MMA What If’s: WEC and UFC merged earlier

World Extreme Cagefighting or WEC was formed in 2001 as a promotion for the lighter weight classes in MMA. As at the time the UFC only went down to the lightweight weight limit of 155 pounds. So, the WEC was a haven for the lighter weight classes to show their skill as the WEC had both the featherweight class (145 pounds) and the bantamweight class (135 pounds).  

The WEC created both stars and highlight reel moments as it was the birthplace of the showtime kick, where Anthony “showtime” Pettis used the cage as a spring to hit a head kick on Benson Henderson. The stars to come out of the WEC are Benson Henderson, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Jens Pulver, Kenny Florian, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz, to name a few. Some of the stars did successfully transition to the UFC after the Acquisition in 2010, but some will be lost to time. As the world will never truly know the class of Urijah Faber, the former WEC featherweight champion and UFC bantam weight title challenger. 

But truly what if the UFC already had these divisions and had all these fighters from the beginning of their career? I believe fighters like Urijah Faber would be considered within the top 20 fighters in the sports history as he has wins over some of the best including Dominick Cruz and Jens Pulver, Pulver the former lightweight champion of the UFC and Cruz would go onto become the UFC’s bantamweight champion and considered the best of all time in that weight class. Showing Faber's true class to beat opponents both bigger and with great skillsets, but yet he is forgotten behind the UFC’s talent. 

However arguably the WEC needed to happen as it allowed for the lighter weight classes to grow organically and not get a boost with the brand of the UFC. The UFC at the time did believe that the lighter weight classes weren't as attractive to fans as the “casual” fan would not like to see to 5ft 7 guys fighting when they could see a pair of heavyweights slugging it out.