From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
List of World Extreme Cagefighting champions
none
Summary
none
This is a list of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions at each weight class.
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.
World Title histories
Super Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: Unlimited
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA 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 in December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization. |
Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: 250 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Mike Kyle | ||||||||
| def. Jude Hargett | WEC 9 | |||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | January 16, 2004 | |||||||
| Title vacated. | ||||||||
| USA Mike Serr | ||||||||
| def. Rafael del Real | WEC 10 | |||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 21, 2004 | |||||||
| Title vacated. | ||||||||
| USA 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. | ||||||||
| USA 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 in December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization. |
Light Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: 200 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Frank Shamrock | ||||||||||||
| def. Bryan Pardoe | WEC 6 | |||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | March 27, 2003 | |||||||||||
| Shamrock vacated in August 2003 to fight for Strikeforce. | ||||||||||||
| USA Richard Montoya | ||||||||||||
| def. Abraham Baxter | WEC 11 | |||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | August 20, 2004 | |||||||||||
| USA Jason Lambert | WEC 13 | |||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | January 22, 2005 | |||||||||||
| Lambert vacated in October 2005 to fight for the UFC. | ||||||||||||
| USA 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 in May 2006 to participate in The Ultimate Fighter. | ||||||||||||
| USA Lodune Sincaid | ||||||||||||
| def. Dan Molina | WEC 20 | |||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 5, 2006 | |||||||||||
| USA 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 | ||||||||||||
| USA Brian Stann | WEC 33 | |||||||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | March 26, 2008 | |||||||||||
| USA 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
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Chris Leben | |||||||
| def. Mike Swick | WEC 9 | ||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | January 16, 2004 | ||||||
| Leben vacated to participate The Ultimate Fighter. | |||||||
| USA Joe Riggs | |||||||
| def. Rob Kimmons | WEC 15 | ||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 19, 2005 | ||||||
| The WEC Middleweight title was vacated in December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization. | |||||||
| BRA 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
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Nick Diaz | |||||||||
| def. Joe Hurley | WEC 6 | ||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | March 27, 2003 | ||||||||
| Diaz vacated the title to focus on fight for the UFC. | |||||||||
| USA Shonie Carter | |||||||||
| def. J.T. Taylor | WEC 8 | ||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | October 17, 2003 | ||||||||
| ARM Karo Parisyan | WEC 10 | ||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 21, 2004 | ||||||||
| Parisyan vacated the title to focus on fighting for the UFC. | |||||||||
| USA Mike Pyle | |||||||||
| def. Bret Bergmark | WEC 17 | ||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | October 14, 2005 | ||||||||
| The WEC Welterweight title was vacated in December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization. | |||||||||
| USA Carlos Condit | |||||||||
| def. John Alessio | WEC 26 | ||||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | March 24, 2007 | ||||||||
| 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
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | - | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Kurt Pellegrino | |||||||||||||
| def. Mac Danzig | WEC 4 | ||||||||||||
| Uncasville, CT, USA | Aug 31, 2002 | ||||||||||||
| Pellegrino vacated the title to focus on fighting in other events. | |||||||||||||
| USA Gilbert Melendez | |||||||||||||
| def. Olaf Alfonso | WEC 10 | ||||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 21, 2004 | ||||||||||||
| Melendez vacated the title to focus on fighting in other events. | |||||||||||||
| USA Gabe Ruediger | |||||||||||||
| def. Olaf Alfonso | WEC 12 | ||||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | October 21, 2004 | ||||||||||||
| BRA Hermes França | WEC 19 | ||||||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | March 17, 2006 | ||||||||||||
| The WEC Lightweight title was vacated in December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization and brought França over to the UFC. | |||||||||||||
| USA Rob McCullough | |||||||||||||
| def. Kit Cope | WEC 25 | ||||||||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | January 20, 2007 | ||||||||||||
| USA Jamie Varner | WEC 32 | ||||||||||||
| Albuquerque, NM, USA | February 13, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| USA Benson Henderson | |||||||||||||
| def. Donald Cerrone for interim title | WEC 43 | ||||||||||||
| San Antonio, TX, USA | October 10, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| USA Benson Henderson | |||||||||||||
| WEC 46 | |||||||||||||
| Sacramento, CA, USA | January 10, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| USA 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
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Cole Escovedo | ||||||||
