MMA: Top 20 WEC Little Guy Ranking
By KTW
– Senior Editor
#1 Jose Aldo, Brazilian
How Far Has Urijah Faber Dropped In These Rankings?
And Does The WEC Rankings For The Top 10 Still Look The Same Despite Some Loses From a Few Previously Top 10 fighters?
This is a list of top bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight fighters of the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting). These guys may be small in stature, but have warrior attitudes that are as big as the big guys, if not bigger! The WEC have the most elite small guy fighters in the world. It’s unfortunate that these guys don’t get paid as much money as the big guys and those in the UFC. The WEC is a flagship mma organization of the UFC. And over the years, the UFC soaked up many of the upper weight divisions, and left the WEC for mostly the smaller guys. It’s too bad that the UFC hasn’t yet incorporated these 2 lowest weight divisions into their lineup. However, the WEC showed that it’s capable of standing on its own, as displayed by the numbers they did for their recent and initial payperview event.
~WEC Top 20~
~Bantamweight/Featherweight/Lightweight~
~Fighters~
| pr | cr | Fighter | Record | Weight | Height | Age | Next Opponent | Next Fight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jose Aldo | 17-1 | 145 | 5’7” | 27 | ||
| - | 2 | Benson Henderson | 12-1 | 155 | 5’9” | 26 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Dominick Cruz | 15-1 | 135 | 5’8” | 24 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Jose Benavidez | 12-1 | 135 | 5’4” | 25 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Miguel Torres | 37-3 | 135 | 5’9” | 29 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Brian Bowles | 8-1 | 135 | 5’8” | 26 | ||
| - | 7 | Manvel Gamburyan | 11-4 | 145 | 5’5” | 28 | ||
| 10 | 8 | Josh Grispi | 13-1 | 145 | 5’11” | 21 | LC Davis | 6/20/10 |
| 4 | 9 | Mike Brown | 23-6 | 145 | 5’6” | 34 | ||
| 5 | 10 | Urijah Faber | 23-4 | 145 | 5’6” | 30 | ||
| - | 11 | LC Davis | 16-2 | 145 | 5’8” | 29 | Josh Grispi | 6/20/10 |
| - | 12 | Kamal Shalorus | 6-0 | 155 | 5’9” | 32 | Jamie Varner | 6/20/10 |
| - | 13 | Jamie Varner | 16-3 | 155 | 5’8” | 25 | Kamal Shalorus | 6/20/10 |
| - | 14 | Bart Palaszewski | 34-13 | 155 | 5’9” | 26 | ||
| - | 15 | Anthony Pettis | 9-1 | 155 | 5’9” | 23 | ||
| - | 16 | Diego Nunes | 13-1 | 145 | 5’9” | 27 | ||
| - | 17 | Scott Jorgensen | 10-3 | 135 | 5’5” | 27 | ||
| - | 18 | Ricardo Lamas | 8-1 | 155 | 5’8” | 27 | ||
| - | 19 | Jung Chan Sung | 10-2 | 135 | 5’9” | 23 | ||
| - | 20 | Brad Pickett | 19-4 | 135 | 5’6” | 31 |
Lightweight Champion
Featherweight Champion
Bantamweight Champion
~Honorables~
| pr | cr | Fighter | Record | Weight | Height | Age | Next Opponent | Next Fight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | H | Takeya Mizugaki | 13-4-2 | 135 | 5’7″ | 26 | ||
| - | H | Donald Cerrone | 11-3-1 | 155 | 6’0″ | 27 | ||
| - | H | Shane Roller | 8-2 | 155 | 5’10″ | 30 | ||
| - | H | Chad Mendes | 7-0 | 145 | 5’6″ | 25 | ||
| - | H | Leonard Garcia | 14-5-1 | 135 | 5’10″ | 30 |
PR=Previous Ranking
CR=Current Ranking
H=Honorable
Fighters like Torres, Brown, Aldo, Cruz, Faber, and Bowles are all worthy of top ppv main card fighters. There simply isn’t room for these guys in the massive fighter count of the UFC. 
It looks like the WEC will delve into having their big fights to happen on the weekend as opposed to during the middle of the week. WEC 45 took place on a Saturday. I feel that the WEC can expand and build up their product. But they seem strictly focused on the fights and the fights only.
