(And he sticks the landing on the celebratory backflip! Props: notohous)

It looks like the end of the line for Jamie Varner. The former WEC lightweight champion fought in the main event of Friday night’s Titan Fighting Championships 20 show in Kansas City, and lost a unanimous decision to a 9-1 Nebraska-based prospect named Dakota Cochrane. Cochrane came into the fight on just three days’ notice, replacing Varner’s original opponent Alonzo Martinez — who was pulled from the fight due to legal troubles — and won all three rounds on all judges’ scorecards.

After the fight Varner tweeted, “I gave fighting another shot I need 2 thank u guys 4 ur support! But I just don’t have it anymore. Love u all but ull never c me fight again.” Shortly after, he deleted the message, so who knows. The loss increases (decreases?) Varner’s record to 1-1-4 over the last two years. No matter what the future holds, Varner can be secure in the fact that he was once responsible for the greatest victory dance in the history of MMA.

(Like we needed a reason to run this photo again. Props: MMARecap via MiddleEasy)

There were a lot of questions coming into last night’s XFO 39. Would this mark the last appearance of Jeff “Big Frog” Curran? How would Jamie Varner fair in what is not only his first fight since being released by the UFC, but a welterweight bout nonetheless? Can Felice Herrig vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc possibly live up to the pre-fight staredown? The short answers are maybe, pretty well and of course not. Tune in after the jump for more details.

(Aoki is not impressed by DREAM’s choices of opponents)

DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki will reportedly take on either former World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Jamie Varner or former Maximum Fighting Championship lightweight champion Antonio McKee at DREAM’s “Fight for Japan” disaster relief benefit show on May 29 in Tokyo.

According to MMAWeekly, Aoki’s original opponent, UFC and Shooto veteran Williamy Freire, was unable to secure a visa to fight in Japan, so the promotion offered the bout to McKee, who was inexplicably stripped of his MFC belt earlier this month and learned of the news from a press release put out by the Edmonton, Alberta-based promotion announcing that Drew Fickett and Hermes Franca would be competing in its next show for “Mandingo’s” strap. His opportunity to contend for DREAM gold, however has hit a snag as he too does not have a visa to fight in Asia. As a precaution, DREAM has now offered Varner the bout, but it is unclear at this point which of the two former champions will be taking on Aoki in three weeks.

(Don’t give him any money. You know he’ll just spend it on N.O.-Xplode. Photo courtesy of Myron Watkins.)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

This week, our nation’s attention has been captured by redneck birds and the Golden Voice Hobo, only one of which has a happy ending. (No, not that kind…the other kind. Yes, there is another kind.) The rags-to-riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches tale of fortune for Ted Williams is the polar opposite of that of many fighters lately. In the last two weeks, Zuffa has cut six fighters and suspended one more. The economy is still in the can and homeboys gotta eat, so if Strikeforce or Bellator don’t come calling soon, this is where you’re going to see ‘The Expendables’ next:

Brandon "The Truth" Vera: Some believe the number 13 to be unlucky, and for Vera it was. After exactly that many fights in the Octagon, his days in the spotlight are over. From now on he’ll be slinging dinuguan [Ed. note: Eww.] with a side of balut  [Ed. note: *barfs*] at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant, Manila Good-Ha, in L.A.’s Koreatown. It’s a match made in heaven for Vera because he’ll never have to worry about getting punched in the nose again — that is, unless he back-talks his wife Kerry. He’s just gotta make sure Jon Jones’s order is just how he likes it.

Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis: The former TUF 2 contestant will grow out his hair and learn how to drop flying-elbows off the top turnbuckle. Davis will join forces with Samoa Joe, the man he trained back in 2008, to form the world’s most obscure tag-team since The Oddities. At some point Marc Mero, also a former boxer, will come out of retirement to challenge The Irish Hand Grenade to a Caribbean Strap Match for bragging rights as the best ‘real’ fighter in TNA. Dan Hardy will interfere and cost him the match leaving him to reconsider life in some barn with his ex-Army sniper friend.

(It looks like child and actor labor laws finally bit Zuffa in the ass.)

What a difference a year can make in the life of a fighter.

In the past 365 days, Chris Horodecki (16-3)  rebounded from his WEC highlight reel knockout loss to Anthony Njokuani to win two in a row against Danny Downes and Ed Ratcliffe. The wins earned the former IFL posterboy a step up in competition — namely former number one WEC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone.

