(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly; gif courtesy of the UG.)
Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber was able to score a victory over Jens Pulver for the second time last night at WEC 38 — and in 23 minutes and 26 seconds less than it took in their first meeting last June. Their co-headlining bout started fast and physical, with Pulver tossing Faber to the ground after a high kick attempt. But it wasn’t long before Faber drilled a vicious left hook to Lil’ Evil’s ribs, doubling over the former UFC champ and backing him up. Faber seized the opportunity and fired off punches until Pulver hit the ground, then followed Pulver to the mat and set up a fight-ending choke. The win earned the California Kid a $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus.
Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone also got some extra cash for the evening’s Fight of the Night, in which Varner defended his lightweight title and gave Cowboy the first loss of his career. Though Cerrone was the aggressor for most of the fight, and won many of the striking exchanges — thanks in large part to the long reach of his left high kick — Varner was able to take the challenger down at will, and inflicted major damage with his ground-and-pound. In the middle of round three, a punch from Varner opened a cut near Cerrone’s left eye that clearly inhibited his vision; his right eye was already swelling shut from previous abuse.
In the fifth round, Cerrone scored a successful takedown of his own, but made the mistake of bouncing a knee strike off Varner’s head while the champ was still kneeling. The action was immediately halted, and was never restarted, as a seemingly agonized Varner told doctors that he couldn’t see, and shouted "fuck!" more times than I’ve ever heard on basic cable. The fight went to the scorecards, where two judges saw it for Varner, and one judge (possibly blind himself) called it for Cerrone. The crowd booed Varner; distraught about how the fight ended, he told the fans "fuckin’ boo me, I’m better than that," and promised Cerrone a rematch as soon as he was cleared by the athletic commission.
Bringing in the Knockout of the Night bonus was hot featherweight prospect Jose Aldo, who made his case for a future title shot with his first-round steamrolling of Rolando Perez. Aldo ended the fight with a brutal knee to Perez’s chin, followed by some heavy punches on the ground. Afterwards, Also dashed out of the cage and into the stands to celebrate with fans, which was easily one of the highlights of the broadcast.
Full results are below…
Jamie Varner def. Donald Cerrone via technical split decision, round 5 (49-46, 47-48, 49-46)
Urijah Faber def. Jens Pulver via submission (guillotine choke), 1:34 of round 1
Danillo Villefort def. Mike Campbell via TKO, 3:53 of round 1
Jose Aldo def. Ronaldo Perez via KO, 4:15 of round 1
Ben Henderson def. Anthony Njokuani via submission (guillotine choke), 0:42 of round 2
Edgar Garcia def. Hiromitsu Miura via KO, 1:18 of round 1
Dominic Cruz def. Ian McCall via unanimous decision
Scott Jorgensen def. Frank Gomez via submission (guillotine choke), 1:09 of round 1
Jesse Lennox def. Blas Avena via KO, 0:41 of round 2
Charlie Valencia def. Seth Dikun via unanimous decision
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Comments
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:15
Varners a little BITCH!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:16
thats bullshit that was a good knee both knees and his hand were off the ground they may not have been off by much but they were off and that was a good strike cerrone should be the new champ
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:19
I call bullshit. Varner looked gassed and Cerrone was starting to tool him up. That knee barely f'ing touched him. He's saying he can't see and yet there wasn't a f'ing mark on his face where the knee grazed him? It was so obviously a complete and total Rodman! BS and Varner is a punk for taking the easy way out.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:20
Maybe if Varner put his sunglasses back on he would have been able to see. Nice way to get out of a fight he could not finish. I hope Cerrone gets a rematch and ends Varner
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:20
After watching the fight, and watching the replay of that knee about 20 times, I'd have to agree, Varner is a bitch. Cerrone, although he did throw an illegal knee BARELY scathed the face of Varner and Varner milked it.. He's a pussy. Cerrone was rocking him with hard shots all over the place. The only part of that fight that Varner won was the wrestling. Cerrone did more damage, looked sharper with his punches, and in my opinion should have won. That fight should have been restarted on the feet with a warning for kneeing a downed opponent. If you'll watch the replays, Varner didn't immediately have pain in his eye, he immediately tried to grab and eventually take down Cerrone. He only had pain in his eye after the fight was stopped. Varner's a pussy. Cerrone won. Fuckin technicalities.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:21
A little to hungover to liveblog this event, huh Bens? Next time, implement a two Appletini limit. Great fights. What was Varner thinking? C'mon, he could see..... He said he broke his hand early in the fight, didn't he? Great fight with a crap ending. I thought Jens was going to retire, the way they insisted on letting him talk. And Jose Aldo? Damn, that was nasty...
