The Weekly Wrap: August 22 - August 28

WEC 43 rescheduled

World Extreme Cagefighting announced this week that WEC 43: “Cerrone vs. Henderson,” set for next Wednesday, has been postponed to Oct. 10 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The turn of events led to several questions for UFC President Dana White about the future of the Zuffa affiliate, some of which yielded some surprising answers.

WEC General Manager Reed Harris told the Sherdog Radio Network's “Beatdown” show that the postponement was precipitated by an unspecified injury to Ben Henderson, who was set to face Donald Cerrone in the main event to crown an interim lightweight champion. Harris said the injury, which he learned of late last Thursday, was minor and would heal in a couple of weeks.

Harris said another fighter on the card had also suffered a minor injury that nonetheless would force him to pull out. Harris said the WEC was committed to putting on the Cerrone-Henderson fight and not inserting a replacement, though it's not clear who that would be in the WEC's relatively thin 155-pound weight class. Lightweight champion Jamie Varner is recovering from a hand injury and should be ready to fight by year's end to unify the belts.

The postponement came at a time when the Versus network is locked in a negotiations battle with carrier Direct TV over rights fees. The channel may no longer be available after Aug. 31 on Direct TV; if it loses Direct TV, Comcast-owned Versus will no longer be available in some 14 million homes. Harris denied the Direct TV situation had any bearing on the decision to postpone the event.

The event was originally set for Youngstown, Ohio and Harris said the card would not be held in the same venue because it already had an event booked on Oct. 10, a coveted Saturday date Versus offered as an open slot.

The WEC has an event penciled in for Nov. 11, headlined by Mike Thomas Brown and Jose Aldo for the featherweight title. A venue has not been announced. There were reports this week that a "Razor" Rob McCullough vs. Anthony Pettis fight has been added to that event.

The future beyond that is unclear for the WEC, but changes look to be on the horizon. UFC President Dana White said during the UFC 102 press conference this past week that the UFC is looking to bring some WEC fighters into the Octagon in 2010 to help fill out a record slate of cards the promotion needs to fill. Top WEC stars like Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres have both decried their pay scales compared with lower-tier fighters in the UFC, which can tap pay-per-view revenue in addition to television rights fees and lives gates to pay fighters. White said the UFC is looking to feature lower-weight fighters in the UFC, particularly when they stage a card in Mexico, where lighter-weight fighters are the norm.