List of World Extreme Cagefighting champions

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This is a list of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions at each weight class.

In December 2006 World Extreme Cagefighting was bought by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, to concentrate on the four smaller weight classes under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Over the next two years, the WEC would phase out weight classes above 155 lbs, with most of the fighters going to the UFC. By the time of the WEC's absorption into the UFC at the end of 2010, the only remaining weight divisions were Lightweight, Featherweight and Bantamweight.

Discontinued Title Histories

Super Heavyweight Championship

Over 265 lbs (Over 120 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Ron Waterman
def. James Nevarez		 WEC 7
Lemoore, CA, USA		 August 9, 2003

1. def. Ricco Rodriguez at WEC 16 on Aug 18, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA

The WEC Super Heavyweight division was abolished December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States James Irvin
def. Houssain Oushani		 WEC 12
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 21, 2004

1. def. Doug Marshall at WEC 15 on May 19, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA

Irvin vacates the title to fight in the Light Heavyweight division.
2 United States Brian Olsen
def. Lavar Johnson		 WEC 18
Lemoore, CA, USA		 January 13, 2006

1. def. Mike Kyle at WEC 20 on May 5, 2006 in Lemoore, CA, USA

The WEC Heavyweight division was abolished December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Light Heavyweight Championship

186 to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Frank Shamrock
def. Bryan Pardoe		 WEC 6
Lemoore, CA, USA		 March 27, 2003
Shamrock vacates the title August 2003 to fight for Strikeforce.
2 United States Jason Lambert
def. Richard Montoya		 WEC 13
Lemoore, CA, USA		 January 22, 2005
Lambert vacates the title October 2005 to fight for the UFC.
3 United States Scott Smith
def. Tait Fletcher		 WEC 17
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 14, 2005

1. def. Justin Levens at WEC 18 on Jan 13, 2006 in Lemoore, CA, USA

Smith vacates the title May 2006 to participate in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter.
4 United States Lodune Sincaid
def. Dan Molina		 WEC 20
Lemoore, CA, USA		 May 5, 2006
5 United States Doug Marshall WEC 23
Lemoore, CA, USA		 August 17, 2006

1. def. Justin McElfresh at WEC 27 on May 12, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. def. Ariel Gandulla at WEC 31 on Dec 12, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA

6 United States Brian Stann WEC 33
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 March 26, 2008
7 United States Steve Cantwell WEC 35
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 August 3, 2008
The WEC Light Heavyweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 3, 2008 so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Middleweight Championship

171 to 185 lbs (77 to 84 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Chris Leben
def. Mike Swick		 WEC 9
Lemoore, CA, USA		 January 16, 2004
Leben vacates the title to participate in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter.
2 United States Joe Riggs
def. Rob Kimmons		 WEC 15
Lemoore, CA, USA		 May 19, 2005
The WEC Middleweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
3 Brazil Paulo Filho
def. Joe Doerksen		 WEC 29
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 August 5, 2007

1. def. Chael Sonnen at WEC 31 on Dec 12, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA

The WEC Middleweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 3, 2008, so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Nick Diaz
def. Joe Hurley		 WEC 6
Lemoore, CA, USA		 March 27, 2003
Welterweight title vacated.
2 United States Shonie Carter
def. J.T. Taylor		 WEC 8
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 17, 2003
3 Armenia Karo Parisyan WEC 10
Lemoore, CA, USA		 May 21, 2004
Parisyan vacates the title to focus on fighting for the UFC.
4 United States Mike Pyle
def. Bret Bergmark		 WEC 17
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 14, 2005

1. def. Shonie Carter at WEC 18 on Jan 13, 2006 in Lemoore, CA, USA

The WEC Welterweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
5 United States Carlos Condit
def. John Alessio		 WEC 26
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 March 24, 2007

1. def. Brock Larson at WEC 29 on Aug 5, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. def. Carlo Prater at WEC 32 on Feb 13, 2008 in Albuquerque, NM, USA
3. def. Hiromitsu Miura at WEC 35 on Aug 3, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV, USA

The WEC Welterweight division was absorbed into the UFC on February 3, 2009, so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Lightweight Championship

146 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Gilbert Melendez
def. Olaf Alfonso		 WEC 10
Lemoore, CA, USA		 May 21, 2004
Lightweight title vacated.
2 United States Gabe Ruediger
def. Olaf Alfonso		 WEC 12
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 21, 2004

1. def. Jason Maxwell at WEC 14 on Mar 17, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA
2. def. Sam Wells at WEC 17 on Oct 14, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA

