“WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone” to cap off solid weekend of MMA

When the smoke clears and “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” passes, MMA fans can expect to look forward to “WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone” live on the Versus Network less than twenty four hours later.

WEC 38 will take place at the San Diego Sports Arena on Sun, Jan. 25 and showcase four main card bouts. At the top of the lineup will be a lightweight title bout between the champion Jamie Varner (15-2 MMA, 3-0 WEC) and Donald Cerrone (9-0 MMA, 2-0 WEC). Most of us remember the caliber of Cerrone’s last bout– he went to war with Rob McCullough for a full fifteen minutes of back and forth action. Cerrone broke onto the scene with an appearance on the Tapout reality show and gained further noteriety with WEC wins over Danny Castillo and the aforementioned Rob McCullough. 

Varner is currently riding a two fight winning streak with wins over Rob McCullough and Marcus Hicks. The bout with McCullough won him the lightweight title, while a first round TKO of Hicks solidified his stature as a first successful title defense. Varner is a member of the MTX Audio fight team and trains at Arizona Combat Sports with the likes of Ultimate Fighter alums Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway, along with current WEC welterweight champion, Carlos Condit.

Also gracing the card will be a highly anticipated featherweight rematch between Urijah Faber (21-2 MMA, 6-1 WEC) and Jens Pulver (22-10 MMA, 1-2 WEC). The first bout proved to be a resounding success. Faber was able to notch the unanimous decision win and fans were treated to non-stop action throughout the duration. Pulver was the first fighter to ever take Urijah Faber a full five rounds. Pulver took punishment for the vast majority of the bout but showed tremendous heart and never allowed his spirit to be broken. The bout quickly became a front runner in the relatively small pool of candidates for fight of the year. Pulver has reported in several interviews that he believes the second bout will be different. He has cited his switch from Miletich Fighting Systems to AMC Pankration with Matt Hume to make the difference.

Another star of the Tapout reality show, Mike Campbell (4-0 MMA, 0-0 WEC), will test his status in the big leagues with a middleweight bout against the very tough Danillo Villefort (8-2 MMA, 0-0 WEC). The Mark Dellagrotte-trained Campbell will finally have the opportunity to showcase his solid skills, though the opportunity won’t come without a challenge. Villefort was originally scheduled to fight Jake Rosholt at WEC 36 but was scratched from the card for unknown reasons. Villefort has been inactive for approximately eight months. His last bout was a win in the IFL over Mike Massenzio. Villefort excels on the ground and will more than likely look to exploit the ground game of Campbell.

In the first televised bout of the evening, up and coming Brazilian featherweight Jose Aldo (12-1 MMA, 2-0 WEC) takes on Rolando Perez (4-1-1 MMA, 0-0 WEC). Aldo is a four year veteran of MMA and holds two TKO wins in the WEC over Jonathan Brookins and Alexandre Franca Nogueira. Perez, a veteran of the California-based Total Combat promotion, serves as a replacement for an injured Fredson Paixao. Perez has only been able to defeat fighters with losing records while with Total Combat and will be tested at a higher level with this matchup.

The full fight card including untelevised bouts is listed below:

Location: San Diego, Calif. 
Venue: San Diego Sports Arena
Broadcast: Versus 

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

• Champ Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (for WEC lightweight title)
• Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
• Mike Campbell vs. Danilo Villefort
• Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez

PRELIMINARY CARD (UN-TELEVISED)

• Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Njokuani
• Edgar Garcia vs. Hiromitsu Miura
• Dominick Cruz vs. Ian McCall
• Frank Gomez vs. Scott Jorgensen
• Blas Avena vs. Jesse Lennox
• Charlie Valencia vs. Seth Dikun