| def. Philip Perez | WEC 5 | |||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | October 18, 2002 | |||||||
| USA Urijah Faber | WEC 19 | |||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | March 17, 2006 | |||||||
| USA Mike Brown | WEC 36 | |||||||
| Hollywood, FL, USA | November 5, 2008 | |||||||
| BRA José Aldo | WEC 44 | |||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | November 18, 2009 | |||||||
| 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. |
Bantamweight Championship
:Weight limit: 135 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Eddie Wineland | |||||||||
| def. Antonio Banuelos | WEC 20 | ||||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 5, 2006 | ||||||||
| USA Chase Beebe | WEC 26 | ||||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | March 24, 2007 | ||||||||
| USA Miguel Torres | WEC 32 | ||||||||
| Albuquerque, NM, USA | February 13, 2008 | ||||||||
| USA Brian Bowles | WEC 42 | ||||||||
| Las Vegas, NV, USA | August 9, 2009 | ||||||||
| USA Dominick Cruz | WEC 47 | ||||||||
| Columbus, OH, USA | March 6, 2010 | ||||||||
| 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. |
North American Title histories
North American Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: 265 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Doug Marshall | |||||
| def. Anthony Arria | WEC 10 | ||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 21, 2004 | 1. def. Carlos Garcia at WEC 12 on October 21, 2004 in Lemoore, CA, USA |
North American Middleweight Championship
:Weight limit: 185 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England Mark Weir | ||||||
| def. Will Bradford | WEC 12 | |||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | October 21, 2004 | |||||
| Russia Alex Serdyukov | ||||||
| WEC 14 | ||||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | March 17, 2005 | 1. def. Victor Parfenov at WEC 16 on August 18, 2005 in Lemoore, CA, USA |
North American Lightweight Championship
:Weight limit: 155 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Poppies Martinez | |||||
| def. Gabriel Cruz | WEC 10 | ||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 21, 2004 |
Native American Title histories
Native American Super Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: Unlimited
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Dan Christison | |||||
| def. Andre Roberts | WEC 13 | ||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | January 22, 2005 |
Native American Lightweight Championship
:Weight limit: 155 lb
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Cole Escovedo | |||||
| def. Poppies Martinez | WEC 15 | ||||
| Lemoore, CA, USA | May 19, 2005 |
Tournament winners
| Event | Date | Division | Winner | Runner-up | WEC 13 | WEC 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 22, 2005 | Heavyweight | USA Brandon Vera | USA Mike Whitehead | |||
| October 14, 2005 | Light Heavyweight | USA Scott Smith | USA Tait Fletcher |
Records
Most wins in title bouts
| Victories | Champion | Division | V | D | NC | L | 6 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Urijah Faber | Featherweight | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| USA Miguel Torres | Bantamweight | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| USA Carlos Condit | Welterweight | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| USA Doug Marshall | Heavyweight | ||||||||
| Light Heavyweight | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| 1 | |||||||||
| USA Gabe Ruediger | Lightweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| USA Mike Brown | Featherweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| USA Jamie Varner | Lightweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| USA Benson Henderson | Lightweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| USA Dominick Cruz | Featherweight | ||||||||
| Bantamweight | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| 0 | |||||||||
| BRA Hermes França | Lightweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| BRA José Aldo | Featherweight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Most consecutive title defenses
| Defenses | Champion | Division | Period | 5 | 3 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Urijah Faber | Featherweight | March 17, 2006 – November 5, 2008 | ||||
| USA Carlos Condit | Welterweight | March 24, 2007 – December 3, 2008 | ||||
| USA Miguel Torres | Bantamweight | February 13, 2008 – August 9, 2009 | ||||
| USA Gabe Ruediger | Lightweight | October 21, 2004 – March 17, 2006 | ||||
| BRA Hermes França | Lightweight | March 17, 2006 – December 2006 | ||||
| USA Doug Marshall | Light Heavyweight | August 17, 2006 – March 26, 2008 | ||||
| USA Jamie Varner | Lightweight | February 13, 2008 – January 10, 2010 | ||||
| USA Mike Brown | Featherweight | November 5, 2008 – August 9, 2009 | ||||
| BRA José Aldo | Featherweight | November 18, 2009 – September 30, 2010 | ||||
| USA 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.
| Country | Division | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| champions | Interim | |||
| champions | Tournaments | |||
| champions | Total | |||
| 30 | - | 2 | 32 | |
| 3 | - | - | 3 | |
| 1 | - | - | 1 |
References
References
- (November 20, 2010). "New UFC Champion Jose Aldo officially awarded title belt". mmajunkie.com.
- (December 14, 2010). "WEC 53: Dominick Cruz, Scott Jorgensen Fight To Be First UFC Bantamweight Champion". sbnation.com.
Wikipedia Source
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about List of World Extreme Cagefighting champions — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up free
Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report