Following a disappointing showing against "Cowboy" earlier this month, "The Polish Hammer" has now been dropped by Zuffa and will not be joining his Team Tompkins stablemate Sam Stout in the UFC as part of the WEC merger. 

"One door closes and another one opens," the 23-year-old Canadian told MMAjunkie today. "I’ll be back sooner than later. [I'll] get back in it. We’ll get a couple fights and do what we do."

Joining Horodecki on the unemployment line to start 2011 will be former WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner (16-5, 2NC) who was also dropped by the Vegas-based promotion today following his less-than-stellar compilation of three losses and one draw in 2010.

(Look, not everybody can pull off the "casual cool" look as well as Dana White. You can’t just put Reed Harris in a Nuggets jersey and expect him to not look like the world’s most uncomfortable pedophile. No offense. / Photo courtesy of the WEC 51: Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Zuffa may have robbed you of $45 last weekend, but they’re making it up to us with a stacked-to-death WEC card on free TV, on a damn weeknight. Gotta love it. Will Jose Aldo continue his Sherman’s March through the featherweight division, or will Manny Gamburyan let everyone know who he is, bro? Will Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone settle their feud once and for all? Will Miguel Torres and Mike Brown return to old form? Can the Korean Zombie possibly top his last performance against Leonard Garcia? All these questions will be answered after the jump starting at 9 p.m., as we present our liveblog of WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan. If you love organized violence, give us a "hell yeah" in the comments section…

(WEC 51 open workout highlights, courtesy of Heavy.com/MMA)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Helwani VS Dundas: WEC 51 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

– Matt Mitrione’s Agent Responds to Being Fired on Live TV at UFC 119 (MMA Fighting)

– Photos: Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp & Mark Coleman Pro Wrestling In Japan (MMA Convert)

– This Jose Aldo Highlight Video Will Get You Hyped Up for WEC 51, Guaranteed (MiddleEasy)

– MMA’s Drug Testing System Is a Complete Farce (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Catching Up: 10 Must-See Fights the New Fan Might Have Missed (LowKick)

– K-1 World GP 2010 Final 16 Video Trailer (MMA Scraps)

– Jamie Varner Feels Left Out (Watch Kalib Run)

- M-1 Global Finishes Selection Tournament With Five Championship Fights (FightMagazine)

(‘Razor’ is looking to get back to the top, no matter what it takes.)

Three years ago “Razor” Rob McCullough was on top of the world. The WEC champion was riding a nine-fight winning streak of which eight were finishes and there seemed to be no end to his run.

Then it happened.

In the third round of his second title defense, it seemed like McCullough was close to finishing Jamie Varner. Before he could go for the kill, Varner spit out his mouthgard and got a timeout to rinse it off, which allowed him to recover. Soon after, “The Worm” caught “Razor” with a handful of punches and won via TKO.

Four fights later McCullough was fired from the WEC without much explanation, in spite of the fact that he split them 2-2.

Since being unceremoniously dropped by the promotion, Razor Rob has gone 2-0 under the Tachi Palace Fights banner and most recently defeated UFC veteran Corey Hill last weekend by unanimous decision.

According to the former WEC lightweight champ, who is enjoying life sober, married and as a father of a six-month-old son, says he’s doing what he has to do to get back on the roster of a major organization, which he reveals is likely to happen soon and he says he’ll fight anyone who wants to fight him.

We caught up with Razor this week and spoke candidly and at length about a variety of topics including his childhood, his life, his family, his new goals as a fighter and the business of MMA.

I’ll warn you that the interview is very lengthy, but it’s worth the read if you have time as it reveals a personal, thoughtful and mature side of McCullough that fans rarely get a glimpse of in his pre-fight interviews.

(Listen, man. I’m gonna make this up to ya’. I won’t kill ya’ and I’ll be your date for my afterparty.)

In the future, like most major corporations, the UFC and WEC will likely hand out employee handbooks to new signees that list behavioural expectations.
On the "DO" list will be things like:

"Hype a fight at all costs, no matter how uninteresting. You may call your opponent a bitch and mention that you want to hurt him if it helps to hype the fight."

"Sit out a year if it means you will hold your place in line for the next title shot when the injured champion of your division returns."

On the "DON’T" list will be things like:

"Pull out of a fight due to injury and agree to appear in a movie, no matter how much you need the money and if that is the case, don’t talk about how poor you may be."

