There were a few things noticeable by their absence at last weekend’s WEC. One was the booing which has punctuated UFC events in recent weeks. The other was any mention of the term WEC by any member of the commentary team.

There are two obvious conclusion to be drawn from this. First off: Fights involving smaller guys are quite simply a lot more fun; and secondly: Zuffa is well aware of this fact and are going to incorporate WEC into the UFC at the earliest available opportunity.

Who can blame them? Why would you buy a UFC card carrying an outside possibility of action when you could invest in a WEC card which basically guaranteed it?

This is what fight fans are thinking and now that the WEC is quite blatantly making the UFC look bad its days are clearly numbered. WEC fighters consistently attempt the type of audacious combinations which are conspicuous by their absence in the ‘safety first’ style of fighting which is showcased all too often in the UFC.

Fights are fought at a far more frantic pace which means that – with both fighters exchanging regularly throughout every round – there is normally one clear cut winner at the end of the fight.

The televised portion of the main card was refreshingly free of controversy. Every single fight was won decisively, and in the majority of cases, dramatically. This is what MMA is all about: The best fighters in the world going all out for victory from the moment the opening bell rings.

There were no fights which ground to a mind numbing halt on the feet because one man was too afraid to exchange with the other. There were no fighters content to remain in a dominant position without attempting to do damage in order to ‘grind’ out a decision.

Instead there were superman punches, spinning back kicks, spectacular submissions and the sort of entertainment which has been at a premium in recent UFC events. If you wanted to introduce an outsider to MMA this would be the event which you wanted them to watch.

The WEC has become far too valuable a commodity to continue to exist independently from the UFC and UFC events will be improved dramatically with the introduction of at least a couple of lighter weight classes. If the heavier guys continue to disappoint, they may find themselves slipping down the cards as the likes of Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz step up to steal their limelight.

Many might have questioned Zuffa’s intentions after buying WEC and immediately stripping it of almost all its first class fighters. Those questions were answered emphatically on Saturday night in Sacramento. Zuffa’s decision to use WEC as an incubator to nurture the greatest talent which existed outside of the existing UFC weight classes and bring it to the attention of the mainstream was entirely exonerated by WEC 48.

Last weekend’s WEC was the ultimate advert for MMA and Zuffa now have a considerable asset on their hands. The inevitable amalgamation with the WEC has the potential to make the UFC a much more entertaining place. The existing UFC headliners should be looking nervously over their shoulders as fight fans begin to say, ‘We have seen the entertainment on offer in WEC cards. Why should we settle for anything less?’

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo's first title defense wasn't exactly a nail-biter. But it didn't come close to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's much-maligned UFC 112 performance, said UFC president Dana White.

The UFC figurehead conceded a finish would have been nice, though. After a night filled with barnburners, Aldo's decision win ended WEC 48 on a conservative note.

"Obviously the main event is always the big topper," White said of Aldo's fight with Urijah Faber. "I think [Aldo] could have finished that fight. I think he was being very - I'll call it extremely cautious."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo's first title defense wasn't exactly a nail-biter. But it didn't come close to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's much-maligned UFC 112 performance, said UFC president Dana White.

The UFC figurehead conceded a finish would have been nice, though. After a night filled with barnburners, Aldo's decision win ended WEC 48 on a conservative note.

"Obviously the main event is always the big topper," White said of Aldo's fight with Urijah Faber. "I think [Aldo] could have finished that fight. I think he was being very - I'll call it extremely cautious."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown is back to the drawing board after his second WEC loss, which came to Manny Gamburyan Saturday at WEC 48.

And though Brown asked to return to the cage as quickly as possible after losing his WEC belt to Jose Aldo this past November, UFC president Dana White learned the former champion is wrestling with personal demons that took a sizable chunk off his training time for this weekend's fight.

The people who tipped him off might surprise you.

World Extreme Cagefighting’s first Pay Per View event completed itself on Saturday night with two champions retaining their titles and a “Fight of the Year” candidate taking place for free on Spike TV. The event was dubbed “WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber” and took place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

The main event saw featherweight champion Jose Aldo handily defeat former champ Urijah Faber. Aldo dominated throughout the five rounds landing leg kicks at will which had Faber limping after the second. Faber’s leg took so much punishment that his trainers had to carry him back to their corner. In the fourth Aldo gained a crucifix position and reigned down blows for two minutes. Aldo showed why he was champ and probably earned a spot with the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world with his performance.

Lightweight champion Ben Henderson made short work of his opponent Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Their last match earned both fighters a shot at “Fight of the Year” honors but would not be repeated on Saturday night. Henderson brought the fight to the ground in the opening minutes to sink a guillotine choke in at 1:57 to retain his title.

A definite candidate for “Fight of the Year” in 2010, and one that fans got to see for free on Spike TV, Leonard Garcia won a split decision 29-28, 28-29,29-28 over the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in a 15 minute slug fest that had fans on their feet. From the opening minutes both men let it all hang out as both men swung for the fences, each fighter scored some heavy hits which looked to almost end the fight and that was just the first round. Neither man shied away from the others strikes, carrying on this way through exhaustion into the final seconds of their bout. At one point color commentator Joe Rogan declared it “Fight of the Century!” The WEC would be stupid not to book a rematch between the two.

