Before fighters like Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber and Carlos Condit were competing inside the UFC Octagon, they were making their name in World Extreme Cagefighting aka the WEC in some of the best fights in MMA history.
Now for the first time ever, the WEC is coming to FOX Sports 1 with a new Best of WEC show that will feature some of the greatest moments to take place in the promotion that launched the careers of some of the top featherweights and bantamweights as well as produced future UFC champions like Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson.
The first Best of the WEC airs on Wednesday, March 19 at 8pm ET with Kenda Perez hosting.
The WEC first launched in 2001 as a regional promotion in Lemoore, California but the organization hit new heights when Zuffa -- parent company to the UFC -- bought them out in 2006 and brought them to a national television audience.
From there the WEC produced some of the best highlights in MMA including the emergence of several champion who now rule the roost in the UFC today.
In 2008 a young Brazilian named Jose Aldo burst onto the scene via the WEC and it didn't take him long to be noticed by fans and fighters alike. Among his best performances was a blistering seven-second knockout over top rated contender Cub Swanson at WEC 41 where Aldo leapt through the air like he was on wires, connecting with two knee strikes that rendered his opponent helpless like he was just struck by lightning. One fight later, Aldo did the same thing to Mike Brown to win the WEC featherweight title -- a belt he still holds to this day. (Source: FOX Sports)