Flyweight

On March 19, 2005, Jorge Arce stopped Hussein Hussein in the 10th round of a fight for the right to challenge Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for his WBC Flyweight title. He later relinquished his light flyweight crown and was matched by the WBC with Angel Priolo on July 30 for their interim title after Wonjongkam suffered an injury. Arce scored a third round TKO win in the fight, held in La Paz, Mexico.

While waiting to fight Wongjongkam, Arce stayed busy by rematching Hussein on October 8 in Las Vegas. He retained his Interim WBC title with a second round knockout.

On December 16, 2005, Jorge Arce defeated former two time champion Adonis Rivas by 10th round TKO. In his next bout, Arce defeated Rivas in a rematch.

On April 8, 2006, Arce took on the well regarded former WBA minimum weight and light flyweight champion Rosendo Alvarez of Nicaragua, knocking Alvarez out in the sixth round. It was the 4th successful defense of his Interim flyweight title.

Bantamweight

On April 24, 2010, Arce jumped to the bantamweight division to fight fellow Mexican Cecilio Santos (24-13-3; 14 KO) at the Centro de Usos Multiples in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. Arce defeated his opponent by KO in the 7th round, improving his record to 54-6-1. This was not his first fight as a bantamweight: he already fought once in the weight class in 2007.

Arce was scheduled to fight Eric Morel (42-2; 21 KO) of Puerto Rico on June 26, 2010 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, United States with the Interim WBO Bantamweight title at stake. The Los Mochis native withdrew from the fight a few weeks in advance due to a cut he received while in training.

In his next fight, on July 31, 2010, Arce took on fellow Mexican and former champion Martin "El Gallo" Castillo at the Palenque de la Feria in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. The Los Mochis native won the bout by KO in the first round.

Super bantamweight

On May 7, 2011, as a heavy underdog, he beat a then undefeated WBO super Bantamweight Champion, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. of Puerto Rico by twelfth round technical knockout. He avenged his prior loss to former champion Simphiwe Nongqayi in defense of his title.

Bantamweight

Jorge Arce moved down to the bantamweight division to face Angky Angkotta in a rematch for the vacant WBO bantamweight title. He defeated Angkotta by unanimous decision.

Return to super bantamweight

On February 18, 2012, he defeated former champion Lorenzo Parra. In his next fight, he face future featherweight title holder Jesus Rojas. Arce dropped Rojas in the opening round, however, the fight ended in a no-contest in the 2nd round after Rojas delivered a series of fowls rendering Arce unable to continue.

He then moved up to the featherweight division and defeated former champion Mauricio Martinez.

On December 15, 2012, Arce fought WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire. He suffered a defeat on the third round via knockout. After losing to Donaire, Arce announced his retirement.