WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope was the first mixed martial arts event held by the World Extreme Cagefighting under Zuffa management. The event was held on January 20, 2007. WEC 25's main event was a championship fight for the vacant WEC Lightweight Title, between rivals Rob McCullough and Kit Cope. The co-main event was a WEC Featherweight Title bout between champion, Urijah Faber and challenger Joe Pearson.
| WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope | ||||
| Promotion | World Extreme Cagefighting | |||
| Date | January 20, 2007 | |||
| Venue | Hard Rock Hotel and Casino | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
A WEC Light Heavyweight Title bout was originally advertised between champion Doug Marshall and Jorge Oliveira, but the bout was later pulled from the card. Marshall would instead make his first title defense against Justin McElfresh at WEC 27 in May 2007.
Results
edit| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Rob McCullough | def | Kit Cope | TKO (Submission to punches) | 1 | 2:52 | [a] |
| Featherweight | Urijah Faber (c) | def | Joe Pearson | TKO (Submission to strikes) | 1 | 2:31 | [b] |
| Welterweight | John Alessio | def | Brian Gassaway | Submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 4:50 | |
| Middleweight | Logan Clark | def | Blas Avena | TKO (elbows) | 3 | 4:23 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Middleweight | Brendan Seguin | def | Fernando Gonzalez | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Alex Karalexis | def | Olaf Alfonso | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:53 | |
| Welterweight | Carlos Condit | def | Kyle Jensen | Submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 2:10 | |
| Bantamweight | Antonio Banuelos | def | Mike French | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Richard Crunkilton | def | Mike Joy | Submission (anaconda choke) | 3 | 4:23 | |
- ^ For the Lightweight Championship.
- ^ For the Featherweight Championship.
Reported Payout
editThe following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the WEC.
- Rob McCullough: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Kit Cope: $5,000
- Urijah Faber: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Joe Pearson: $4,000
- John Alessio: $10,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Brian Gassaway: $4,000
- Logan Clark: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Blas Avena: $2,500
- Brendan Seguin: $4,000 ($2,000 win bonus) def. Fernando Gonzalez: $3,000
- Alex Karalexis: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Olaf Alfanso: $4,000
- Carlos Condit: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus) def. Kyle Jensen: $3,000
- Antonio Banuelos: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus) def. Mike French: $3,000
- Rich Crunkilton: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Mike Joy: $2,000
Miscelleaneous
edit- First WEC show under Zuffa management.
- The WEC Lightweight Title was previously held by Hermes Franca, who had to vacate it in order to continue to compete in the UFC