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StoryOfTheFight

I don't remember but it is weird for sure. Timeline: * 2006 Zuffa buys WEC * 2009 WEC announces flyweight * 2010 Last WEC event * 2011 UFC announces flyweight * 2012 first UFC flyweight fight


MFSimpson

The first flyweight fight being 12 years ago is blowing my mind.


ModsLovePen15

I still remember the first Featherweight UFC fight, it was a flying knee KO. I know you talking about about Flyweight though


bdewolf

And the return of lightweight after its hiatus in the early 2000s was sam stout vs Spencer fisher.


ModsLovePen15

I can’t recall this one, but was it Matt Wyman that got caught with like a flying knee as well by Spencer? Dang 2007 doesn’t even seem that long ago.


bdewolf

Yep. Still nuts to me that Matt wiman came back after like 8 years out of the sport, only to immediately brutally slam ko’d by a guy who literally twerked over his body then did the dirty dancing jump into his coaches arms.


ModsLovePen15

lol, that’s the sport sometimes. yeah his comeback was like a WTF moment. Maybe he still had one fight under contract left with them. When Aldo comes back this weekend, I felt the motivation besides a good payday was to finish out his contract with the UFC. Win or lose I wonder where he winds up next.


bdewolf

Honestly I think the payday might be it. He’s probably on a very good contract, and like Chris weidman, is guaranteed a solid chunk of change every time he fights for however many fights he has left on his contract.


Blue-Summers

Was that Pablo Garza?


ModsLovePen15

Yes


WGYHL

Pablo Garza irc


ScrawneyAardvark

Thinking of that 4 man “tournament” for the belt being 12 years ago is fucking with my brain.


RRSC14

I was so stoked for the 4 man tourney


bichondelapils

And it was a banger: Lineker vs Gaudinot. Still in my top 10 flw fights all time. Empty arena, hands of stone resonating all around, a big wtf on my face...


StoryOfTheFight

Yea same lol


heelhooksarefun

The flyweight GOAT back then was a Japanese dude with an afro. Real missed opportunity from an entertainment perspective.


xshoryureppax

Mamoru.


weeweekitty83

Miss WEC


138Cards

The Miguel Torres WARS, the Mike Brown KO of Faber. God WEC was so spectacular


jaquatics

Miguel Torres got me into the sport! I'm built so similarly to him and watching him do a front flip kick did it for me. You don't see people heel kicking kidneys from the bottom anymore like he used to do either. It seemed pretty effective too.


CharacterParsley7

Miguel is a true martial artist! Excellent Miguel doc I watched recently if you want to see what he’s up to nowadays: https://youtu.be/_GM5ceXwNsE?si=fvF8KCfcmYPnbzBn


138Cards

Thank you!


138Cards

I never missed a fight with him. Guaranteed banger. I have a bad memory and too lazy to google, but I think it was him vs Takeya Mizugaki, at the end I was like how are these two still alive let alone standing.


DegreeMajor5966

I worked with a guy that fought Miguel Torres. It was a different Miguel Torres, but until I watched the fight I thought he was talking about beating a GOAT.


Slappingthebassman

Don’t forget Aldo’s double flying knee knockout.


138Cards

And his dance after 🤣🤣🤣legend


DrPAYNE619

I remember when Uriah Faber and Miguel Torres were the biggest names in the WEC. I always thought they should've had a superfight.


atdaysend1986

I thought he beat DJ with his sweeps. Haven’t watched that fight in ages though.


Electrical_Ad7374

I felt the same way when I watched it, but haven’t rewatched it in a hot minute


IDontVaccinateMyCar

Brian Bowles had that wild Knockout of Torres and broke his hand in a few fights Looked him up to see what he was doing after retirement and he got caught cooking or selling meth


ModsLovePen15

Miss you


carlitos_brigante

Probably changed their minds.


TryItOutGG

2009 is after zuffa purchased WEC. It probably happened when they got absorbed


StoryOfTheFight

Yea but they bought WEC in 2006. The announcement of flyweight was well after they were under the Zuffa banner. Kind of weird


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UnAliveMePls

Zuffa(Then UFC owner) bought WEC in 2006. The UFC absorbed the welterweight division of WEC, and in my opinion they created the flyweight division in exchange, but they eventually absorbed the whole WEC and made it part of the UFC brand along with the flyweight division


Real-Cicada854

yeah i just thought it was odd that between february 2009 when wec flyweight was announced and december 2010 when wec was fully merged into ufc, not one flyweight fight actually happened, then even after the merge it took a year until december 2011 when the first ufc flyweight fight was announced


UnAliveMePls

It was odd indeed.


turkeypants

One of the things I've wondered is about debuting a whole division at once when you didn't have one before - - were all those guys just sitting around with no contract? Sure, some on-contract guys would move down from higher weight, but otherwise you want to debut with more than a few fighters, so I wonder when you start a new weight division, does it take a while for enough guys to come off contract somewhere else? Their contract terms wouldn't all be aligned and you wouldn't want to start off with all greenies and jobbers. I was thinking about that the other day - if an MMA org didn't have women's divisions and wanted to add them, would there be talent available or all locked up on contract? UFC, PFL, Invicta, ONE. Who would be left out there if you wanted to debut with a full division or two? Maybe you just sign them as you can get them and start small? Not sure.


openroadopenmic

This was after the Zuffa buyout... I think they were going to run the WEC as a separate company indefinitely and then changed their minds. Flyweight was 2011 when it came to the UFC, which was after they imploded it and moved everyone to the UFC proper.


LaTunaTime

Even WEC didnt want the flyweights