List of World Extreme Cagefighting champions

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

WEC Logo

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

Weight limit: Unlimited
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 August 18, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA
The WEC Super Heavyweight division was abolished on December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 250 lb (113.4 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 vacated 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 on December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Light Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 200 lb (90.7 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Frank Shamrock
def. Bryan Pardoe
WEC 6
Lemoore, CA, USA
March 27, 2003
Shamrock vacated on August 2003 to fight for Strikeforce.
2 United States Jason Lambert
def. Richard Montoya
WEC 13
Lemoore, CA, USA
January 22, 2005
Lambert vacated on 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 January 13, 2006 in Lemoore, CA, USA
Smith vacated on May 2006 to participate in 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 December 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

Weight limit: 185 lb (83.9 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Chris Leben
def. Mike Swick
WEC 9
Lemoore, CA, USA
January 16, 2004
Leben vacated to participate 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 on 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 December 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

Weight limit: 170 lb (77.1 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Nick Diaz
def. Joe Hurley
WEC 6
Lemoore, CA, USA
March 27, 2003
Diaz vacated the title to focus on fight for the UFC.
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 vacated 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 on 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

Weight limit: 155 lb (70.3 kg)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Gilbert Melendez
def. Olaf Alfonso
WEC 10
Lemoore, CA, USA
May 21, 2004
Melendez vacated the title to focus on fighting in another events.
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 França 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 on December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization and brought França over to the UFC.
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

Weight limit: 145 lb (65.8 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 September 30, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger. José Aldo was awarded the inaugural UFC Featherweight Championship on November 20, 2010.[1]

Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit: 135 lb (61.2 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

Records

Most wins in title bouts

Victories Champion Division V D NC L
6 United States Urijah Faber Featherweight 6 0 0 3
4 United States Miguel Torres Bantamweight 4 0 0 1
United States Carlos Condit Welterweight 4 0 0 0
3 United States Doug Marshall Heavyweight
Light Heavyweight
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
1
United States Gabe Ruediger Lightweight 3 0 0 1
United States Mike Brown Featherweight 3 0 0 1
United States Jamie Varner Lightweight 3 0 0 1
United States Benson Henderson Lightweight 3 0 0 1
United States Dominick Cruz Featherweight
Bantamweight
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
0
Brazil Hermes França Lightweight 3 0 0 0
Brazil José Aldo Featherweight 3 0 0 0

Most consecutive title defenses

Defenses Champion Division Period
5 United States Urijah Faber Featherweight March 17, 2006 – November 5, 2008
3 United States Carlos Condit Welterweight March 24, 2007 – December 3, 2008
United States Miguel Torres Bantamweight February 13, 2008 – August 9, 2009
2 United States Gabe Ruediger Lightweight October 21, 2004 – March 17, 2006
Brazil Hermes França Lightweight March 17, 2006 – December 2006
United States Doug Marshall Light Heavyweight August 17, 2006 – March 26, 2008
United States Jamie Varner Lightweight February 13, 2008 – January 10, 2010
United States Mike Brown Featherweight November 5, 2008 – August 9, 2009
Brazil José Aldo Featherweight November 18, 2009 – September 30, 2010
United States Dominick Cruz Bantamweight March 6, 2010 – December 16, 2010

Champions by nationality

The division champions includes only linear champions. Interim champions who have never become linear champions will be listed as interim champions. Fighters with multiple title reigns in a specific division will also be counted once. Runners-up are not included in tournaments champions.

CountryDivision
champions
Interim
champions
Tournaments
champions
Total
 United States 30 - 2 32
 Brazil 3 - - 3
 Armenia 1 - - 1

See also

References

  1. "New UFC Champion Jose Aldo officially awarded title belt". mmajunkie.com. November 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012.
  2. "WEC 53: Dominick Cruz, Scott Jorgensen Fight To Be First UFC Bantamweight Champion". sbnation.com. December 14, 2010.
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