List of WEC champions

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This is a list of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions at each weight class.

In December 2006 World Extreme Cagefighting was bought by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, to concentrate on the four smaller weight classes under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Over the next two years, the WEC would phase out weight classes above 155 lbs, with most of the fighters going to the UFC. By the time of the WEC's absorption into the UFC at the end of 2010, the only remaining weight divisions were Lightweight, Featherweight and Bantamweight.

Discontinued Title Histories

Super Heavyweight Championship

Over 265 lbs (Over 120 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Ron Waterman (def. James Nevarez)	August 9, 2003 (WEC 7)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Ricco Rodriguez on August 18, 2005, in Lemoore, California (WEC 16)
The WEC Super Heavyweight division was abolished December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	James Irvin (def. Jody Poff)	August 20, 2004 (WEC 11)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Houssain Oushani on October 21, 2004, in Lemoore, California (WEC 12) 2. def. Doug Marshall on May 19, 2005, in Lemoore, California (WEC 15)
Irvin vacates the title to fight in the Light Heavyweight division.
2	Brian Olsen (def. Lavar Johnson)	January 13, 2006 (WEC 18)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Mike Kyle on May 5, 2006 in Lemoore, California (WEC 20)
The WEC Heavyweight division was abolished December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.

Light Heavyweight Championship

186 to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Frank Shamrock (def. Bryan Pardoe)	March 27, 2003 (WEC 6)	Lemoore, California
Shamrock vacates the title August 2003 to fight for Strikeforce.
2	Jason Lambert (def. Richard Montoya)	January 22, 2005 (WEC 13)	Lemoore, California
Lambert vacates the title October 2005 to fight for the UFC.
3	Scott Smith (def. Tait Fletcher)	October 14, 2005 (WEC 17)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Justin Levens on January 13, 2006, in Lemoore, California (WEC 18)
Smith vacates the title May 2006 to participate in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter.
4	Lodune Sincaid (def. Dan Molina)	May 5, 2006 (WEC 20)	Lemoore, California
5	Doug Marshall	August 17, 2006 (WEC 23)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Justin McElfresh on May 12, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 27) 2. def. Ariel Gandulla on December 12, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 31)
6	Brian Stann	March 26, 2008 (WEC 33)	Las Vegas, Nevada
7	Steve Cantwell	August 3, 2008 (WEC 35)	Las Vegas, Nevada
The WEC Light Heavyweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 3, 2008 so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Middleweight Championship

171 to 185 lbs (77 to 84 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Chris Leben (def. Mike Swick)	January 16, 2004 (WEC 9)	Lemoore, California
Leben vacates the title to participate in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter.
2	Joe Riggs (def. Rob Kimmons)	May 19, 2005 (WEC 15)	Lemoore, California
The WEC Middleweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
3	Paulo Filho (def. Joe Doerksen)	August 5, 2007 (WEC 29)	Las Vegas, Nevada	1. def. Chael Sonnen on December 12, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 31)
The WEC Middleweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 3, 2008, so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Nick Diaz (def. Joe Hurley)	March 27, 2003 (WEC 6)	Lemoore, California
Welterweight title vacated.
2	Shonie Carter (def. J.T. Taylor)	October 17, 2003 (WEC 8)	Lemoore, California
3	Karo Parisyan	May 21, 2004 (WEC 10)	Lemoore, California
Parisyan vacates the title to focus on fighting for the UFC.
4	Mike Pyle (def. Bret Bergmark)	October 14, 2005 (WEC 17)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Shonie Carter on January 13, 2006 in Lemoore, California (WEC 18)
The WEC Welterweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
5	Carlos Condit (def. John Alessio)	March 24, 2007 (WEC 26)	Las Vegas, Nevada	1. def. Brock Larson on August 5, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 29) 2. def. Carlo Prater on February 13, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico (WEC 32) 3. def. Hiromitsu Miura on August 3, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 35)
The WEC Welterweight division was absorbed into the UFC on February 3, 2009, so the WEC could further concentrate on lighter weight classes.