With the WEC’s first attempt at ppv (WEC 48), the event was very successful especially from a revenue standpoint. I suspect that the WEC(under the UFC brand) will have another attempt at a ppv event. With the elite talent of the organization from top to bottom, they surely will be able to put together another talented card.
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9 Responses to “MMA: Top 20 WEC Little Guy Ranking”
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Anthony Pettis, Bart Palaszewski, Brad Pickett, Brian Bowles, Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes, Dominick Cruz, Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner, Jose Aldo, Joseph Benevidez, Josh Grispi, Jung Chan Sung, Kamal Shalorus, Leonard Garcia, Manny Gamburyan, Miguel Torres, Mike Brown, Ricardo Lamas, Scott Jorgensen, Shane Roller, Takeya Mizugaki, Urijah Faber, mma rankings | KTW
mma, ranking, rankings, ufc, wec, wec+rankings
Hahaha shutup!
Damn, slapped in the face by my own inattention. I hate when that happens.
> I don’t see the WEC as a farm league.
Don’t kid yourself sonnyboy. If a lightweight rises to incredible heights in the WEC, do you really think he will continue as WEC champion? Or do you think he will be moved – as quickly as possible – to the UFC’s lightweight division? To say it’s not a farm system for lightweights is to say that the WEC lightweights are equal to or better than the UFC lightweights. Did you really just say that?
Perhaps Jane should reread my previous comments. I said that only the WEC’s feather/bantamweight divisions are free standing weight classes, while the WEC’s lightweight division is indeed a sort of ‘farm league’ system for the UFC’s lightweight division. It helps to comprehend when one reads before commenting.
I agree, you will never see a women’s division in the UFC. You also will never see featherweights or bantams in the UFC. The WEC has added flyweight and got rid of welterweight. I just think that the UFC should focus on the heavier guys and the WEC should focus on the lighter guys.
You say the UFC should keep their lightweight division, with BJ Penn. But then you talk about the WEC not getting the viewers. Don’t you think the viewers would tune in if the only place they could see Penn was in the WEC? Think about it – the UFC already has enough big names to keep it on the top of the heap without ever looking at the lightweights. The WEC could use a little publicity with some well-known names. Give them exclusivity on the lightweight division. Both companies are owned by Zuffa anyway – why compete with yourself?
> But they seem strictly focused on the fights and the fights only
What else should they focus on?
You know what I’d like to see? (I know you’re dying to find out.) Zuffa owns the UFC and the WEC. I’d like to see the two used as complimentary units, rather than using the WEC as a “farm league” for the smaller guys.
What I mean is, restrict the UFC to Welterweight and higher (dividing the Heavyweight division in two) and relinquish all their lighter fighters to WEC, which would then be only Lightweights and lower, as well as a new Women’s division, at 145 or so. This would allow the UFC to focus more on the bigger guys – which seems to be what they wanna do anyway – and give the WEC some marquee guys that people are more familiar with and will encourage a higher viewership.
Whaddaya think?
I don’t see the WEC as a farm league. The UFC doesn’t carry the featherweight and bantamweight divisions. Perhaps, the lightweight division in the WEC is like a farm system for the lightweight division in the UFC. There’s no need for the UFC to rid itself of the lightweight division and BJ Penn. It’s one of the most populated divisions of fighters from around the world.
As I’ve said, it’s unfortunate that these little guys are fighting for chump change and a much smaller audience. That Mike Thomas Brown vs. Jose Aldo fight could have easily been a co-main event ppv fight for the UFC. Instead, airing on Versus, it only drew around 412,000 thousand households, a far cry from any of the UFC’s ppv events, as well as the Ultimate Fighter 10 episodes.
I’d like to see a women’s divsion in the WEC. You’ll never see it in the UFC; Dana White isn’t a fan, I don’t think.
It’s your fault I bet all my money on Brown!!! I woulda picked Aldo, but your stupid list influenced me the other way! Damn you! Damn you to hell!
In very rare cases will there be a contender ranked ahead of the champion. Aldo was the challenger, so of course he couldn’t be ranked ahead of Brown. I had Aldo winning this fight all the way, however!
This list needs to be updated. I knew Aldo would beat Brown, but I didn’t think he’d do it so convincingly. WoW, Aldo is the very best Featherweight in the world!!!