WEC fighter and former leightweight champion Jamie Varner has confirmed his upcoming rematch with Donald Cerrone scheduled for WEC 51 on Sept. 30.
"So my next fight will be a rematch with Donald Cerrone I hope to be the co-main Sept 30," said Varner on his official website. So any questions that were left after the last fight will be answered Sept 30!"
The questions Varner might be referring to are centered around his his split decision win against Cerrone at WEC 38 in Jan. 2009 while successfully defending his title. Apparently many fans were unhappy with that outcome as evident in the vocal protests and booing. Varner immediately addressed the possibility of a rematch during the post-fight press conference (watch the video below!).
Cerrone took the loss in stride but was clearly open to a rematch. He bounced back in his next fight with a win against James Krause at WEC 41 five months later. But the pendulum of his success has been swinging back and forth between wins and losses ever since, leaving his contender status on shaky ground.
Another shot at the title against current champion Ben Henderson at WEC 43 resulted yet again in a decision-loss for Cerrone. In the rematch at WEC 48 six months later Cerrone fared even worse with Henderson submitting him at 1:57 in round one.
Varner has also been on some kind of downward spiral starting with the loss of his belt to Henderson at WEC 46 and a draw against Kamal Shalorus at WEC 49. With Cerrone and Varner desperately wanting another title shot a rematch between these two might make sense. But since both fighters have already lost against the current champion (Cerrone even lost twice!) a rematch with Henderson seems almost ridiculous, if not unfair to Henderson.
Aside from the questions Varner wants to answer in his rematch against Cerrone, one ultimate question remains: How many times does Henderson have to defeat an opponent to prove his worth as reigning champion?
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