It’s one thing to know that it has to happen, it’s another thing entirely to see it in motion. And make no mistake, fans and friends… the purge has begun. In addition to the recently-announced firings of major (albeit down-on-their-luck) WEC stars Jamie Varner and Chris Horodecki, it’s also being reported that Featherweight Tyler Toner has been released from his contract. It appears as if the UFC is finally cleaning house in earnest, wiping the slate clean and only allowing the best and brightest from the WEC into the UFC. Here are all the details, as well as some thoughts on the individual releases and what this means as a whole. ...

As the ufc heads towards its last few shows for the remaining 2010 calendar year, several recent stories have emerged. Former UFC Lightweight turned WEC Featherweight Leonard Garcia, who once challenged for the WEC Featherweight Championship, has been removed from his upcoming bout at “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 Finale event. In addition, it was recently confirmed that Nick Osipczak has been released from his contract. Here are all the details. ...

While it’s flown under most people’s radars, the UFC and Strikeforce will once again be going head-to-head in the war for the MMA viewing audience. On December 4, Strikeforce will hold its “Henderson vs. Babalu” event the same day that the UFC will hold its “The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale” show. There’s going to be a lot of good MMA happening on December 4, and rather than forcing fans to pick one show or the other, here’s my list of the top 5 fights from both shows, the ones you should watch no matter what organization you swear allegiance to. ...

When UFC President Dana White announced earlier this week that the WEC has officially merged with it's sister promotion, rumors ran rampant as far as when we would be able to see first some of the WEC's finest in action. The big boss suggested that Jose Aldo defending his featherweight title against recently announced number one contender Josh Grispi at UFC 125 in January would be the first sign where we would be able to see WEC stars in action, and no sooner. Well Dana, you were wrong, and I'm dam happy about it. ...

WEC 51 “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” was one for the history books, and now that it’s actually in the history books, I’m left looking towards the future once again. Like all of my previous installments in the “What’s Next” series, I’ll be giving my thoughts on what the future will hold for some of the big winners and losers of “Aldo vs. Gamburyan”. So let’s get right to it. ...

It's now come and gone, and WEC 51 reads like some crazy, bizarre storybook now that it's all over. A Korean Zombie was defeated, an Angel was reborn, a Mongolian Wolf chewed up the competition, a historic rivalry had its next (and almost certainly not last) chapter written in the blood of a great fighter, and in the main event of the night, the WEC Featherweight Champion once again proved that he is without equal. Here are all the results as well as my thoughts on the unsurprisingly fantastic WEC 51: “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” event. ...

Today marks the fifty-first show held by the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion. The card is so stacked that it was once rumored to be the next WEC Pay-Per-View, and it features big-name stars like Jose Aldo, Manvel Gamburyan, Mike Thomas Brown, Leonard Garcia, Miguel Torres, Donald Cerrone, and Jamie Varner. I’ve tried to be as vocal of a supporter of the WEC as I can possibly be in my time with fighters.com, so I can’t wait to see this show. Here are my predictions on all the big matches scheduled for WEC 51: “Aldo vs. Gamburyan”. ...

As wec 51 looms our way tomorrow night, all competitors at the 1st Bank Arena in Broomsfield, Colorado made it to the scale, with no controversy. The main event of the evening, a featherweight match up against two of the best in the class, will feature Jose Aldo putting his belt on the line against season five finalist of "The Ultimate Fighter" Manny Gamburyan, and taking on co-headlining duties will be a grudge match for the ages when former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner steps back into the cage for the second time this year when he faces nemesis and crowd favorite Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who is coming off of a loss to current champion Ben Henderson in an attempt to vie for the title. ...

While the WEC is recognized as being under the Zuffa umbrella that also is associated with the UFC, which is unarguably the worlds largest leading promotion in the world of mixed martial arts--the WEC does not remain as the red headed stepchild of the group. The "little" big promotion has made many strides in the last few years, improving their fundamentals and becoming a leading competitor to any organization that embodies the lighter weight classes. Currently, of the WEC's bantamweight and featherweight classes, most if not all of the top-10 competitors exist within the promotion. And while the WEC has consistently put together solid shows, time after time--WEC 51 will be no exception. In fact, it may be on their better cards to date. ...

As WEC 51 looms our way with a featherweight match up pitting pound-for-pound great Jose Aldo up against "The Ultimate Fighter" season five finalist Manny Gamburyan for the 145-pound title, another match up on the preliminary card that night may affect the title picture for the future. A match between Diego Nunes against Tyler Toner has been announced as part of the 9-fight card, though additional bouts may take place on September 30th at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. ...

"Thunder" Tyler Toner (7-1) whooped featherweight "Relentless" Ricky Johnson (0-2) relentlessly in the opening bout Friday night in Broomfield, northwest of Denver, for a second-round TKO at 3:44. In the final minute, Toner ground his knucles into Johnson's teeth from the top, popping Johnson's mouth guard from his jaws with a double-fist. Johnson rolled and scrambled; but, Toner just passed to mount and, after thinking about an arm triangle, decided to pound Johnson for the TKO by referee stoppage. Johnson had already started bleeding from the mouth two-minutes into the first round from the crisp straight combos Toner was throwing inside Johnson's roundhouse kicks. Toner through a high kick near the end of the first round that Johnson ducked under and used to toss Toner to the mat.  Toner's only shot at victory came when he pounced on Toner and wrapped and arm around his neck; but, Toner stepped over Johnson to defend the choke to the bell. Toner won his second straight. ...