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  - WEC PLANS TO EXPAND WITH FLYWEIGHT DIVISION
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
As 2008 came to a close, so did World Extreme Cagefighting's 185- and 205-pound weight divisions. But as one door closes another opens.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Tuesday revealed that the WEC is adding a 125-pound flyweight division. With WEC 38 in San Diego just three weeks away, no 125-pound bouts are expected for that fight card. The promotion's next event, likely in March, is a more apt candidate to host the WEC's new commitment to flyweight fighters.
Following its purchase by Zuffa in late 2006, the WEC has worked to find a niche for its product. Televised on the Versus television network, the promotion quickly found that it did not have enough talent to fill its middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, officially putting both weight classes on hiatus following WEC 37 in December.
WEC and UFC still maintain crossover categories in the lightweight and welterweight classes. Those two divisions, however, have a vast amount of talented fighters to draw from, although the WEC has had a difficult time finding a variety of challengers to Carlos Condit's welterweight championship.
Over the course of 2008, the featherweight and bantamweight divisions became the obvious points of distinction for the WEC. The flyweight category is the natural progression for the WEC to continue growing separate from the UFC.
The 125-pound flyweight division is already a recognized category by most athletic commissions. With its addition to the WEC, that leaves only the super heavyweight class (fighters over 265 pounds) as the only highly recognized weight division not utilized by either the WEC or the UFC.
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