Props: MMA Weekly

Quoteworthy:

"It’s kind of like when you’re kid goes off to college, at first you’re not happy, but after you think about it for a while, you’re really happy. At the end of the day, I never imagined this thing would be where we’re at today. I’m extremely proud and happy that I was involved with something that will now be part of what may be, some day, the largest sports organization in the world. .... My goal wasn’t even to make money at this thing. I was a martial artist and I wanted to bring that honor that martial arts has into the sport. To be honest, today, I’m really proud of what we did, man. And Dana’s proud of what we did. We were so successful that the UFC had no other option than to bring these guys in and put them in their show. The UFC is obviously by miles the largest MMA organization in the world. The WEC built these divisions to a point where they are now going to be featured on the largest stage in MMA. Dana and Lorenzo and Frank are obviously extremely happy about what we were doing. This was a huge success."

Current, but soon to be former, WEC General Manager and founder Reed Harris speaks lovingly about his promotion hitting the big time. Harris started the organization back in June of 2001 and with the recent announcement of a merger with it's parent company, the UFC, will also close it's doors after it's final event, WEC 53: "Henderson vs Pettis." Harris initially sold the WEC to Zuffa in 2006 but remained the face of the organization and is largely responsible for it's tremendous growth over the years. Although the WEC has folded into the UFC, he will still get the chance to see his fighters continue their careers as he will be given an undisclosed position with the UFC once the merger is complete.