Top 5 WEC championship reigns 

#2. Miguel Torres – WEC bantamweight champion

Miguel Torres is perhaps one of the most underrated fighters in terms of his accomplishments in the WEC. He was an established fighter with a 33-1 MMA record when he joined the promotion in 2007. He quickly inserted himself in the title picture after a first-round submission win over Jeff Bedard in his debut.

Torres took advantage of his title opportunity by submitting Chase Beebe with a guillotine choke in the first round. His first defense saw him defeat Yoshiro Maeda via TKO, when the doctor stopped the bout following the third-round. He then followed that up with a second-round TKO over Manny Tapia and a unanimous decision over Takeya Mizugaki.

Torres’ title reign came to an end on August 9th, 2009, when Brian Bowles knocked him out in the first round. He had another set back following the title loss as Joseph Benavidez submitted him. But he won his final bout in the promotion by submitting Charlie Valencia and earned a Submission of the Night bonus.

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#1. Urijah Faber – WEC featherweight champion

Urijah Faber is arguably the biggest star to come out of the WEC and among those most synonymous with the promotion. His 5 title defenses were the most in the promotion’s history.

Faber defeated Cole Escovedo to become the new featherweight champion after Escovedo’s corner stopped the fight prior to the third round. Some of his title defenses included wins over Dominick Cruz, Jeff Curran, and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. What made the title reign even more impressive was that he continued fighting in regional promotions as a bantamweight.

‘The California Kid’s reign ended in 2008, when Mike Brown finished him with strikes to earn the first-round TKO win. Brown ended Faber’s title reign as well as his 13-fight winning streak. Faber was unable to regain the title and returned to bantamweight, where he’d compete during the majority of his UFC tenure.