WEC VP Peter Dropkick dropped knowledge with MMA Fanhouse in regards to why WEC 42 was postponed, his thoughts on WEC losing viewers in the Direct TV/Versus saga, WEC fights on Saturday nights, when WEC stars will fight again, plus more. Check it:
How concerned are you about possibly losing all those DirecTV subscribers as WEC viewers?
I'm not overly concerned. These concerns between networks and providers happen, but I'm confident the two will work a deal out. Versus has some of the top properties on the air: Ourselves, PBR, Tour de France, NHL and a great college football schedule coming up. I'm confident the two will get a deal done.
Is this a strong enough card? Your bantamweight and featherweight divisions have your marquee fighters, but is your lightweight division strong enough to carry a card, and is Henderson vs. Cerrone a strong enough main event?
We think it is and from the fans' standpoint, I know they want to see this fight, which will determine who will fight Jamie Varner for the title. It's a weight class we're building, and we feel there's enough talent out there to grow that weight class. And we feel that absolutely it is a fight that's worthy of being a main event. Fans want to see this fight.
If Versus and Direct TV can't work out a deal, I just can't see that being good for any of the programming on Versus. That channel already has problems ratings wise and doesn't reach nearly as many viewers as say Spike TV. I already lost HDNet to some BS stuff between TWC and HDNet, so I can't afford to lose Versus! I want to see that fight as well, but I'm not on the edge of my seat with anticipation to be honest in regards to Henderson/Cerrone. I didn't post it, but I wonder why he wouldn't say what the injury to Henderson was?
Dropkick then speaks on when the WEC stars will fight again:
I think it's fair to say your best four fighters and four biggest draws are Mike Brown, Brian Bowles, Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres. When will we see each of them again?
Mike Brown and Jose Aldo are going to be fighting in November. It looks like Torres and Bowles, depending on their recoveries from injury, will be on our December card. Currently we've got Faber on a January card. We're going to have great momentum at the end of this year and heading into 2010. We'll have an event a month from October probably until next summer, at least one event a month.
Now Aldo/Brown is a fight to get pumped up for, but I sure hope that having Torres and Bowles on the December card doesn't mean that it'll be a instant re-match. So from October thru next summer we'll get a WEC event each month? Sweet!
How was October 10 decided on as the make-up date?
Based on my discussions with Versus, looking at available dates, that was the best option. It's our first time on Saturday night, which is great for WEC. Saturday night is historically a great night for fights, as you've seen with the UFC having great success on Saturday nights. We're looking forward to having a Versus WEC fight on a Saturday.
Are you hoping to have more events on Saturdays?
Yes. We think it's a great night for the fans at home and for the gate.
That makes sense to me. I don't know why watching MMA on Sunday nights feels weird to me. Am I crazy?
More after the jump.
Let me ask you about some other issues. When will we see flyweights in the WEC?
Hopefully soon. We're working on it. It's still in our plans. We've got a ton of interest from flyweight fighters. We want to launch it properly, possibly by the end of the year, and if not early next year. It's definitely in our plans, hopefully soon.
Has there been any talk -- or is there any current talk -- about having female fighters in the WEC?
We have discussed it. Currently there isn't any active discussion about having women. We're open to the idea if it's something the fans want to see and if there's a deep enough talent pool to have some solid divisions. I'm not sure that's the case yet.
Is there any talk at all about folding the WEC into the UFC?
No.
That's definitely not happening?
No, I think the only talk of that was from the media. I'm not sure where that came from, but no.
Why don't they just sign some credible women fighters and have a mini tournament or something? I mean all you would need is like 8 women and feature 2 fights over like two events like they do in Japan. Then viola...you have a division with a pecking order as you search the earth for more women to fill in the division.
Man, I don't know. I still think just folding the WEC into the UFC would be the best thing to do overall. Especially if Versus and Direct TV are not able to reach an agreement. I can just imagine what the Ultimate Fight Nights and prelims of UFC events would be like.
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