"Mention in an interview that you want your opponent to die inside the Octagon or insinuate or proclaim that he is a homosexual."

Until they start handing out the manual, they are no doubt going to have to keep apologizing for not only the bad behavior, but also the stupid remarks made by their fighters like Frank Mir and Donald Cerrone.

(Keith "Necro Reaper" Jardine, after his barbed-wire and fluorescent-light-tube death-match against Matt "Da Def Syco" Hamill. / Photo courtesy of the TUF 11 Finale gallery on MMAFighting.com)

Because you pansies get all red-faced when the Potato Index skips an event, we’ve brought back the beloved arbitrary numerical ranking system for a special two-fer installment. As for the recent complaints that the Potato Index’s scores have gotten less arbitrary, we have passed the feedback onto the Index and hope that the scores are now sufficiently chaotic while still maintaining their accuracy and integrity…

Court McGee +518
Going from pantsless meth addict to Ultimate Fighter winner? Yeah, we’d call that an upgrade. But Court McGee is more than just an inspirational story. With his endless heart and skill with a choke-hold, he’s a legitimately valuable acquisition for the UFC. If they bring him along slowly, he could become a factor in the middleweight division someday.

Kris McCray -33.333 [repeating]
Sometimes, tough ain’t enough. McCray may be a little too green to compete at the UFC level, but as a season runner-up, he deserves one more fight — ideally, against one of the TUF guys that scored victories on Saturday, like Chris Camozzi or Rich Attonito.

(In Iran, a brutal kick to the balls is actually a gesture of respect. Photo courtesy of CageWriter)

It was supposed to determine the next challenger to Ben Henderson‘s lightweight title, but the main event of last night’s WEC 49 event at the Rexall Place in Edmonton only proved that 1) Jamie Varner is a magnet for illegal techniques, and 2) You don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, particularly when Sensei Cecil is on the scoring table.

Varner (16-3-1) had the edge early in his three-rounder against Iranian-born wrestling specialist Kamal Shalorus (6-0-2), using his far more technical striking attack to land punches from the outside, and clearly rocked Shalrous at one point. Instead of relying on his grappling, the Prince of Persia stood in the pocket, and focused on attacking Varner’s lead leg with heavy kicks. Despite getting the worst of the exchanges, Shalrous was happy to brawl with the former lightweight champ. Things got ugly in the second round when two of Shalrous’s low-kicks made contact with Varner’s cup. The second occurrence spurred referee Josh Rosenthal to deduct a point. After taking an extended break to collect himself, Varner continued to outstrike Shalorus, wobbling him again with a head kick and right straight. The kicks to the legs and balls were slowing Varner down, but he still seemed to be in control of the fight.

The final round opened with Shalorus landing another point-blank kick to Varner’s nuts, putting the Worm down again. Rosenthal decided that one point deduction in the fight was enough, and decided not to take another one from Shalorus, despite Varner’s protests. When the action was restarted, Shalorus managed to score a takedown after catching a kick from Varner, and worked some strikes from the top for the majority of the round. Varner escaped to his feet in the final minute, and kept his distance as the match came to a close. The scores were a surprise, to say the least. Nelson Hamilton seemed to get it right with his 29-27 tally for Varner, but local yokel Cameron Quwek had it 29-27 for Shalorus, meaning he gave all three rounds to the Iranian, minus the point deduction. Ridiculous. Putting the anti-climactic cherry on top, Cecil Peoples cast the final vote — a 28-28, making the match a split draw. Varner stormed off in disgust, and is probably icing his balls as we speak. 

(Kamal Shalorus vehemently objects to your plans to watch “Cold Case” tonight. PicProps: Sherdog)

Sure, after UFC 115, Strikeforce: LA, Bellator 22 and the “TUF 11” Finale, it’ll be the fifth MMA show in fewer than 10 days but that doesn’t make WEC 49 any less deserving of your attention, does it? I mean, it’s Sunday night, what else are you going to do? Tuck in at a decent hour so you can get started being “FIRST!” in the comment section bright and early Monday morning?

