WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner may never fight again due to injuries he suffered in a recent win over top contender Donald Cerrone, according to WEC founder Reed Harris.
In the January fight at WEC 38, Varner suffered a broken hand and a broken foot in the controversial win over Cerrone, one that was stopped due to an illegal knee by Cerrone that blurred Varner's vision to the point he could no longer fight.
Because of the foul, the fight went to the scorecards and Varner won by a technical decision.
Harris did an interview with the Youngstown, OH, Vindicator, in which he said the injuries Varner suffered in that win may be career-ending. Cerrone and Ben Henderson are set to fight for the newly-created interim Lightweight title at the Youngstown show on September 2nd.
This lead to speculation that Varner (16-2) could be stripped of the title if he is unable to compete. However, in an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Harris did a little bit of backtracking and denied that Varner has been forced to vacate the belt and that the organization hopes "Jamie can come back later this year and defend his title against whoever wins the interim title. We just couldn't put the division on hold. We had to move it forward. ... Donald and Benson were elated."
Josh Nason - josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com] - has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007 and is a contributing writer for Fight Magazine. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!
WEC News: Jamie Varner's Career May Be Over, Still Lightweight Champion
Posted by Josh Nason | 9:31 PM | career-ending injuries, Donald Cerrone, jamie varner, Reed Harris, WEC; Lightweight title | 2 comments »
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Varner will be a Champ, fighting or not. If he never fights again, he never lost the title. It happens, we find a new Champ, the old one was never beat and should never be called former champ.
Knight Stalker
Paleeze, you know very well Varner chickened out. He gave him self away when that fight ended from the excuse he made that only made him look like a little bit__. He didnt want anymore from Cerrone. Cerrone is the real champ and Varner knows it. Varner sure did talk a lot about it before the fight but didnt show up for the fight he had talked about.