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World Extreme Cagefighting champions Steve Cantwell and Paulo Filho will find themselves in the deeper waters of the UFC. Both titleholders will likely be relegated to the UFC’s light heavyweight and middleweight divisions with the WEC’s announcement Friday to dissolve the weight classes in 2009.
The WEC will continue to host bouts in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. The WEC, which is owned by Zuffa LLC, parent company to the UFC, enjoys a healthy broadcast contract with the Versus channel, a sports-centric cable network.
Talks of dropping the two divisions to focus on the lighter weight classes have been ongoing.
"We're going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights,” UFC President Dana White told The Canadian Press last April. “We'll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into the UFC. We're still trying to figure that out."
Zuffa doesn't seem to be resting on its laurels with the decision. MMAWeekly.com reported Friday that Cantwell and Stann will have their rubber match at UFC "Fight for the Troops" Dec. 10 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The live ****e TV event will donate proceeds to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a not-for-profit organization that provides financial support to the families of deceased and severely wounded military veterans.
A resident of Las Vegas, Cantwell (6-1) wrested the light heavyweight accolade away from former champion and U.S. Marine Corps officer Brian Stann (6-1) by second-round TKO in a heated rematch last August. Their first contest ended in only 41 seconds in Stann's favor.
Filho (16-0), a former Pride Fighting Championships star, has defended his middleweight title once. In December 2007, he earned a controversial second-round verbal submission over Team Quest’s Chael Sonnen. The pair is set to rematch at WEC 36 on Nov. 5 in Hollywood, Fla.
“I’m furious to hear the news. I’m returning to BodogFight immediately,” Sonnen joked Friday.
WEC officials could not be initially reached for comment.
The WEC will continue to host bouts in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. The WEC, which is owned by Zuffa LLC, parent company to the UFC, enjoys a healthy broadcast contract with the Versus channel, a sports-centric cable network.
Talks of dropping the two divisions to focus on the lighter weight classes have been ongoing.
"We're going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights,” UFC President Dana White told The Canadian Press last April. “We'll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into the UFC. We're still trying to figure that out."
Zuffa doesn't seem to be resting on its laurels with the decision. MMAWeekly.com reported Friday that Cantwell and Stann will have their rubber match at UFC "Fight for the Troops" Dec. 10 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The live ****e TV event will donate proceeds to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a not-for-profit organization that provides financial support to the families of deceased and severely wounded military veterans.
A resident of Las Vegas, Cantwell (6-1) wrested the light heavyweight accolade away from former champion and U.S. Marine Corps officer Brian Stann (6-1) by second-round TKO in a heated rematch last August. Their first contest ended in only 41 seconds in Stann's favor.
Filho (16-0), a former Pride Fighting Championships star, has defended his middleweight title once. In December 2007, he earned a controversial second-round verbal submission over Team Quest’s Chael Sonnen. The pair is set to rematch at WEC 36 on Nov. 5 in Hollywood, Fla.
“I’m furious to hear the news. I’m returning to BodogFight immediately,” Sonnen joked Friday.
WEC officials could not be initially reached for comment.
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