Faber, who shares the record for highest-rated fight and biggest attendance in WEC history, plans to return to action in January after having surgery on a broken right hand he suffered in his five-round war with Mike Thomas Brown in June. Faber had one fight remaining on his previous deal. The new contract took 10 months to finalize.
The 30-year-old had been vocal about the WEC’s pay structure. While owned by UFC parent company Zuffa, the WEC can only tap revenue its own cards generate in order to pay fighters, revenue which is limited to gate receipts and television rights fees; it does not include the UFC’s biggest profit center -- pay-per-view. The WEC does plan to do pay shows in 2010, something Faber had cited as important in recent interviews about his status with the promotion. Faber’s contract reportedly contains a provision that gives him a cut of pay-per-view revenue, a clause common in some of the most popular UFC fighters’ contracts.
The WEC can use as much of the contracted talent as it can get. The promotion will hold 10 to 12 events next year and has plans for a reality series on Versus.