My editor at TapouT magazine, RJ Clifford, wrote in Issue 34 of WEC’s “little brother syndrome” despite citing how it’s grown into “THE destination for free, high-level fighting” with the most exciting fighters in the sport. Back then, when it stood in the UFC’s large shadow in terms of gate revenue and viewership, Clifford wondered “who will be the one to launch the WEC into the spotlight its fighters so dearly deserve?” Urijah Faber had long been THE face of WEC, the company’s golden ticket to large attendance figures and record ratings on Versus for his first fight with Jens Pulver and rematch against Mike Brown, but could Faber, along with phenom Jose Aldo, in addition to Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone, the duo who produced the 2009 Fight of the Year, sell a pay-per-view?
The answers were revealed Saturday night. The next phase in WEC’s evolution was WEC 48. And in no uncertain terms the company’s virgin voyage into pay-per-view was an astounding success, Listerine to the stench left by Anderson Silva’s antics and the Strikeforce fiasco in Nashville. Even to the ignorant, their view of MMA as the ugly duckling blossomed into a beautiful swan.
“So now instead of the little sister, we’re the hot sister that everybody wants to go out with,” WEC president Reed Harris told reporters.
Just like that, WEC became the No. 2 brand in MMA. A crowd of 14,144 netted a gate of $1 million – both WEC records. Okay, Faber was the draw. Sacramento’s beloved icon helped draw 13,027 fans to earn a live gate of $815,415 for his June 2009 rematch with Brown. And yes, WEC’s top three gates over nearly two years all took place at ARCO Arena.
Here’s another indisputable fact: WEC’s popularity in Sac-Town was perfectly exploited. Zuffa’s sell was ruthless in pumping up their stars to those who were paying attention and open to learn. Those still on the fence tuned into Spike for two preliminary bouts, the second pitting veteran Leonard Garcia and an unknown 23-year-old from South Korea named Chan Sung Jung. That became a 2010 Fight of the Year candidate, one that Harris thought of his version of Forrest Griffin versus Stephan Bonnar at the first Ultimate Finale. Super-confident over the last-second tug that enticed the indecisive to hit the buy button, Griffin told The Sirius Fight Club that it was Garcia’s controversial spilt decision victory that resulted in a spear of WEC 48 buys.
Those numbers aren’t public, but the preliminary card drew an average of 1 million viewers and an overall rating of 0.8 – 0.91 in the critical 18-34 male demographic. WEC’s previous broadcast on Versus, “Bowles vs. Cruz,” drew only 373,000 viewers.
“Tonight was the first night, and it was a home run in every way, shape and form,” a beaming Dana White said after a show in which Aldo showed that one day he and not Faber will become the best featherweight who ever lived.
With smashing success comes a new set of questions, like who on this planet can share the same cage space with Aldo (17-1), whether it’s at featherweight, bantamweight or perhaps someday at lightweight. (White actually mentioned B.J. Penn as an opponent in the distant future.) There’s also the strength of Aldo’s true drawing power. WEC 48 was in Faber’s backyard, where he’s viewed as a god, mayor (and former NBA star) Kevin Johnson declared April 22 “Urijah Faber Day” and limited t-shirts that read “No Way Jose” were distributed on fight night
Memo to The Sacramento Bee: Faber isn’t retiring anytime soon, but his lopsided loss dropped him to the middle of the featherweight pack. Aldo is backed by a rabid and passionate Brazilian fan base, but it’s now up to WEC to create ways to market him and build up his persona not necessarily equal to Faber’s, but to play to the strengths of the quiet and respectful 23 year old.
The biggest question, though, was answered on Saturday April 24, 2010: WEC can sell. It can attract an audience and build hype to a crescendo before exceeding it by miles and miles. The first post-48 test comes on June 20 at Edmonton’s Rexall Place, a Versus show headlined by Jamie Varner vs. Kamal Shalorus and two potential Aldo challengers in Josh Grispi and L.C. Davis going head-to-head. WEC 49 will be the company’s first event held outside of the United States. Seeing how doubts were smashed by its last show, Edmonton better brace for the next wave.