Here is a collection of ‘News & Notes’ from Saturday’s event, enjoy.

Record Gate Totals

- ‘Aldo vs. Faber’ set new event records for the WEC with an attendance total of 14, 144 and a gate total of $1 million according to Dana White.

$65,000 Fighter Bonuses

- The “Fight Night” awards were handed down to Manny Gamburyan, Benson Henderson, Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung.
- “Fight of the Night” was a no brainer and it went to Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung.
- “Knockout of the Night” was given to Manny Gamburyan after he KO’d former featherweight champ Mike Brown in the first round of their match.
- “Submission of the Night” was given to WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson for submitting opponent Donald Cerrone in the first round.

Aldo looking to capture three titles

- “I had heard that he wants to move down a weight class, win that belt and then go to 155 to fight BJ in the UFC. If he can do that, I don’t know if he can cut that weight and make that light a weight division, but he’d be the first guy to win three titles in three different weight divisions,” noted White at the post-fight press conference.

Dana White on Jake Shields

- “I’m very confident he’s going to be with the UFC.”
- During the event telecast, White was sitting beside Shields and when the camera panned over White could be seen mouthing “He’s mine.”
- After the event White noted that Shields still has over a month left on his Strikeforce contract and nothing is final yet.
- As for coaching on “TUF 12″, White said it was impossible to cast him as a coach for the show.
“The problem with ‘TUF’ is that you have to pull the trigger, and you have to make decisions on that immediately. We actually just cast ['TUF 12'] last week. We start filming in five weeks.”

Randy Couture vs. James Toney

- “It’s not a done deal yet,” White said. “But yeah, I’m working on that.”

White confirms Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen main event for UFC 117

- When asked if Silva would be headlining the August event White responded “You have to, he’s the main event.“

White reveals why no ‘WEC’ tag for the event

- “[The WEC and UFC] are two different brands on two different networks,” White said. “Even though they’re owned by the same company, they’re two different brands owned by the same company. The networks aren’t going to let us do it.”

“Those of you that have been around the TV business know what a battle it is when you have two different brands and all this other stuff. I really have to thank Spike and Versus for working with me on this thing.

“For me to get Spike over the hump to put this thing on and promote the ‘Countdown’ show and all the other stuff, thank God these guys went ahead and delivered and put on a good night for the sport. It was awesome.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - After several days avoiding the question to the
best of his ability, UFC president Dana White finally revealed the true
reason "Aldo vs. Faber" was held without any brand connection to the
WEC.

TV exposure.

"[The WEC and UFC] are two different brands on two different networks,"
White said. "Even though they're owned by the same company, they're two
different brands owned by the same company. The networks aren't going to
let us do it."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - While Saturday night's "Aldo vs. Faber" event was
filled with several memorable moments, one of those lasting images was
that of Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields sitting cageside
with UFC president Dana White.

The picture was pasted on the in-arena screens for all to see, and the
image was also featured on the evening's pay-per-view broadcast.

While White mouthed the words, "He's mine," the UFC exec would later
wryly claim he was just watching some fights with the Strikeforce
employee. Nevertheless, White's intentions with Shields are certainly
clear.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - While Saturday night's "WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber" event was
filled with several memorable moments, one of those lasting images was
that of Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields sitting cageside
with UFC president Dana White.

The picture was pasted on the in-arena screens for all to see, and the
image was also featured on the evening's pay-per-view broadcast.

While White mouthed the words, "He's mine," the UFC exec later would wryly claim he was just watching some fights with the Strikeforce
employee. Nevertheless, White's intentions with Shields are certainly
clear.

When the lights dimmed inside Sacramento’s ARCO Arena for the final time on Saturday night four of the individuals who competed on the evening’s earlier, action-packed ”WEC 48 – Aldo vs. Faber” card headed back to their hotels with bonus checks totaling more than a quarter-million dollars, a record amount for the organization. Each earning an additional $65,000 for their performances on the promotion’s initial foray into PPV were Leonard Garcia, Chan Sung Jung, Manny Gamburyan, and Ben Henderson. The news was first announced at the post-event press conference and later reported by MMAJunkie.

Garcia and Jung were awarded ”Fight of the Night” after throwing technique to the wind and slugging it out for three rounds during the preliminary portion of the show airing on Spike TV. Meanwhile, Gamburyan landed ”Knockout of the Night” honors after shocking a good deal of the Mixed Martial Arts community with a TKO victory over former 145-pound champion Mike Brown in the opening round of their bout. Also making quick work of his highly respected opponent was WEC Lightweight Champion Henderson whose first-frame guillotine choke of Donald Cerrone netted the event’s ”Submission of the Night”.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UFC legend Randy Couture will apparently get his
wish.

"The Natural" has been openly campaigning for a chance to welcome pro
boxer James Toney to the world of MMA, and UFC president Dana White on
Saturday night admitted he's willing to let Couture have his shot.

Following the evening's "WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber" post-event press conference,
White told a small group of reporters that he was in the process of
finalizing a bout between Couture and Toney for the organization's
first-ever trip to Boston.