It was a night of upsets at the WEC on Wednesday night at the Hard Rock in Florida. Mike Thomas Brown, a respected contender to a dominant champion in Urijah Faber, capitalized on a wild elbow from Faber to land a huge right hand and drop the champion. The end came seconds later as Faber was unable to defend against repeated shots from Brown on the ground. Chael Sonnen, who seemed near tears, talking about how he promised his father on his death bed he would be a world champion, didn’t win the title, but did hand Paulo Filho his first loss ever. This would have been for the title, but an uninterested Filho didn’t make weight, and didn’t seem like he wanted to even be in the cage last night. Sonnen wisely listened to his corner and repeatedly had the fight stood back up where he picked apart Filho with jabs and leg kicks on his way to a 3 round decision. Jens Pulver dropped his second fight at 145lbs, with a shocking first round KO against Greg Jackson trained, Leonard Garcia. With the dominate win over Lil Evil, expect the WEC to name Garcia the #1 contender to the newly crowned champ, Mike Thomas Brown.

Now with all those upsets, what does that mean for the WEC? Well the 185lbs class is going to be history, so we will see many of the WEC’s fighters move into the UFC and meet the likes of Michael Bisping, Yushin Okami, Nate Marquart, Dan Henderson, and, oh yeah, that Brazilian killer, Anderson Silva. Filho needs to take some time to find his heart. Performances like last night will get you cut from the UFC, faster than a Kenny Florian elbow to the scalp. Sonnen didn’t look like a world beater in his performance, but he did hand Filho his only loss. The step up in competition should be good for the Team Quest fighter.

Jens Pulver dropped his second in a row. While this doesn’t mean it’s the end of Lil Evil, it does hurt his marketability. He is still a strong name and draw, and he should bounce back. Will the WEC feed him someone he can turn into a highlight reel, or with Faber falling, is that rematch in the works?

Urijah Faber, the face of the WEC, can finally breath a little bit. Imagine the pressure on the California Kid, to carry the organization. The WEC was looking to make the push to pay-per-view and that push was firmly on the shoulders of one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world in Faber. His loss may hurt that plan, but anyone who has seen this kid fight knows he goes 100mph for all five minutes of every round. He takes risks in his fights to get the finish. He is creative in the cage and last night reminded me of Bruce Lee, with his in and out speed and agility. Then he got caught. Mike Thomas Brown, worked his way to the top, and capitalized on the mistake. Faber was a gentleman in the face of defeat, and vowed to be back.

The question for the WEC now is what is next for Faber? Another win over Pulver would hurt Lil’ Evil’s drawing power. A drop to 135 to fight Miguel Torres doesn’t make sense after the loss. That fight should be saved for pay-per-view, with both fighters being champion. Probably the best thing is to see if Mike Brown got lucky with that well placed right hand, and have a rematch. Perhaps give the title shot to Garcia, and give Faber the winner. One thing the WEC should not do---is keep Faber out of the cage long. As the most recognizable star in the WEC, Faber needs to get back on the canvas, and get busy. Chances are he doesn’t want the breathing room, and is already back in the gym waiting for the call to fight again.