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:23
Varner wanted out...and when that foul occurred, he took it. Cerrone was swinging for the fences in the 5th...trying to finish the fight and Varner wanted no part of that. So I also call Shenanigans. I mean...have you ever seen anyone gripe about not being able to see for several minutes then happily put on sunglasses for the judge's decision? I'm glad he got booed.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:36
The Yankees were closer to the playoff last year than that knee was to Varner's face. He saw a way outta the fight with out losing and took it, at least he didnt tap to strikes... BJ would not approve of that at all. Watching Pulver lose again was ruff. However I will wait to see what he can do with a full camp and no distractions before I pass any judgment. I just find it hard to not root for Lil' Evil.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:37
mr cage potato. wat happened to the scedule button on top of the website, how am i suppose to know which events are coming up if you took tat button away? riddle me that mr cp
Mon, 01/26/09 - 06:56
I agree with Bomber. I knew I was missing something while blacking out on Jack whilst eventually passing out to Rock of Love Bus/Tool Academy.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:02
Totally Agree Varner bitched out...and I thought the Knee was legal as well. I saw Donald wining the fight due to Aggression and pure Baddassness.....after taking such a beating and still shaking it off like it was nothing....Varner better enjoy his Medical vacation and get ready to lose his title the next time they fight. BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Thats right Varner, I'm booing you for taking the easy way out! BOO!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:02
Ew watching that replay I definitely get a "Dan Lauzon" feel to the fight. Could anyone else believe that Lauzon was acting so agonized? 2 of those strikes didn't even touch his cup, much less his jewels. He was getting rocked by a newbie and got scared...
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:05
Awesome fight card, production value 10x better than Afflicted
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:07
What's Afflicted? Also, No.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:10
Such a badass fight up until Varners bad acting job. If I was Cerrone I'd be pissed. Supposedly he broke his hand too so that rematch wont happen for a while. To take a first loss on your record in that manner is fucking wrong. Varner should be ashamed of himself.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:12
Anyone notice when Varner did his post fight interview, he said something along the lines of "Sorry, but i broke my hand in round 2...and i couldn't see". Its one thing if the knee impaired your vision. Its another thing, if the knee hurt, and you also had a broken hand, so you had to stop. I think Varner knew that round wasn't going his way, and he took the easy road out. On another note, what about the guy interviewing Pulver after his fight: "Are you still relevant anymore?" Absolutely classless, and not a question you ask someone, especially a veteran of his status, after they just lost their 3rd in a row.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:16
After close examination (read: watching that .gif a bunch of times), that's a legal knee. It's close, but it connects a split second before his knees hit the canvas. As to him being a bitch...seems likely. You can see his head being rocked somewhat from the hit, but it's a glancing shot at best.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:22
Hey Ben get off Varner's ovaries! For being "concussed" Varner sure put his shirt, hat and glasses on pretty quick. Oh, and the last time I checked a broken hand and a concussion don't make you limp.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:34
Varner is a bitch. 'nuff said
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:37
fucking boo me!!!!!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:46
Man...it sucks to see Lil' Evil eat leather like that. I still love the guy. When they showed that replay of Faber's left to Pulver's torso, the voice of Bas Rutten popped in my head saying "shot to da LIVAH"! Bas was right...works every time! I spoke to my brother-in-law over Thanksgiving about the liver shot (yes, he's a doctor). He said that the liver is only slightly to the left-side (if your looking at someone) of the human body. He said the problem was the abdominal wall and intestines and such. But he said if you got a really powerful shot there, like Bas always tells us, yeah, it'll mess ya up.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:55
I am glad to see everybody saw the same fight I did. Varner IS a bitch!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:00
I had the fight 48-47 for Cowboy
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:05
If you review the tape.. You can clearly see that Cerrone's Knee strike had already been shot off while Varners hands were off the mat and he was coming up the cage. Right before the knee landed Cerrone dropped back down and fell into the knee. Thus making it look like an "illegal" strike, yet it wasn't. That's why it was declared "unintentional" Either way, Cerrone is a fucking warrior and took everything Varner had to dish out and still came like a straight mad man at Varner...displaying the heart and will of a real CHAMPION. THE CHAMPION DOESN'T BACK PEDDLE THE WHOLE FIGHT..AND RUN LIKE A LITTLE BITCH. CERRONE DESERVES THE BELT...HOPEFULLY THIS REMATCH COMES SOON!!!! VARNER FAILS.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:27
Sickos, I gotta take some issue with the knee call as well. I think the situation is a bit grey when a fighter's on his way up like Varner was when Cowboy started throwing the knee. It actually reminds me of the Nate Marquart/Thales Leites fight, to referrence another illegal knee from the Jackson camp. Leites was on his way up when Nate threw the knee, and went back down as the shot connected. The point deduction cost nate the fight. It's really tough to call, but I think Cowboy really got robbed. I will, however, stop short of calling varner a pussy for quitting, as that knee looked like it at least sort of connected and varner's the only one who knows how it felt.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:32
At least it was better than Affliction DOR
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:44
No fucking way, Cowboy was robbed. P.S. Sorry Pulver... hahaha. What was working for him last time? Did Faber improve that much?
