Jose Aldo’s look again on the WEC with Cub Swanson’s retirement this month carries added weight as he was believed to be the final energetic fighter within the WEC period, capping off a promotion that helped catapult the featherweight and bantamweight divisions into the UFC highlight. Swanson retired after defeating Nate Landwehr by first-round TKO at UFC 327 on April 11, 2026.
Cub Swanson retires from blended martial arts, Jose Aldo displays on WEC legacy
For Aldo, tales start as a lot with construction as with reminiscence. The WEC was already below Zuffa’s management when Zuffa arrived, working as a sister promotion to the UFC with a lot of the identical company backing, whereas concurrently serving as the house of the 145-pound and 135-pound weight lessons that the UFC had not but promoted. In its ultimate kind, the WEC centered round 135, 145, and 155 kilos, with the following UFC merger including bantamweight and featherweight on to the UFC title map.
In an unique interview with LowKick MMA in collaboration with Jackpot Metropolis On line casino, Jose Aldo mirrored:
“After I obtained there, it was already below Zuffa. It was mainly the identical group because the UFC. Again then, the UFC did not have a light-weight class, it was within the WEC. My technology helped change that. I keep in mind individuals on Twitter saying the WEC matches have been higher than the UFC matches. Ultimately, the UFC began incorporating lightweights.”
Aldo’s personal WEC run was quick and inconclusive. He gained the WEC featherweight title by stopping Cub Swanson in eight seconds at WEC 41 in June 2009 and by defeating Mike Brown by second-round TKO at WEC 44 in November 2009. He exited the WEC because the final featherweight champion and assumed that title to the UFC when the organizations merged, upon the creation of the division. He continued:
“That was the start of my profession. I used to be chasing a dream. From my first struggle to my fifth struggle, I felt unstoppable. I used to be like slightly child making a dream come true and working by everybody. Then got here the match for the belt in opposition to Mike Brown. My fifth struggle. It was a dream come true. All of the struggling paid off once I gained the title.”
Zuffa acquired the WEC in December 2006, and the promotion targeted on light-weight fighters, changing into a testing floor for names that will go on to kind the UFC title, together with Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Anthony Pettis, Demetrius Johnson, Benson Henderson, Urijah Faber and Swanson in its later years. Information protection of the merger on the time famous that at a time when the UFC didn’t have a 135-pound and 145-pound division, the WEC had a robust fame for expertise in its weight lessons.
Aldo at featherweight, Cruz at bantamweight and Anthony Pettis at light-weight. With Swanson retired, there is no such thing as a longer an energetic connection, however Aldo’s feedback make the purpose clearly. The WEC helped pave the way in which for light-weight fighters to proceed within the UFC at this time.
