Where did the WEC logo go?

If George Carlin was still alive you'd almost expect him to write a new routine entitled "three letters you can never say on a Zuffa PPV..."

Seriously, if Waldo and Carmen San Diego had a kid and his name is WEC and I can't find it. Well, unless I stare at the Octagon girls chest. Wait, are they Octagon Girls? I am so confused...

Update: apparently the logo wasn't on the girls uniforms.

While Dana White may have implied that the lack of a WEC logo had to do with contractual obligations (note: no one from Versus or Spike explicitly stated, on the record, this to be the case) the affect was that WEC 48, pardon me, Aldo vs. Faber was confused as an UFC property thanks to Spike prelims, Bruce Buffer announcing, Dana White promoting and the Joe Rogan Mike Goldberg booth.

That's not a bad thing, that's not even an outrageous thing but it was definitely awkward watching Goldberg and Rogan try to avoid the dreaded W-E-C at all costs. Did they really have to white wash the three little letters from existence as well? It was so bad you expected security to commandeer any WEC shirts or Zuffa to pixelate the WEC logo.

As someone who is familiar with both brands, and the push that MMA is different than boxing because of the branding, it definitely felt weird. Almost like going on a date with a girl but she's flirting with someone else but not ditching you and saying that she really likes you. Just weird.

Mike Chiappetta says that the disappearance of the WEC brand shows Zuffa values fighters over brands, which couldn't be further from the truth. The whole point was to convince people they were watching an UFC event, which if you followed Twitter throughout the fight many, many fans thought they were watching UFC: Aldo vs. Faber.

Zach Arnold stated that the final UFC-WEC merger took place just nobody sent out a press release.

But that might not be the whole story.

With anything in life there are pros and cons to a decision. For Zuffa, completely folding the WEC into the UFC creates a number of issues. WEC fighters and UFC fighters would have to be cut to keep the new roster from becoming too bloated all the while keep the 7 divisions active. Zuffa is also conscious of potentially watering down titles and then there is the issue of the Versus television contract with the WEC.

On the flip side the benefits of an infusion of talent at 155, 145 and 135 would add extremely entertaining fights to the UFC product as the lighter weight classes routinely put on top notch fights. Two more titles also serve to buffer the main events for shows like UFC 93, 99, 103, 106, 108, 109, 110, 115 and many more that lacked the championship "gold" rating.

While many will ponder the question of what will the future of the WEC look like. The better question to ask is whether or not there is something after Dana White's "three year plan" for the WEC...

SBN coverage of WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber