5 fighters who starred in the WEC but struggled in the UFC

It’s hard to believe now, but it’s nearly a decade since the WEC – the UFC’s sister promotion dedicated to the lower weight classes – closed its doors and saw its roster brought into the UFC, introducing new talent to the Lightweight and Welterweight classes and adding the Featherweight and Bantamweight classes to the promotion for the first time.

Following the arrival of the WEC’s fighters, the likes of Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz, Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson went on to have massive success in the Octagon, winning numerous titles and putting on some of the best fights in the promotion’s history.

For a handful of other fighters though, their time in the WEC represented the peak of their careers – and they were never able to do quite as well in the UFC. Here are 5 fighters who were stars in the WEC, but struggled to replicate that form in the Octagon.

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#1 Miguel Torres

Miguel Torres dominated in the WEC but found himself out of the UFC after just 4 fights

The WEC’s third Bantamweight champion following the promotion’s buyout at the hands of Zuffa in 2006, Miguel Torres brought a huge reputation with him before he’d even debuted. He’d been fighting on the regional circuit for years, dating back to 2000 in MMA’s Wild West era, and had put together an insane 32-1 record, with many of his fights coming against far larger fighters.

Torres debuted in the WEC in 2007 with an easy submission win over Jeff Bedard, and then won the Bantamweight title in his second fight, choking out champion Chase Beebe with a guillotine variant in the opening round. At that stage, he looked unstoppable at 135lbs. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the legendary Carlson Gracie, not only did the Chicago native have a venomous ground game, but his striking was tremendous too, as he’d make full use of his lanky, 5’9” frame.

3 successful title defenses followed for Torres before he was stunningly unseated by Brian Bowles in August 2009; essentially, he was drawn into a brawl with a heavier hitter and found himself outgunned. Another shocking loss – this time to Joseph Benavidez – followed, but 6 months later the former champ appeared to have righted the ship with an easy win over Charlie Valencia.

Torres’ next fight was his UFC debut, as he comfortably outpointed Antonio Banuelos essentially by using his jab alone, but his second Octagon appearance didn’t go so well; despite dominating swathes of the fight, he came out on the wrong end of a decision against future Flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson.

A win over Nick Pace appeared to put him back on track again, but then disaster struck for him; he cracked an unsavoury joke about rape, and was subsequently released by the UFC. After an apology, Torres was brought back to the promotion – but suffered a bad knockout at the hands of Michael McDonald and was then released again. Since leaving the UFC, he’s gone 4-4 on the regional circuit, and hasn’t fought since 2016.

What went wrong? Essentially, it was all about timing for Torres. By the time he entered the UFC, he was essentially past his prime after fighting for a decade, and his chin – which was once considered one of the best in MMA – had been cracked. Had he not been released in 2012, the likelihood is that he would’ve ended up losing a string of fights anyway, and never would’ve reached the heights he did in the WEC.

#2 Mike Brown

Mike Brown was past his prime when he joined the UFC in 2011

Largely considered a journeyman for the early portion of his career, American Top Team stalwart Mike Brown made his UFC debut in 2004 with a loss to Genki Sudo, and like many fighters back then, appeared to be one-and-done in the promotion. But a drop to 145lbs in 2005 saw him go on a lengthy win streak, and in 2008, with one loss in his last 10 fights, he was signed by the WEC, where he debuted with a win over perennial contender Jeff Curran.

That set up a title fight with then-Featherweight champion Urijah Faber – and in one of the biggest shocks in the history of the promotion, Brown knocked ‘The California Kid’ out violently to claim the gold. Two title defenses – over Leonard Garcia and Faber in a rematch – cemented his position as the top 145lber on the planet, before he was dethroned by the surging Jose Aldo in late 2009.

Brown bounced back with two more WEC wins before debuting in the UFC in early 2011, but to everyone’s surprise he was outpointed in his first two Octagon appearances by Diego Nunes and Rani Yahya – two fighters he’d have been favoured to beat easily in his WEC days.

From there he was able to struggle to a pair of Octagon victories over journeymen Nam Phan and Daniel Pineda, before a knockout loss to Steven Siler in 2013 marked the end of his UFC career – and the end of his MMA career as a whole too.

Like with Torres, Brown’s issues in the UFC came down to timing; his raw strength and grappling skill had allowed him to succeed in the WEC, but by the time he re-entered the Octagon in 2011 he was 35 years old, far past his prime from an athletic standpoint, and due to his extended years in the game, his skills were already on the wane.

Had his Faber win come in the UFC, he’d probably be remembered as a legend today – as it is though, he’s largely, and unfairly, forgotten.