Lightweight Championship

146 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)

No.	Name	Date	Location	Defenses
1	Gilbert Melendez (def. Olaf Alfonso)	May 21, 2004 (WEC 10)	Lemoore, California
Lightweight title vacated.
2	Gabe Ruediger (def. Olaf Alfonso)	October 21, 2004 (WEC 12)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Jason Maxwell on March 17, 2005 in Lemoore, California (WEC 14) 2. def. Sam Wells on October 14, 2005 in Lemoore, California (WEC 17)
3	Hermes Franca	March 17, 2006 (WEC 19)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Brandon Olsen on June 15, 2006, in Highland, California (WEC 21) 2. def. Nate Diaz on October 12, 2006, in Lemoore, California (WEC 24)
The WEC Lightweight title was vacated December 2006 when Zuffa purchased the organization.
4	Rob McCullough (def. Kit Cope)	January 20, 2007 (WEC 25)	Las Vegas, Nevada	1. def. Richard Crunkilton on September 5, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 30)
5	Jamie Varner	February 13, 2008 (WEC 32)	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1. def. Marcus Hicks on August 3, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 35) 2. def. Donald Cerrone on January 25, 2009, in San Diego, California (WEC 38)
	Ben Henderson (def. Donald Cerrone for Interim Title)	October 10, 2009 (WEC 43)	San Antonio, Texas
6	Ben Henderson (def. Jamie Varner for Undisputed Title)	January 10, 2010 (WEC 46)	Sacramento, California	1. def. Donald Cerrone on April 24, 2010, in Sacramento, California (WEC 48)
7	Anthony Pettis	December 16, 2010 (WEC 53)	Glendale, Arizona
The WEC Lightweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 16, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger.

Featherweight Championship

136 to 145 lbs (61 to 66 kg)

No.	Name	Date	Location	Defenses
1	Cole Escovedo (def. Philip Perez)	October 18, 2002 (WEC 5)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Anthony Hamlett on October 17, 2003, in Lemoore, California (WEC 8)
2	Urijah Faber	March 17, 2006 (WEC 19)	Lemoore, California	1. def. Joe Pearson on January 20, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 25) 2. def. Dominick Cruz on March 24, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 26) 3. def. Chance Farrar on June 3, 2007, in Las Vegas, NV (WEC 28) 4. def. Jeff Curran on December 12, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 31) 5. def. Jens Pulver on June 1, 2008, in Sacramento, California (WEC 34)
3	Mike Brown	November 5, 2008 (WEC 36)	Hollywood, Florida	1. def. Leonard Garcia on March 1, 2009, in Corpus Christi, Texas (WEC 39) 2. def. Urijah Faber on June 7, 2009, in Sacramento, California (WEC 41)
4	Jose Aldo	November 18, 2009 (WEC 44)	Las Vegas, Nevada	1. def. Urijah Faber on April 24, 2010, in Sacramento, California (WEC 48) 2. def. Manny Gamburyan on September 30, 2010, in Broomfield, Colorado (WEC 51)
The WEC Featherweight division was absorbed into the UFC on November 20, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger. Jose Aldo was promoted to UFC Featherweight Champion

Bantamweight Championship

126 to 135 lbs (57 to 61 kg)

No.	Name	Date	Location	Defenses
1	Eddie Wineland (def. Antonio Banuelos)	May 5, 2006 (WEC 20)	Lemoore, California
2	Chase Beebe	March 24, 2007 (WEC 26)	Las Vegas, Nevada	1. def. Rani Yahya on September 5, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 30)
3	Miguel Torres	February 13, 2008 (WEC 32)	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1. def. Yoshiro Maeda on June 1, 2008, in Sacramento, California (WEC 34) 2. def. Manny Tapia on December 3, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 37) 3. def. Takeya Mizugaki on April 5, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois (WEC 40)
4	Brian Bowles	August 9, 2009 (WEC 42)	Las Vegas, Nevada
5	Dominick Cruz	March 6, 2010 (WEC 47)	Columbus, Ohio	1. def. Joseph Benavidez on August 18, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada (WEC 50) 2. def. Scott Jorgensen on December 16, 2010, in Glendale, Arizona (WEC 53)
The WEC Bantamweight division was absorbed into the UFC on December 16, 2010, as part of the UFC-WEC merger. Dominick Cruz was promoted to UFC Bantamweight Champion

WEC Tournaments

Event	Weight class	Winner	Runner-up	Date
WEC 13	Heavyweight	Brandon Vera	Mike Whitehead	January 22, 2005
WEC 17	Light Heavyweight	Scott Smith	Tait Fletcher	October 14, 2005

By Nationality

Country	Titles
United States	32
Brazil	3
Armenia	1

See also

• List of current mixed martial arts champions
• List of WEC Events
• Mixed martial arts weight classes

External links

• Current Title Holders at WEC.tv