The Guessing Game Continues: Dana White Won’t Reveal WEC Flyweights Just Yet

At the recent UFC Fan Expo in Boston, UFC President Dana White made some very interesting comments regarding the wec at a question and answer session with convention-goers. Fighters.com already reported about a WEC-exclusive version of “The Ultimate Fighter” being in the works, but that wasn’t the only interesting bit of news White revealed about the UFC’s sister promotion, my “little promotion that could”, the WEC. When a fan asked if 2010 would finally be the year when the WEC implemented its always-rumored but never-materialized Flyweight division, White simply responded “you could be right”. To which I respond: is anyone else getting tired of the WEC consistently not being able to fit the 125 pounders into their promotion?

Now, I know what the general response to this is: “a new division takes time”. That, or “the WEC needs to figure out a way to incorporate the new division while still giving their loyal fighters their fair share of air time”. I’ve even heard “we don’t need another weight division, let alone a lighter weight division; Flyweights would be like seeing little kids fight each other”. Well, the fact of the matter is that this division has been talked about for years and it hasn’t materialized. The WEC is back on DirecTV, they just put on their first Pay-Per-View (which was highly successful according to several industry reports), they’re on an incredible hot-streak and have put on can’t-miss shows again and again and again in 2010. Plainly put: the WEC has never been in a more advantageous position, and a Flyweight division would push them even further into true mainstream acceptance and worldwide acclaim.

Honestly, the only reason I’m angry at this entire situation to begin with is because I have complete faith in both the WEC and the Flyweight division as a whole. When it comes to the lighter weight classes, I want to be as vocal of a supporter as I could possibly be. These guys are wildly entertaining and completely undeserving of the stereotype that they’re not as exciting as the heavier weight classes simply because they’re smaller athletes. An elite athlete is an elite athlete, you could be bone-thin or roly-poly and skill would still be skill.

The WEC has already set an impressive benchmark for being able to bring almost all of the best lighter-weight fighters together and put them against one another. So give me my Flyweights already. I’m not saying the Flyweight division is doomed without the WEC, but I think the WEC would absolutely be the best home for the Flyweights. These guys deserve to be on TV, they deserve to be on a Pay-Per-View, they deserve a chance to impress the mainstream and get their names out to the world even if many are respected and appreciated inside the industry. The Flyweights will come out looking to impress the fans and justify their inclusion in a promotion already dominated by some of the best MMA fighters in the world, regardless of weight division. Good fighters fight good fights regardless, but if you give them a reason to put on a show, you get Fight of the Year-caliber showdowns.  When it does finally happen, it’s going to be a real treat for all of us. So make it happen!

And what do you think, fans and friends? When do you think the WEC will be ready to add a Flyweight division, and how do you see it being implemented?