After a litany of injuries, a loss to current champ Ben Henderson and a significant number of fans calling him a faker following his bout with Donald Cerrone last January, former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner is pretty much in a must-win situation against Kamal Shalorus tonight. Officially, Varner is 5-1 in his last six fights but his reputation has seen better days. Unfortunately, Shalorus — the former Olympic wrestler and undefeated MMA prospect — will provide a pretty stiff test. Toss in the return of featherweight phenom Josh Grispi from injury and this starts shaping up as a decent show. Besides, yours truly will be doing a “live Twitter” thing of this event for @VsMMA, so I know you’ll be following that …

(Rematches? Bendo don’t need no stinkin’ rematches.)

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun following his second win in a row over Donald Cerrone at the generic Aldo vs. Faber event in Sacramento, CA this past weekend WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson says that he isn’t interested in fighting any of the guys he has faced in the past. If he has his way, which is very unlikely given the WEC’s penchant for rematches (see Faber vs. Brown or Faber vs. Pulver), it would mean that the promotion would have to bring in a new roster of talent, considering his list of former opponents include the top contenders in the division like former champ Jamie Varner, Anthony Njokuani and Shane Roller.

When asked by Brett Okamoto whether he was impressed by Roller’s first round submission win over Njokuani (who, in an  interview prior to the event told the reporter that he was in talks to face the winner of Henderson-Cerrone) Saturday night, Henderson replied, “I did catch Shane’s performance (Saturday) and he had a smart game plan. But I’m not looking to rematch people I’ve fought before. If I fight somebody and knock him out in a minute-thirty, do I want to fight him again? No; not so much.”

("Could you take it again? I think I blinked that time." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

With another WEC event in the books, it’s time once again to see what these poor bastards are living on. Urijah Faber‘s $62,000 haul represented a little over 20% of the total $302,000 disclosed payroll from Sunday’s show, and was about triple what Jamie Varner and Benson Henderson individually earned for their efforts. Mike Brown came in a not-so-close second with his $38,000 check. The numbers are below, courtesy of MMA Junkie…

Benson Henderson: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
def. Jamie Varner: $18,000

Urijah Faber: $62,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus, $10,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Raphael Assuncao: $13,000

Kamal Shalorus: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
def. Dave Jansen: $4,000

Mike Brown: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Morrison: $4,000

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Three months after Benson Henderson squeaked past Donald Cerrone in a grueling (and controversial) five-rounder at WEC 43, and a year after Jamie Varner defended his lightweight title in his own contentious battle against Cowboy, the WEC’s top two lightweights met last night at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento to determine an undisputed 155-pound ruler — and this time, the scorecards would not be necessary.

Henderson’s inhuman ability to resist submission holds served him well in WEC 46′s main event. The first round saw Varner latch on a tight guillotine against the fence after slamming Henderson to the mat, but "Smooth" stayed calm and escaped. Except for one strange moment when Varner wandered away with his back turned after taking a body kick — apparently looking for a pause in the action, which he didn’t receive — Varner seemed to have the edge early on. The second round was an evenly-pitched striking battle, with both fighters testing out their kicks; Henderson looked comfortable against the champ, but wasn’t pushing the pace.

In the end, Henderson’s reactive style turned out to be the perfect strategy. Midway through the third round, Varner shot in for a double-leg takedown, and Smooth countered with a flying guillotine that made Varner tap almost immediately, earning him the WEC’s unified lightweight title. Varner wasn’t exactly gracious in defeat: "S*** happens. I was winning the fight, all he was doing was throwing body kicks. I got the takedowns, had the control…go ahead and boo. I came to fight, Ben came to grapple. Two different things." Christ, what a bitch.

(Ed Ratcliff KO’s Brett Cooper with a spinning back kick at Total Combat 12, 12/17/05.)

Donald Cerrone may have to wait a little longer to get his rematch with Jamie Varner. Contrary to previous rumors that Cerrone would be facing Varner in December while interim champion Benson Henderson recovers from their epic five-rounder at WEC 43, Sherdog is reporting that Cerrone will instead fight fellow lightweight contender Ed "9mm" Ratcliff at a WEC show on December 19th in Las Vegas. The bout could serve as the card’s main event — not an ideal situation, but at least Henderson will get his rightful shot at Varner’s belt when he’s healthy again.

In case you’re unfamiliar, Ed Ratcliff (7-1), has won three of his four fights in the WEC, most recently taking a unanimous decision over Phil Cardella at Torres vs. Bowles, and his aggressive, unpredictable style should match up well with Cowboy’s. Ratcliff grew up in Chicago studying traditional martial arts, earning black belts in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, and began his MMA training with Ken Shamrock at age 17; he had his first pro fight when he was 18. He now lives and trains in San Diego, and describes his primary motivation for fighting as "$$MONEY$ LOL."

