THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
After Jamie Varner's camp denied initial reports that he was likely to face Donald Cerrone in a rematch of their January 2009 bout at WEC 51 in September, the bout has now been signed, with Varner himself confirming the fight on his personal website.
The two first met for Varner's WEC Lightweight Championship back at WEC 38, with Varner earning a unanimous decision. The bout ended in controversy, however, as a seemingly grazing knee, landing illegally while Varner was on his knees against the cage, rendered him unable to continue.
Since that time Varner's public image has him cast as the villain, and Cerrone fanned the flames of a public feud while Varner was out injured throughout 2009. The rematch for the title never materialized, however, as both fighters fell to current Champion Benson Henderson; Cerrone losing twice.
But they'll now meet on September 30 at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., live on Versus. The event will be headlined by a Featherweight Championship bout between Jose Aldo and Manvel Gamburyan.
Penick's Analysis: I can't wait for this rematch, and it's an excellent fight for the September card. I know Varner's camp was hoping to get a rematch with Henderson, but with his fight at WEC 49 against Kamal Shalorus ending in an undeserved draw, I can understand the WEC going with this fight first. It should certainly bring the trash talk between the two back to the forefront. Both this card and WEC 50 next month are looking stacked for Versus.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP