WEC 48: A combination of good luck and bad timing

In our latest podcast (listen below) I mentioned how the WEC was almost trapped by temporal constraints with WEC 48 and the move to pay-per view.

The organization has made it clear that they wanted to take the brand to the next level for the past eighteen months. Thus when Urijah Faber defeated Raphael Assuncao the promotion had the perfect opportunity to place their biggest draw in a title fight against the highlight reel that is Jose Aldo. Couple that with the sequel to 2009's "Fight of the Year" in a title fight between lightweights Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson and it's the perfect recipe to jump to the next level--except the timing.

Reed Harris admitted that the April 24th date is tethered to the availability of Arco Arena in Sacramento. Unfortunately this exposes WEC 48 to a possible counter promotion from Strikeforce. The WEC is almost a victim of the UFC's backlog of injuries as UFC 111, 112, 113 and 114 will all be top-notch cards. While the WEC will benefit from cross promotion they will also be stuck between four really good cards.

Could the WEC wait though? Too early in June and they will certainly deal with some level of fight fatigue. Too late and they risk being swallowed by the Fourth of July card or the UFC's debut in Boston. If they wait even longer they risk stagnation and lost of interest. No, if the move to pay-per view is going to happen for the WEC it has to happen now.

But what if Faber had lost at WEC 46? Would the WEC have waited to move to pay-per view; perhaps in the fall with a Torres-Bowles title fight? Or would they have slogged on to pay-per view with Assuncao vs. Aldo, Cerrone vs. Henderson II and Faber vs. Brown III?

To a degree this is somewhat pointless exercise in make believe "what ifs." But it does highlight that for the WEC to move to pay-per view the time is now.