3 Brazil Hermes Franca WEC 19
Lemoore, CA, USA		 March 17, 2006

1. def. Brandon Olsen at WEC 21 on Jun 15, 2006 in Highland, CA, USA
2. def. Nate Diaz at WEC 24 on Oct 12, 2006 in Lemoore, CA, USA

The WEC Lightweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
4 United States Rob McCullough
def. Kit Cope		 WEC 25
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 January 20, 2007

1. def. Richard Crunkilton at WEC 30 on Sep 5, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA

5 United States Jamie Varner WEC 32
Albuquerque, NM, USA		 February 13, 2008

1. def. Marcus Hicks at WEC 35 on Aug 3, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. def. Donald Cerrone at WEC 38 on Jan 25, 2009 in San Diego, CA, USA

- United States Benson Henderson
def. Donald Cerrone for interim title		 WEC 43
San Antonio, TX, USA		 October 10, 2009
6 United States Benson Henderson
 WEC 46
Sacramento, CA, USA		 January 10, 2010

1. def. Donald Cerrone at WEC 48 in April 2010, in Sacramento, CA, USA

7 United States Anthony Pettis
 WEC 53
Glendale, AZ, USA		 December 16, 2010
The WEC Lightweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 16, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger.

Featherweight Championship

136 to 145 lbs (61 to 66 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Cole Escovedo
def. Philip Perez		 WEC 5
Lemoore, CA, USA		 October 18, 2002

1. def. Anthony Hamlett at WEC 8 on Oct 17, 2003 in Lemoore, CA, USA

2 United States Urijah Faber WEC 19
Lemoore, CA, USA		 March 17, 2006

1. def. Joe Pearson at WEC 25 on Jan 20, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. def. Dominick Cruz at WEC 26 on Mar 24, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
3. def. Chance Farrar at WEC 28 on Jun 3, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
4. def. Jeff Curran at WEC 31 on Dec 12, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
5. def. Jens Pulver at WEC 34 on Jun 1, 2008 in Sacramento, CA, USA

3 United States Mike Brown WEC 36
Hollywood, FL, USA		 November 5, 2008

1. def. Leonard Garcia at WEC 39 on Mar 1, 2009 in Corpus Christi, TX, USA
2. def. Urijah Faber at WEC 41 on Jun 7, 2009 in Sacramento, CA, USA

4 Brazil José Aldo WEC 44
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 November 18, 2009

1. def. Urijah Faber at WEC 48 on April 24, 2010 in Sacramento, CA, USA
2. def. Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51 on Sep 30, 2010 in Broomfield, CO, USA

The WEC Featherweight division was absorbed into the UFC on November 20, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger. José Aldo was promoted to UFC Featherweight Champion.[1]

Bantamweight Championship

126 to 135 lbs (57 to 61 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Eddie Wineland
def. Antonio Banuelos		 WEC 20
Lemoore, CA, USA		 May 5, 2006
2 United States Chase Beebe WEC 26
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 March 24, 2007

1. def. Rani Yahya at WEC 30 on Sep 5, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV, USA

3 United States Miguel Torres WEC 32
Albuquerque, NM, USA		 February 13, 2008

1. def. Yoshiro Maeda at WEC 34 on Jun 1, 2008 in Sacramento, CA, USA
2. def. Manny Tapia at WEC 37 on Dec 3, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
3. def. Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 40 on April 5, 2009 in Chicago, IL, USA

4 United States Brian Bowles WEC 42
Las Vegas, NV, USA		 August 9, 2009
5 United States Dominick Cruz WEC 47
Columbus, OH, USA		 March 6, 2010

1. def. Joseph Benavidez at WEC 50 on Aug 18, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. def. Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 on Dec 16, 2010 in Glendale, AZ, USA

The WEC Bantamweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 16, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger. Dominick Cruz won the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Championship when he defeated Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 [2]

Tournament Winners

Event Date Division Winner Runner-up
WEC 13 January 22, 2005 Heavyweight United States Brandon Vera United States Mike Whitehead
WEC 17 October 14, 2005 Light Heavyweight United States Scott Smith United States Tait Fletcher

By Nationality

Country Titles
 United States 32
 Brazil 3
 Armenia 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New UFC Champion Jose Aldo officially awarded title belt". mmajunkie.com. November 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ "WEC 53: Dominick Cruz, Scott Jorgensen Fight To Be First UFC Bantamweight Champion". sbnation.com. December 14, 2010.
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