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:45
Varner sucks, he landed some good ground and pound but Cerrone is the man! He 100% wanted out of that fight he had no answer besides laying on Cerrone, my message to Varner you are a vagina. He kept saying sorry blah blha shut up man and fight the answer to "Do you wanna be a FUCKIN FIGHTER" is no. He'll lose the rematch guarenteed.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:49
I agree I said the same thing. You don't ask that!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 08:56
@ Dan Farnham I don't think Faber improved that much. More like time is catching up with Pulver and years of getting bopped in the head are taking their toll. He's been a pro fighter for 10 years and he's taken a lot of punishment over that time. I don't think he's finished 'cause just 3 fights ago he took Faber to 5 rounds. I'm guessing he just can't take the same punishment that he's endured for a decade. It happens to everyone. I still think he's a REALLY good fighter. Sad to say, but I just don't see a belt around his waist anytime soon.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:02
Varner broke his hand, the knee gave him a convenient reason not to finish the fight. Faber looked damn good. Glad he didn't try any ill-advised spinning back fists this time. But how do you ask a guy "are you still relevant?" Totally hack-job right there. He should've shoved that microphone up the dude's @$$ and said, "Is this relevant? How's that mic feel? Feel relevant to you?"
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:02
Like I said before, Varner is a little bitch. Give Cowboy your belt tool.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:07
I feel bad for Cerrone. Hell of a fighter.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:15
"do the kalib" run run run .. take down... ground n pound,..... run run run run run... take down.. let him up....run run run run.................. then pull off the Kevin Costner (terrible acting) and get the win.... what a pussy!!! wahhh wahhh i broke my hand in the 2nd round and i took a blah balh .... go grab a tissue and mouse for your hair.. maybe some eye shadow and hit the clubs with your lollipop guild buddies. damn that fight was like having sex for 22min’s and stopping b4 u have an orgasm.... o.O !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!no way a championship fight should go to the scorecards if it didn't go a FULL 25 MIN'S!!! PERIOD.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:17
Faber came with a differnet game plan for this fight, he left he lopping over hand right out and it worked.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:22
Cerrone deserves the belt, that's for sure. but all of you calling Varner names need to step up and fight him. I agree he took the easy way out. But don't discount that there is a reason he is the champ.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:25
Varner complains he can't see, then blames it on a broken hand, then limps out of the cage......what a little bitch. Cerrone made a mistake and he has to pay for it by not being the champ, but go into this fight again and I don't think Varner makes it past rd2
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:29
Although it seems that almost everyone here is as tough as a coffin nail, I have to imagine that the majority of you are calling Varner a bitch from your comfy couch cushions. I too, at first called bitch, but after watching the replay (several times) I noticed that the graze just happened to be perfectly in his eye. Now again, I am sure most of you couch commanders have been pummeled in the face and around the eye with sledgehammers and mallets, but to the average human getting the eye/orbital area crushed in (regardless of how it appears to be grazing) causes severe pain and disorientation. I have watched Varner take and shed off what appeared to be much harder shots without a problem, and immediately after the knee you see Varner react in pain as he releases Cerrone's Legs. Most of you couldnt handle gentle pressure from my thumb in your closed eye let alone a knee blasting your head out of the way. Props to Cerrone, that dude is seriously tough. I hope they get to that rematch soon.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 09:51
"I am not impressed by your performance." -GSP after watching Varners bad acting job to get out of the fight. Varner may have kept the belt but he just lost a shit ton of fans and respect from a lot of people out there. Yeah you better say theres gonna be a rematch. That belt is gone buddy. Go fuck yourself!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 10:15
I've been kneed and/or kicked in the eye a few times, and I kept fighting. But, I was very drunk for most of these fights. Varner wanted it to be done. Whats with all the hugs? I understand honor, courage and respect, but after awhile it seemed like Varner was trying to make friends with the tough kid. What a dick
Mon, 01/26/09 - 11:17
I think the one ref had it scored correctly for the Cowboy. I had it even going into the last round and he clearly won that round. You could make a case for a 10-8 first round for Varner, so it would then be a draw. I agree with everyone else that Varner was tired and scared he hit Cerrone with everything he had, and he didn't flinch. Varner knew the judges would have him ahead due to his takedowns. As far as the rematch if Cerrone works on his takedown defense he would kill him!!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 11:24
I'm jumping on the Cerrone bandwagon. He deserved a win. also...B-tard? Godammit don't tell me 4chonz is here...
