WECWorld Extreme Cagefighting is an American mixed martial arts promotion. It is the sister promotion to the UFC, both owned and produced by ZUFFA, with a focus on lighter weight classes and talent building for the UFC. As with its older and much larger sibling, the WEC uses the same rules as the UFC, but it holds its fights in a smaller octagonal cage.
"The Streetfight Bancho" should be guaranteed a slugfest in his U.S. debut.
Sherdog.com previously reported that the 30-year-old Japanese featherweight had signed a deal with the Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting, which would see him debut at the promotion's Feb. 13 event.
The source of that information has also confirmed to Sherdog.com that WEC officials have told Takaya his opponent for the event, reportedly to be held in Albuquerque, N.M., will be UFC vet and New Mexico native Leonard Garcia.
The 28-year-old Garcia is best known for his spirited bout with Roger Huerta in April. He went 1-2 in his UFC tenure, dropping his last bout in September to Cole Miller via unanimous decision. Following the loss, Garcia opted to cut to 145 pounds to compete in the WEC.
Takaya is 2-0 since his return to the featherweight division. In his first bout back at the weight in September, he knocked out American Jarrod Card and then knocked out highly regarded Antonio Carvalho in November in a thrilling pitch-fight.
Takaya is a pretty good dude and will bring some international talent to the WEC. He has lost against his biggest opponents (Genki Sudo, JZ, and El Nino), but he is coming off a big TKO vitcory over Carvalho, a Top 6 FW.
Glad to see the WEC is adding top talent in a hurry.
Takaya is an animal at 145, and I'm psyched to see this signing. Hopefully the WEC can sign the other big FW on the market right now (Carvalho) and really solidify their FW division as a big player with K-1 and Shooto. If Takaya gets past Garcia, he could give Faber a really stiff test, which would be nice for people like me who still question Faber's legitimacy as an elite FW.
I don't think the WEC has made one move/match that disappointed me in 2007. The organization is really coming into it's own under Zuffa management, and I can't wait to see what it has in store for us in 2008.
I'm real exicted for Takaya coming over as long as he stays at 145 and doesn't move up. 145 isn't a very strong divison as far as depth goes but the WEC has put together a pretty solid divison with Faber, Pulver, Takaya, and Curran.
I like Garcia, and I'd like to see him go far in the WEC. However, Takaya will definitely pose a big threat. I bet this will be a hell of a slugfest, but I'll bet Lenny by TKO in the second.
Hiroyuki Takaya Joins WEC, Set to Fight Leonard Garcia
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