Karo should lose that babyfat already and drop down to 155.
As others have noted, Vladdy really is too good for the WEC.
He would probably dominate - even outclass - the WEC 205 division, which is pretty much a joke.
But still, it might be a good way to build him up to fans and get him acquainted to them as a real force in the division. With the UFC's 205 division as stacked as it is right now, he might just get lost in the mix there.
But as far as being UFC-worthy per se, Vladdy definitely is.
I believe he is still relevant as a competitor at the highest levels, and would still beat many of the current top 20 at 205.
I would pick him over a Houston Alexander or Jason Lambert, for instance. He could beat a Rashad or Hamill as well.
He would also probably be competitive with some of the top 10 - and might even win, given the matchup on any given day.
He'd also be the most highly credentialed wrestler in the division, being a former Soviet and European champion (although Tito as a former junior college wrestler did surprisingly outwrestle him in their title fight).
But the real question with Vladdy in terms of his being still among the very best is how far past his prime he is.
He actually seems pretty well-preserved at his age and at this stage of his career - although he's been facing mostly minor-league competition in the IFL - which cuts both ways.
It's helped prevent him from accumulating much damage - but at the same time it hasn't shown how well he would stack up to the best 205-ers today.
But over his entire career, Vladdy has only lost to the very best in Tito (the best 205-er in the UFC at the time) and Arlovski (the best HW in the UFC at the time), along with a very controversial decision loss to Tiger White.
That's it.
Plus he has wins over Rizzo at HW, Li'l Nog and Kondo at 205 (with Rizzo and Kondo being former #1 contenders in the UFC).
Vladdy definitely deserves another shot at the majors - although bringing him in to WEC might be a smart career move just to let him separate himself from the pack there, as he has in the IFL.
As far as the FW division goes, I agree with every single name mentioned in this thread as being worthy additions to the WEC: Fabiano, Menjivar (rematch with Faber is warranted), Carvalho (although he is set to fight in Cage Force next), Hioki, former Shooto champs Akitoshi Tamura and Lion Takeshi Inoue.
The simple fact of the matter is that Zuffa should be able to afford every single sub-154 fighter out there (except for Kid, who despite his size is still the biggest MMA star in Japan).
The only major competitor for their services is Shooto, which doesn't have the deepest of pockets and which has also had its top fighters go outside the promotion and come back before.
So the financial reality is that none of these top FW candidates should be out of reach for the WEC.
Oh, and back to 205 - I second the motions to have Glover Teixeira and Andre Gusmao brought into the WEC or even the UFC.
Glover KO-ed Sokoudjou right before he went on his run KO-ing Li'l Nog and Arona.
And Gusmao's dynamic athleticism and well-roundedness have been really impressive so far in the IFL. Gusmao is the other guy who, along with Vladdy, has seemed a cut above the competition there.
ttt