Mon, 01/26/09 - 11:35
Varner is a bitch!!!! the knee did not even land!!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 12:55
Were we watching the same Varner v. Cerrone fight? Varner was winning and had no motivation not to finish the fight...
Mon, 01/26/09 - 12:55
For all of you calling out Varner on not being damaged from that knee. His head bounces back, so yea it may not have connected completely. But it's not like it just brushed his head. It's still a considerable impact, although because it wasn't full connected we consider it "grazing". Would you let me graze the side of your head with my knee like that really quick and tell me it didn't hurt like a bitch. Even better let me graze the side of your face with a bullet and tell me it just brushed off the side of your face and doesn't hurt at all.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 12:55
Rematch please. Now. Dammnit. Cerrone/Varner II.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 01:42
Just because Varner could kick my ass in real life doesn't mean i can't call him a pussy if the situation warranted it. Sure he could kick my ass and in that case it would make me a pussy, BUT in this case, he clearly acted like a vagina wanting an easy way out. We as the fans have a right to state our opinions when we see bullshit, so shutup already to all you who have nothing else to say other than pointing out the obvious without a real point relevant to what we're discussing here (which is that Varner is a Vagina). "you guys are all calling him a pussy but in reality he could kick your couch potatoes asses" ... yeah ok, so what's your point? We never said he couldn't kick our asses. We're just saying he acted like a Pussy in the fight. Stop being irrelevant.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 01:58
Fucking boo me!!!!!!!!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 02:15
As much as I personally feel Varner was playing it up, the knee very well could have hurt his eye. I think what we are all overlooking is that upon review the knee is obviously legal and was supposed to hurt him. Cerrone deserved the TKO win and the belt!
Mon, 01/26/09 - 02:22
I think you guys are missing the most badass thing about Cerrone... During the fight he had gotten blood in one eye, and Mir was saying that he looked like he was struggling to see out of it - until Cerrone started closing the other eye as well. Then, during the post-fight interview...Cerrone said that he was switching which eye was closed because he was seeing double. THE MOTHERFUCKER HAD DOUBLE-VISION, AND INSTEAD OF QUITTING HE JUST KEPT FIGHTING WITH ONE EYE CLOSED. I love this guy.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 02:38
you all must be blind. varner's right knee was clearly on the ground when the knee connected thus making it illegal. and your head does not snap back like that by itself tards.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 02:53
We learned 3 things from this event, 1) Pulver is officially irrelevant 2) Jose Aldo is sweet 3) Varner is a bitch and not even a good actor, also nice glasses, way too cocky for a guy thats not that good
Mon, 01/26/09 - 04:06
Umm Varner couldn't kick my ass he weighs as much as a girl. It would be like being by a small child. I don't know if I have even ever seen a 155lb man in person. There's a reason there's weight divisions. I still say bullshit you gotta have a mark on on your face or eye to claim that did any damage, why do you think he put sunglasses on so quick? To hide the fact there was nothing there.
Mon, 01/26/09 - 07:21
To Craig O Robin Hood was a great movie.
Wed, 01/28/09 - 04:53
Cerrone is my new favourite fighter! awesome stance..wicked Muai thai and some crazy unorthodox submission skillz...he fuckn rocks. that other dude..the 'champion' is a pathetic little bitch. This BS 10 points BOXING system has to go the cowboy kicked his fuckn ass EVERY round.
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