Reed Harris may get a little misty-eyed this Thursday at WEC 52 and then again at WEC 53 on Dec. 16. No one can blame the general manager of World Extreme Cagefighting. Harris will see the organization - that got rolling because of his idea back 1999 - officially folded into the UFC at the start of 2011. These are the last two cards for a promotion that barely got off the ground nine-plus years ago.
"In my wildest dreams, I would have never imagined that, first of all, we were going to be purchased by the UFC and, second of all, that these divisions that I've built would end up being part of what I think is going to be the biggest sports company in the world," Harris told the Canadian Press.
Earlier this month, the UFC announced the WEC's calling card - the smaller weight classes - would be added to Zuffa's more prominent promotion. Branded as "UFC fighters," the stars at 135 and 145 pounds should become household names in 2011.
"[...] Every time I go to these shows and watch these lighter weight guys, I know I had something to do with that, not just me but the entire staff here at WEC. We worked our tails off to run this thing," said Harris.
Harris never intended to become a fight promoter. He was a real estate developer in California, who was spending some time in Central California. Harris, who trained in taekwondo, was looking for a gym when he stumbled upon Chuck Liddell's in San Luis Obispo. Harris and the future UFC star became friends. Harris gained a healthy respect for MMA, which at the time was still considered an outlaw sport.
"I saw an opportunity," Harris said. "I knew that if people saw what I saw when I watched, it would become popular. Because I just love watching fights and at the end of the night you really knew who the toughest guy was in MMA."
Harris did his homework, got his funds together and pitched the Tachi Palace Casino for months about having the Indian casino host something called WEC 1. Liddell was in between contracts with the UFC and almost fought at WEC 1, but Harris advised him to stick with the bigger organization. That was the beginning of a working relationship with the Fertittas (UFC owners) and Dana White.
Harris turned to fighting legend Dan Severn to serve as his headliner. "The Beast" had an enormous underground following and his popularity turned the event into a huge success.
"My No. 1 memory is I was standing on the stage and looking out over this huge crowd — I think we had almost 4,000 people because Dan Severn was a draw, he was a big name back then — and the (casino) entertainment director walking up to me and saying I want to talk to you about doing the next show," Harris said. "Then we started thinking about it as a business."
Harris always understood the role of the WEC. It did well as a small promotion in California but it never had grandiose ideas of competing with the UFC. Harris didn't try to grow the WEC beyond the company's means.
"Every show we did, whether we made money or lost money, we always paid everybody. Which was one of the reasons why when Dana and Lorenzo and Frank (Fertitta) looked at buying us, we had no skeletons in our closet. The fighters all said positive things about us," said Harris.
The UFC purchased the WEC in 2006 and took the promotion to a different level by forging a deal to get the fight cards on Versus. Now just four years later, the depth and star-power at 135 and 145 is strong enough to add it to the big show.
Harris is proud of the WEC's legacy.
"The WEC has been a springboard for MMA, shown some of the best fights on the planet and opened the eyes of America to the lightweight fighters," said Harris.
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