Exclusive | Jose Aldo Reflects on WEC Championship “All the suffering paid off.”

Jose Aldo is looking back at the WEC with Cub Swanson’s retirement this month carries extra weight because he had been identified as the last active fighter from the WEC era, closing the book on a promotion that helped push featherweights and bantamweights into the UFC spotlight. Swanson retired after beating Nate Landwehr by first-round TKO at UFC 327 on April 11, 2026.

Jose Aldo Reflects on WEC Legacy as Cub Swanson Retires From MMA

For Aldo, the story starts with structure as much as memory. WEC had already been under Zuffa control by the time he arrived, and it operated as a sister promotion to the UFC with much of the same corporate backing, while serving as the main home for divisions the UFC did not yet promote at 145 and 135 pounds. In its final form, WEC centered on 135, 145, and 155 pounds, and the UFC merger later brought bantamweight and featherweight directly onto the UFC title map.

In an exclusive interview with LowKick MMA, with the help of Jackpot City Casino, Jose Aldo reflected:

“When I got there, it was already under Zuffa. It was basically the same organisation behind the UFC. At the time, lighter weight classes weren’t in the UFC—they were in the WEC. My generation helped change that. I remember people on Twitter saying WEC fights were better than UFC fights. Eventually, the UFC started incorporating lighter divisions.”

Aldo’s own WEC run was short and decisive. He stopped Cub Swanson in eight seconds at WEC 41 in June 2009, then beat Mike Brown by second-round TKO to win the WEC featherweight title at WEC 44 in November 2009. He finished WEC as its final featherweight champion, and when the organizations merged, he carried that championship status into the UFC as the division was established there. He continued:

“That was the beginning of my career. I was chasing my dreams. From my first to my fifth fight, I felt unstoppable—like a young kid living his dream, running through everyone. Then came the fight with Mike Brown for the belt—my fifth fight. That was the fulfilment of a dream. All the suffering paid off when I won that title.”

Zuffa bought WEC in December 2006, the promotion narrowed its focus to lighter fighters, and its final years became a proving ground for names who later shaped UFC title pictures, including Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Anthony Pettis, Demetrious Johnson, Benson Henderson, Urijah Faber, and Swanson. Contemporary coverage of the merger noted that WEC had earned acclaim for its 135- and 145-pound talent at a time when those classes were absent from the UFC.

Aldo at featherweight, Cruz at bantamweight, and Anthony Pettis at lightweight. With Swanson now retired, the active link is gone, but Aldo’s comments make the point plainly: WEC helped build the path that lighter fighters still walk in the UFC today.

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