Over a year ago, I sat in a Dallas hotel lobby with Ben Henderson telling me of his goal to be considered the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist on the planet. He is a polite, well-spoken young man, and he said this in the most humble way you could imagine.
I smiled at his ambition but I also quietly wondered to myself, How would this talented young athlete accomplish such a goal in the WEC when everybody knew it was, well, not the UFC. Henderson went on to capture the WEC lightweight championship but he’s made barely a dent in the lightweight world top 10.
Henderson’s not the only guy to have big dreams in a small company. The same can be said for Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz and more. But with the news of the the UFC-WEC merger, opportunity abounds for everyone.
A simple change of three letters and a logo will tilt the MMA landscape further in Zuffa’s favor and change the fortunes of lower weight-class fighters across the world.