By Bryan Levick 
WEC general manager Reed Harris announced today through the AP that WEC 48 will mark the company’s first foray into the pay-per-view market.
The event will take place on April 24 in Sacramento, CA, which coincidentally is the hometown of headliner Urijah Faber.
The main event will pit the former champ Faber vs. the current featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.
Also scheduled for the card is a rematch between Donald Cerrone and WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson.
The third match announced today will see former UFC lightweight Manny Gamburyan take on former featherweight champion Mike Brown.
One fighter left off the card thus far is Miguel Torres who so happens to be a huge draw to the Mexican fans.
Torres is not too far behind Faber in the popularity department and would at the very least add more intrigue to the pay-per-view.
I wrote about this topic just three short weeks ago and actually called for two of the three bouts.
The Arco arena has been home to the highest-grossing WEC shows in the company’s history.
Of course, Faber has had a lot to do with that, but the question here isn’t whether or not the show will draw at the gate. It’s whether or not fans will be willing to plunk down $44.99 to watch the WEC’s best go head-to-head.
That price is the same as what the UFC charges, but the WEC carries a bit less weight than their established big brother.
Picking the month of April is also a huge risk, as the UFC will be presenting UFC 112 that month.
Looming right around the corner on May 1 is a boxing showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley.
Just one week later on May 8, the long-awaited rematch between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and UFC Light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 113.
It seems as though the WEC may have bitten off more than they can chew here, especially with the hefty price tag.
Even if the WEC includes some of their other stars such as Jamie Varner and Wagnney Fabiano, they will have a hard time convincing fans to fork over their hard-earned money in these tough economic times on fighters they have become accustomed to watching for free.
A lot of fans rely on the WEC for a healthy dose of exceptional bouts without paying an arm and leg to watch it.
It will be interesting to see what the executives of Zuffa will consider acceptable when it comes to pay-per-view buys.