#3 Steve Cantwell

Steve Cantwell (left) lost 5 straight fights in the UFC

The case of Steve Cantwell is definitely one of the more bizarre when it comes to fighters who succeeded in the WEC but struggled in the UFC. ‘The Robot’ was signed by the WEC after just 3 professional fights, and after losing to Brian Stann in his promotional debut, he bounced back by defeating his next two opponents.

As the WEC’s 205lbs division was so thin, that was enough for him to earn a Light-Heavyweight title shot in a rematch with Stann, who had won the title in early 2008, and this time Cantwell came out on top, knocking ‘The All-American’ out in the first round to claim the gold. As 2008 came to an end, it was announced that the WEC’s Light-Heavyweight division would be folded into the UFC, and at the age of just 22, Cantwell appeared to be a prospect to watch.

His first Octagon appearance went well, as he broke the arm of fellow debutant Razak Al-Hassan to claim his first UFC victory, but from there, things went wildly wrong. A tough loss to fellow prospect Luiz Cane was followed by a defeat at the hands of Stann in a rubber match, and from there, an unknown health problem kept him out for almost two years.

In 2011 he returned, only to lose three fights in a row – dropping decisions to Cyrille Diabate, Mike Massenzio and Riki Fukuda – and that was enough for the UFC to cut him from the roster.

Since going 1-5 in the promotion, Cantwell has never fought again. The truth is that he was perhaps too raw and inexperienced to be facing UFC-level competition at that point in his career, but even so, it was still disappointing to see such a good prospect completely crash and burn.

#4 Jamie Varner

Jamie Varner (right) won gold in the WEC but struggled in the UFC

Lightweight Jamie Varner made his UFC debut back in 2006 and after a tough fight, he was submitted by then-top contender Hermes Franca. After bouncing back with his first UFC win – a submission of Jason Gilliam – ‘C-4’ found himself in an interesting position; he was the first fighter to move directly from the UFC to the newly-purchased WEC.

Right away, Varner had success in the smaller promotion. He defeated Sherron Leggett in his debut, then upset WEC Lightweight champion Rob McCullough, knocking him out to claim his first MMA title. Another knockout win – this time over Marcus Hicks – gave him his first title defense, and he was well on his way to beating a raw Donald Cerrone in his second before the fight had to be stopped due to an illegal knee. As the fight was already in the final round, the judges awarded ‘C-4’ a technical decision win.

A year on the shelf followed, with Varner recovering from various injuries, before he returned and was defeated by Benson Henderson, dropping his title in the process. ‘C-4’ then fought to a draw with Kamal Shalorus in a controversial fight that most observers had him winning, before losing his final two WEC fights to Cerrone and wrestler Shane Roller.

The two losses left Varner on the outside looking in as the WEC’s fighters were moved to the UFC, but in 2012, he was brought back to the Octagon in a late notice fight with Edson Barboza – and in a major shock, Varner knocked him out in one of the biggest wins of his career.

However, from there, the former WEC champ just couldn’t find any traction, going 1-5 in his next 6 fights before his retirement in late 2014. Essentially, despite being a very talented fighter, ‘C-4’ should probably be considered a fine example of someone who was better as a big fish in a smaller pond.

#5 Leonard Garcia

Leonard Garcia's popularity peaked in his WEC days

Another fighter who moved from the UFC to the WEC, Texas favourite Leonard Garcia already had a reputation for putting on wildly exciting fights before he made his way to the smaller promotion, largely thanks to his incredible 2007 Fight of the Year candidate at UFC 69 against then-UFC golden boy Roger Huerta.

‘Bad Boy’ had two more UFC fights in his first run, going 1-1 before joining the WEC as a Featherweight in 2008, where he stunned the MMA world by knocking out Japanese favourite Hiroyuki Takaya in his promotional debut. A big win over former UFC Lightweight kingpin Jens Pulver followed, and that was enough to earn him a title shot.

Garcia came up short in that fight, being submitted by champ Mike Brown, but he quickly bounced back, going 2-2-1 in his next 5 fights, with the most notable one being his split decision win over ‘The Korean Zombie’ in 2010, a fight widely recognised as one of the greatest in the history of MMA. When he edged a decision over Nam Phan in his UFC return in 2010, hopes were high for his career inside the Octagon.

Unfortunately, that never came to pass; ‘Bad Boy’ lost to the Zombie in a rematch in his next fight – finding himself the victim of the UFC’s first-ever Twister submission – and then dropped 4 straight decisions, losing to Nam Phan, Matt Grice, Max Holloway and Cody McKenzie. With a 1-5 UFC record, he was unsurprisingly released from the promotion.

After leaving the UFC, Garcia went 3-2 on the regional circuit before retiring in 2014; the truth is that despite an ultra-entertaining fight style, the Texan probably wasn’t quite good enough for the UFC at that time, and his career peaked with the first Zombie fight in 2010.