With the WEC’s next event just around the corner, media coverage has started to ramp up this week. As it does, the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is that the organization’s top fighters are mostly just pissed off that they aren’t in the UFC. USA Today wrote about the UFC’s uncertain attitude regarding the future of the promotion, including a quote from Marc Ratner that reflects what seems to the consensus opinion over at Zuffa:

“There is talk about having the heavier guys come on over (to UFC), and maybe anything under 145 (pounds, the featherweight limit) would be WEC and above 145 would be UFC,” says UFC vice president Marc Ratner. “It hasn’t been put into place yet.”

In the same article, Carlos Condit describes the UFC as “the big show” and says he hopes to move on up. Jamie Varner made similar comments to Sherdog, saying:

“I still got all the doubters out there, and that’s motivation to me,” Varner said. “All the people out there saying this guy in the UFC would beat you or this guy in Dream would kill you. I want to beat everyone that Zuffa puts in front of me and hopefully one day get my opportunity to fight a B.J. Penn and show the world what I’m made of.”

Ordinarily it would be a bad thing to have all your top fighters publicly stating their desire to go and fight somewhere else, but this only reinforces how smart it was of Zuffa to purchase the WEC and use them as a sort of minor league, as well as how dumb it would be to turn it into nothing but featherweights and bantamweights.

Here’s the thing: when Carlos Condit (currently ranked #9 in the world at welterweight in the ultra-official Cage Potato Power Rankings) says to you before a sparring session, “Hit me as hard as you want to get hit,” it may not be the best idea to go out there and unload on him with your best right hand. Not unless you want to feel his retaliation in the form of a head kick-right straight combo that will put you on your ass.

At the same time, it is pretty awesome. When that dude wakes up, someone should buy him a beer.

(The thrill of victory, and the agony of nearly having your head ripped off by Miguel Torres.)

Hey, three out of five ain’t bad, especially for us. WEC put on another satisfyingly kick-ass show last night — maybe smaller, hungrier fighters really are more exciting? — and the evening was marked by two champions getting their belts violently taken from them. Here are the full results, with videos of the title fights after the jump:

— Carlos Condit (defending champion) def. Carlo Prater via guillotine choke at 3:48, R1
— Jamie Varner (new champion) def. Rob McCullough via KO at 2:54, R3
— Miguel Torres (new champion) def. Chase Beebe via guillotine choke at 3:59, R1
— Manny Tapia def. Antonio Banuelos via split decision
— Leonard Garcia def. Hiroyuki Takaya via KO at 1:31, R1
— Josh Grispi def. Mark Hominick via rear naked choke at 2:55, R1
— Coty Wheeler def. Del Hawkins via armbar at 1:57, R2
— Damacio Page def. Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision
— Yoshiro Maeda def. Charlie Valencia via TKO at 2:29, R1
— Micah Miller def. Chance Farrar via KO at 1:39, R1

(Rob McCullough and Jamie Varner face off next to some bored douche with a backstage pass; photo props to MMAWeekly.)

If you rely on this site for MMA news — terrible idea, by the way — you’d hardly be aware that World Extreme Cagefighting is holding an event tonight at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Apologies; we had other things to deal with. But if the last WEC show was any indication, you could be in store for a wild time if you tune into Versus beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT, especially since three championship belts are on the line. Here’s what the matchups look like:

MAIN CARD
Carlos Condit (champion) vs. Carlo Prater (for WEC Welterweight Title)
Rob McCullough (champion) vs. Jamie Varner (for WEC Lightweight Title)
Chase Beebe (champion) vs. Miguel Torres (for WEC Bantamweight Title)
Manny Tapia vs. Antonio Banuelos (bantamweights)
Leonard Garcia vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (featherweights)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Josh Grispi vs. Mark Hominick (featherweights)
Del Hawkins vs. Coty Wheeler (bantamweights)
Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda (bantamweights)
Micah Miller vs. Chance Farrar (featherweights)
Scott Jorgensen vs. Damacio Page (bantamweights)

Let’s take a look at that main card, shall we?

— Garcia vs. Takaya: The last time I remember seeing Leonard Garcia, his face was being punched into burger by Roger Huerta at UFC 69. Following his rough UFC debut, Garcia beat Allen Berubie, lost a decision to Cole Miller, and decided to drop to a more competitive weight of 145 and join the WEC. But he won’t have an easy time against “Streetfight Bancho,” who has been in the cage with stars like Gilbert Melendez, Genki Sudo, and Gesias Calvancante during his residencies with Shooto and K-1. Sure, he lost to those guys, but experience counts, and we think his striking power will be too much for Garcia to handle.

— Tapia vs. Banuelos: If Manny Tapia wins this fight, he could be next in line to challenge for the bantamweight belt after the dust settles on Beebe/Torres. The jiu-jitsu specialist was a destroyer in King of the Cage, racking up an 8-0-1 record before winning his WEC debut last May against Brandon Foxworth. Banuelos is a good friend of Chuck Liddell’s, and even though he’s got the Iceman and John Hackleman feeding him pointers at The Pit, his recent fight history — four wins by decision and two losses by first-round knockout — raises some concerns. Not being able to finish a fight will hurt him against someone as aggressive as Tapia. We’re thinking this is one of those “loss by first-round knockout” kind of nights for Banuelos.

Carlos Condit — who we have ranked as the #8 welterweight in the world — will defend his WEC welterweight title for the second time next Wednesday at WEC 32. Here’s his last fight, against Brock Larson at WEC 29 (8/5/07). A submission specialist with 12 tapout victories under his belt, Condit kept his cool while on his back, waiting for the perfect moment to snap onto Larson’s arm and wrench him into submission.

(Carlos Condit: “You’ll never grow old, and you’ll never die…but you must feed!”)

The WEC has announced the full lineup of fights for their next event, which will go down Feburary 13 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dubbed “Wec: Condit vs. Prater,” the event features three championship bouts. Welterweight champ Carlos Condit (thought by many to be one of the top ten welterweights in the world) will try to avenge a 2004 loss to contender Carlo Prater; lightweight champion “Razor” Rob McCullough faces off against Jamie “The Worm” Varner; and bantamweight top dog Chase Beebe defends his belt against 19-1 jiu-jitsu sensation Miguel Torres. Also fighting on the card are undefeated Mexican bantamweight Manny Tapia, 19-year-old Boston native Josh Grispi (who already has a 10-1 record in the featherweight division), UFC vet Leonard Garcia, former featherweight title challenger Chance Farrar, and the WEC debut of K-1/Shooto star Hiroyuki “Streetfight Bancho” Takaya.