Joseph Benavidez file photo: Jeff Sherwood |
Sherdog.com
World Extreme Cagefighting is pound-for-pound the illest of all
mixed martial arts promotions. A lean, mean violence machine, it
does nothing but crank out high-quality fights, and just about all
of them air on basic cable.
However, even a perfect machine needs some fine tuning every now
and then. With that in mind, here are some moves our boys at the
WEC need to focus their grind on.
Flyweights. Now. Please.
In one fell swoop, the WEC could easily put together the best
flyweight division in the world. It already has Joseph
Benavidez and Demetrious
Johnson with which to start, and something tells me guys like
Pat
Runez, John Dodson
and Alexis Vila
will not be hard to land since they are all stuck fighting in
regional promotions.
As for Shooto’s considerable contingent of outstanding 125-pound
fighters, it’s well known that top-ranked flyweight Jussier
“Formiga” da Silva is desperate to fight in America. On
Thursday, he signed a multi-fight deal with Tachi Palace Fights in
California. Assuming the likes of Shinichi “BJ”
Kojima, Mamoru
Yamaguchi and Yasuhiro
Urushitani are also willing to leave the comforts of home, they
could jump to the States for a pay raise. Even the WEC’s modest
contracts would be a worthwhile hike over Shooto’s notoriously
stingy payroll.
When the WEC tried to make featherweight and bantamweight
money-making divisions, it took it a long time to get all of the
world’s best talent under one roof. Replicating that feat in the
flyweight division would be much easier, and it sets up another
move that seems long overdue. Read more
Joseph Benavidez file photo: Jeff Sherwood | Sherdog.com
