By Justin Worsley
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced on Thursday that one of his competitors, World Extreme Cagefighting, will merge into the UFC beginning in 2011.
Two new championships will be added to the UFC at 135 and 145-pound weight classes. All fighters in the WEC will go to the UFC. Both current champions will be recognized as the champions once they enter the UFC. Jose Aldo is the current 145-pound champion while the 135-pound champion, Dominick Cruz, defends his title at the final WEC event, WEC 53 in December against Scott Jorgensen.
All employees in the WEC will be retained as well. Versus, the primary network for WEC events will now showcase more UFC events in place of WEC's time slot.
White has also expressed interest in adding a 125-pound belt in the near future. The unification of the two rival league's will finally test how well WEC is able to stand up against UFC fighters.
The 155-pound belt will be folded into one title. Members of the WEC and UFC will have a tournament to determine the top contender for the belt, which is currently held by Frankie Edgar. Edgar will defend his title on New Year's Day against Gray Maynard.
Both UFC and WEC are owned by Zuffa LLC. WEC was founded in 2001, eight years after UFC held their first match in Denver, Colorado.
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