"Mayor UFC Announcement" to be made tommorow

No doubt this has already been picked up on, and maybe slipped into the UFC 121 thread where I haven't looked all the way through...but anyway.

Yahoo Sports:

The UFC sent out a press release yesterday, announcing that on Thursday, they will make a "major announcement." In the past, the UFC's major announcements have been decidedly anti-climactic. For example, they've announced their line of dolls, erm, action figures, and their office in Canada. Though these were important for the business side of Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, they were not the kind of announcements that would excite fans.

The UFC has not given a clue about what the announcement is, so we asked fight fans via Facebook and Twitter: What do you think it will be? Though many readers responded a network TV deal or a merger between the UFC and WEC, some gave more creative answers:

-- Lesnar, Cain, JDS, Mir, Roy Nelson, and Undertaker in a Winner-Take-All Steel Octagon Match. Matthew Gaskill

-- Instead of fighting Carwin, Roy Nelson will challenge Kobiyashi & Joey Chestnut to a hot dog eating contest. Bill Wetzel

-- Shaquille O'Neal will step in for Shane Carwin to fight Roy Nelson at UFC 125. Geno Mrosko

-- Brock vs Undertaker, a caged roof will be lowered on top of the octagon, bats and ladders thrown in....we will find out who the #1 heavyweight is. Eric Guilfoyle

-- Lesnar cuts weight to face Jose Aldo. Miah Olson

my money is on either lesnar cutting a deal with wwe or wec and ufc merging.

My money is on a massive anticlimax personally.

Simply coincidental timing that it has come soo soon after 121.

Fedor's gonna sign!!!!

mikeyboybisping wrote:Fedor's gonna sign!!!!

Tim Sylvia is being brought back to face Lesnar in a 3 part contest.

Part 1 - A rabbit hunting challenge
Part 2 - An MMA Fight
Part 3 - Who can make the crowd boo them the most.

Apparently its a UFC TV channel.


http://www.5thround.com/57248/dana-whites-major-announcement-revealed-on-espn-ufc-to-launch-their-own-network/

gonna wait to see if it will be a us only thing.

Its a merger between the WEC and UFC and a TV deal with Verus to show 4 UFC events in 2011

Holy shit yeah!


http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/10/28/dana-white-wec-ufc-to-merge-in-2011/


World Extreme Cagefighting is merging with its sister organization the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In the video interview below, Dana White exclusively confirmed that the merger will take place in January 2011. In addition, White said that four UFC events will air live on Versus in 2011.

The final two WEC cards will air on the cable network on Nov. 11 and Dec. 16, which means that starting next year, the UFC will absorb WEC's 135, 145 and 155 weight classes.

White explained the timing of the decision and what this means for all parties involved. He also provided updates on what's next for Brock Lesnar and Tito Ortiz, as well as his take on the Undertaker-Lesnar exchange following UFC 121.

Nice look forward to seeing Aldo on the big stage!

i voted no in the merger thread i got the 2010 bit right.

SWEET

It's about time they merged.
I'd of preferred it,if the UFC just kept taking the cream out of the WEC and let the WEC open up all there weight classes and continued putting on free events on VS,with up and comers or guys that have been Cut from the UFC.

But hey ho,I love watching the little guys go at it,now we are going to get to see Aldo,Faber,Benson,Cruz Etc on the big stage,with the top UFC LW's and above.

The 155 division has just got a lot deeper and IMO since the WEC already were the best and deepest Company for the lighter fighters in the world,add them to an already really strong UFC rosta,this is fucking brilliant news

yeah i agree with Payne, i like the idea of WEC as a feeder league.
sort of like DEEP is for DREAM.

I'd like Dream to become a feeder league to the UFC also.


But the problem is,Dream don't have enough descent talent to make it worth while

The UFC division is way too stacked now though. And Spike are only going to let the UFC do just 4 shows on verses next year. Compared to the 9 they would have done in 2010 (7 WEC and 2 UFC)

PPV's and fight night cards will be alot stronger now, but it is inevetible that the lower tier fighters from all the weight divisions are going to get cut alot quicker, in order to trim down the roster.


So less cans and more top class fighters And 7 Champions Every PPV will probably have a title fight

Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will have the honor of shutting off the lights behind them when they face off in the last match in WEC history later this year.

But their WEC 53 main event matchup will be more than just an answer to a trivia question; it will also determine the No. 1 contender to the UFC lightweight championship.

That's the word according to UFC president Dana White, who told reporters of the plan during a conference call to formally announce the UFC-WEC merger.



We won't know exactly who makes it into the title match until January. On Jan. 1, current UFC champion Frankie Edgar will defend his belt for the second time, this time against Gray Maynard.

The winner of that bout will then faceoff with the reigning WEC champion to unify the belts.

The other part of the equation will be decided on Dec. 16 at WEC 53 when Henderson and Pettis tangle.

also

The announcement of the merger between the UFC and WEC was less than an hour old when the news came down that Jose Aldo will be the first of the newly renamed UFC champions to put his belt on the line.

During a conference call to formally announce the merger, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Aldo would defend the featherweight championship at UFC 125 on January 1.



White didn't name a challenger, saying that the promotion is still working on an opponent, but he sounded definitive of Aldo participating in the annual New Year's weekend event. The Jan. 1 card will also mark the first time the UFC and WEC are merged, as the WEC will have two more shows before it is absorbed into its larger, sister promotion.

The dynamic Brazilian star has mowed through opponents in the WEC, winning all eight of his bouts. He captured the featherweight championship in Nov. 2009, and has successfully defended it twice, most recently knocking out Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51 in September.

Aldo (18-1) was recently offered a chance to move up a division to compete as a UFC lightweight but turned down a bout against Kenny Florian. Now, he'll be in the UFC as featherweight champion.

Among those likely to under consideration for the bout are Josh Grispi, Chad Mendes and Mark Hominick, though with the merger, it is certainly possible that a UFC lightweight could move down a division to challenge Aldo

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/10/28/jose-aldo-to-defend-ufc-featherweight-title-at-ufc-125/

So Aldo is being gifted the title?? or will the winner of his next fight be the inaugaral champion?

I don't know,I presume Aldo will just keep the WEC belt in his trophy cabinet and be known as the last ever WEC FW champ and this fight will be for the inaugural UFC FW title.

Ben Hensons message on facebook

Just heard about the merger, I was out running and when I got home had a hundred missed calls and a thousand texts...I'm excited that's really cool but I have a dance on Dec.16th to get ready for first, that's the only thing I care about right now...BUT all of you other '55ers out there consider this your official notice, I'M COMING, it was always a matter of when but now we know and it's a lock, train hard...

will it not just be a case of converting the wec titles into ufc ones.

the_king wrote:will it not just be a case of converting the wec titles into ufc ones.

That is an extremely simple way of putting it.

I think this is a bad move. They should have merged the 155lb divisions and then kept the WEC for 145 and 135. Introduced the 125 and womens divisions and left them separate. A lot of fights are going to get lost in the mix here.