very happy that the merger is now official. He relates that he originally never expected this venture to go past one card, and now its going to be officially part of the largest MMA organization in the world. He will also enjoy a new role as part of the UFC in a currently undisclosed position.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was a very pleasant piece of news I woke up to this morning. I only just started watching the WEC early this year with WEC 46, but was honestly hooked ever since. The energy that these lighter weight fighters give off each and every second is just absolutely electrifying and is an utter joy to watch. They almost never run out of gas, too, so even if a championship fight goes all 5 rounds, chances are, it'll still be pumped with action until the very last bell. Having these athletes together on the same card with my long-favorite fighters from the UFC will just make everything all the more awesome. In other words, this merger means even better cards more often from the UFC, which is always a good thing.