UFC champs dominate while nobody can hold onto a WEC belt

The UFC is currently enjoying easily their most dominant championship era. Brock Lesnar beat Randy Couture for the HW title in November of 2008. Since then, he has only made one title defense as a result of his much publicized illness. At LHW, Lyoto Machida won the championship by knocking out Rashad Evans in May of 2009. He had one defense since, a controversial decision victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, and BJ Penn are bringing dominance to an entirely new level. The legendary Silva has had 5 successful title defenses since destroying Rich Franklin in October of 2006. He would have had a record 6 defenses if Travis Lutter made weight for their 2007 fight. GSP has won every round of his last 4 fights, all for the Welterweight championship since April of 2008. At Lightweight, BJ Penn has looked unbeatable since thrashing Joe Stevenson over two years ago. Since that fight, he has stopped Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez in title defenses.

Combined, UFC champs have 13 defenses in a row, and there doesn't appear to be an end in site. Since 2008, defending UFC champions are 7-1 in title fights. Contrast this with WEC, where champions Benson Henderson, Dominic Cruz, and Jose Aldo Jr. have a combined total of exactly 0 successful title defenses. In fact, over the same time period that defending UFC champions emerged with a record of 7-1, WEC defending champions are just 4-4 in title bouts. Every title changed hands at least once, including the Bantamweight championship which has had 3 different champions since August of 2009.

Two questions come to mind: first, why are the UFC champions doing so well while the WEC champions are having such a hard time keeping their championships? Second, which is better for the organization, dominant champions or the idea that a title could change hands every time it is defended?

I don't think comparing the WEC lightweight division to the UFC divisions is valid because nobody could argue that Benson Henderson or Jamie Varner are the best 155 pounders in the world, let alone in the top 10. Most followers of Mixed Martial Arts do, however; feel that the WEC is home to the top 135 and 145 pound fighters in the world. I am comfortable comparing those champions to the UFC.

The answer to why men like Uriah Faber, Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, and Mike Brown can't hold onto their championships while Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, and BJ Penn seemingly cannot be defeated ala Ivan Drago is pretty simple....Time. It just takes time before the cream rises to the top, and its only been a few years since the WEC has come into prominence. Uriah Faber and Miguel Torres appeared on their way towards long title reigns, but as their competition improved, losses followed. Jose Aldo currently looks to be a destroyer who cannot be stopped. It will be very interesting to see how he does in his first defense against former champion Faber. I believe in the years to come, the championship reigns of the WEC and UFC champions will level off, and we won't see such a strong discrepancy.

Perhaps the more important question is which is better for the organization? On the one hand, UFC fans have grown to know their champions very well. They are familiar with their styles and personalities. Lesnar and St. Pierre are arguably the two biggest PPV draws in the UFC's history, while Penn, Silva, and Machida are putting up respectable numbers as well. The champions are becoming household names whom fans have a growing interest for. The downside to having champions who almost always win is that many fans don't want to know what the outcome of a fight will be. One reason why the NFL has been so successful is their slogan that "Any Given Sunday" any team could win or lose. Currently, it doesn't appear that a UFC champion can lose any given Saturday these days.

While the WEC benefits from the uncertainty of their title fights, just when fans think they found a champion to follow, they are left to find a new one. Uriah Faber is still the only WEC fighter who has proven an ability to draw live crowds as well as strong television ratings, and he lost his title in November of 2008. Prior to losing, however, he won 6 straight fights in the WEC to help build up his fan base. The fans do not really know Cruz or Aldo very well yet.


As much as fans enjoy not knowing the expected outcome of a fight, they love dominant champions. Boxing's HW division is still yearning for the days when Mike Tyson was knocking everyone out. Nobody expected him to lose, yet he still sold out every arena he fought at while pulling in huge TV ratings. Most people never watched a swimming race prior to the summer of 2008. But once they began hearing about Michael Phelps quest to set Olympic Gold records, they couldn't stop watching him, even though it was expected he would win every race he entered. Compare the ratings for the PGA with and without Tiger Woods. You better believe that golf can't wait to have Tiger playing again. The NBA reached its peak in popularity when Michael Jordan was at his best. It was a given that the Bulls would win the championship, but fans couldn't wait to see Jordan and the Bulls win again.

The bottom line is that fans are willing to pay more money to see entertainers, including athletes, that they know very well as opposed to newcomers. As long as BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, and Lyota Machida keep winning, the fans will keep coming. I'm afraid the WEC may continue losing fans until one or a couple of their champions prove to be dominant.