WEC Featherweight Division Rankings

As the WEC continues to gain steam with stellar fight cards and exceptional talent, the Featherweight Division appears to be the biggest winner. Mike Brown emerged on the scene by stunning the world and defeating fan-favorite Urijah Faber not once, but twice, and fast-rising Jose Aldo took Brown's belt as the three now have a stranglehold on the top spots in the WEC's 145-pound weight class.

However, with the immense talent of these three and the emergence of others including Rafael Assuncao, Josh Grispi, Wagnney Fabiano, L.C. Davis and others the WEC and Zuffa would be wise to put pressure on Versus and Comcast to get their deal with DirecTV finished to ensure better ratings.

Below is our list of the Top 10 Featherweight MMA fighters currently employed by the WEC. Be sure to also check out our MMA pound for pound rankings and all of the MMA rankings here at Pro Fighting Fans.

Top WEC Featherweight Fighter Rankings:

1. Jose Aldo (16-1) – Now 6-0 in the WEC, the young Brazilian striker has compiled an impressive 16-1 professional record with nine straight wins overall. Holding 13 finishes in his 16 wins is impressive, but finishing all six of his WEC bouts with (T)KO’s is even more impressive as he did earned a TKO victory over Mike Brown in November at WEC 44 to win the WEC Featherweight Championship belt.

Expect to see Aldo face a determined Urijah Faber in his first title defense, likely in mid-2010.

2. Mike Thomas Brown (23-5) – Brown had two successful title defenses topping Leonard Garcia and Urijah Faber before running head-on into Aldo in November at WEC 44. The loss for Brown was his first since 2005 and his first in the WEC where he is now 5-1. Brown bounced back nicely at WEC 46 where he submitted Anthony Morrison to get back on track with a potential shot at the winner of the expected Aldo vs Faber fight.

3. Urijah Faber (23-3) – Faber bounced back from the hand injuries suffered in his loss to Mike Brown back in June by submitting Rafael Assuncao in Round Three of their WEC 46 fight. It appeared to most that Faber was already ahead on the scorecards after two rounds over Assuncao but he left no doubt with the third round Rear Naked Choke.

It appears that Faber, easily the most recognizable fighter in the WEC, has earned another title shot this time against Jose Aldo. Expect to see the Aldo vs. Faber event in mid-2010, likely to be held in Sacramento to draw Faber's hometown crowd once again.

4. Rafael Assuncao (14-2) – Now 2-1 in the WEC, Brazilian Rafael Assuncao got a taste of the top of the WEC's 145 pound division in facing Faber at WEC 46. It will take a few more wins for Assuncao to break into the top three as Aldo, Faber, and Brown seem to have a strong lock on the top of the division and a fight with one of the fighters listed below him on this Top 10 list should be next.

5. Wagnney Fabiano (13-2) – The Brazilian submission specialist got a taste of his own medicine at WEC 43 in October 2009 when he tapped out due to a Mackens Semerzier triangle choke. The loss is the difference in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots on this list as Fabiano is 3-1 against WEC competition.

A Unanimous Decision win at WEC 46 over Clint Godfrey keep Fabiano in contention but he will need to beat other top 10 Featherweights to be considered for a title shot.

6. Manny Gamburyan (10-4) – Gamburyan, cousin of UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan, joined the WEC after his UFC 94 loss to Thaigo Taveras at 155 pounds. Now fighting 10 pounds lighter, Gamburyan looks strong with back-to-back wins to start his climb up the 145-pound ladder in the WEC. Expect to see Gamburyan back in action in early 2010 as his last fight was a Unanimous Decision victory over Leonard Garcia at WEC 44 in November 2009.

7. Josh Grispi (13-1) – The youngster has not fought since his WEC 33 second defeat of Jens Pulver at WEC 41 in June and many are eager to see him enter the octagon once again. Now 13-1 in his MMA career he also has wins over Mark Hominick & Micah Miller giving him a 3-0 record in WEC competition.

8. L.C. Davis – Davis picked up wins in both of his first two WEC bouts defeating Javier Vasquez (not the MLB pitcher) Diego Nunes at WEC 42 and WEC 44 respectively. With just two career losses and one having been to our #5 featherweight Waggney Fabiano, Davis has an impressive resume that includes a win over Bao Quach, recently signed by Bealltor FC.

9. Leonard Garcia – Now 3-2 in the WEC, Garcia has dropped significantly since being dominated by then-Champion Mike Brown at WEC 39. In his most recent bout Garcia dropped a Unanimous Decision to UFC veteran Manny Gamburyan at WEC 44. Garcia will need several wins to get back into title contention on this list as the talent around him in the WEC's 145 pound division has seen a major upgrade in the past year.

10. Cub Swanson (14-3) – The one consistent for Swanson since joining the WEC's 145-pound division is his lack of consistency after two wins put him in position to face Jens Pulver, the man everyone is beating these days, but somehow Swanson was the lone victory for Pulver in his last seven fights.

Swanson returned to the WEC after one fight outside of the organization only to then run into now Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo where he suffered an eight second flying knee KO loss. Cub bounced back beating John Franchi at WEC 44 and is now 4-2 in six WEC fights.