(Eh, it was mostly plastic anyway. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone‘s five-round war at WEC 43, lightweight champ Jamie Varner said he’d be down to take on Henderson in December, which seemed a little selfish considering Varner had spent the last nine months recuperating from his Cerrone-related injuries, while Henderson had just sustained his. Certainly Varner and the WEC would allow their new interim lightweight champ at least a three-month turnaround before putting him in another tough battle, right? Well, if Rashad Evans has the correct information, that’s not the plan, and Bendo is about to get screwed:

(Oh, please. In my day, we’d fight with three broken hands. Photo courtesy of Brawlin.net.)

Jamie Varner‘s technical split-decision over Donald Cerrone at WEC 38 counted as a win on his record, but it sure didn’t feel like one. Varner left the cage that night with a broken hand, a broken foot, impaired vision from the illegal knee that ended the match, and heaps of abuse from fans who thought he should have sacked up and finished out the last three minutes of the fight, which he was leading on the scorecards. Five months later, Varner is still feeling the after-effects of that brutal five-rounder. Last week, he Twittered the disappointing news that his hand is still fractured, and with no return date in sight, reports began emerging that his cowboy-hat-wearing nemesis and Benson Henderson would fight for an interim lightweight title. And then, things got even worse.

(F*ckin’ boo him.)

WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner may have won a grueling title defense against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone on Sunday — but between his injuries, the fan reaction, and his bank account, he isn’t exactly feeling like a winner right now. During an appearance on Sherdog’s "Beatdown" radio show yesterday, Varner rattled off the laundry list of ouchies that he left the cage with last weekend:

During that fifth round, Cerrone was able to score his first takedown of the night, then kneed Varner in the face when the champ was trying to get up. Varner’s knees — just barely — were touching the mat. Referee Josh Rosenthal halted the action and called the illegal blow unintentional, but Varner couldn’t continue, claiming that he couldn’t see. The fight went to the scorecards, and the crowd erupted in boos. Needless to say, the idea that some fans think Varner faked his injury to get out of finishing the last couple minutes of the fight doesn’t sit well with him:

(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.

(Varner on Cerrone: "If he goes toe to toe with me, he’s a dead man.")

Though it’s being swallowed in the collective hype of UFC 93, UFC 94, and Affliction: Day of Reckoning, the WEC is holding their next event this coming Sunday (1/25) at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, CA. For once, Urijah Faber‘s fight won’t be the most interesting one on the card. Sure, his three-round rematch with Jens Pulver will be a must-see for California Kid/Lil’ Evil fans, but the real heat is behind the lightweight championship main event, in which defending champ Jamie Varner looks to make his second belt-defense against Donald Cerrone, the undefeated Greg Jackson-product who was one-half of WEC 36′s best fight. You can watch the action live on Versus beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT; the full lineup is below…

MAIN CARD
Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (for lightweight championship)
Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver (FW)
Danillo Villefort vs. Mike Campbell (WW)
Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez (FW)

UNDERCARD
Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Njokuani (LW)
Edgar Garcia vs. Hiromitsu Miura (WW)
Dominick Cruz vs. Ian McCall (FW)
Scott Jorgenson vs. Frank Gomez (BW)
Blas Avena vs. Jesse Lennox (WW)
Charlie Valencia vs. Seth Dikun (BW)

Related: WEC 39 goes down March 1st in Corpus Christi, Texas, featuring the featherweight championship bout between Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia, and a welterweight title scrap between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson.

(Hiromitsu Miura and Carlos Condit. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the fighter salary figures for Sunday’s WEC show. Yeah, they’re lower than what you might see in UFC, but the greatest disparity lies in the fight bonuses. The WEC handed out $7,500 bumps for Knockout (Brock Larson), Submission (Brian Bowles), and Fight of the Night (both Condit/Miura and Varner/Hicks) — compared to the $60,000 bonuses now up for grabs in the UFC. The numbers are below; props to MMA Junkie and MMA Weekly.

Carlos Condit: $51,500 (includes $22,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Jamie Varner: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brock Larson: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Marcus Hicks: $23,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brian Bowles: $15,500 (includes $4,000 win bonus, $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus)
Hiromitsu Miura: $12,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Blas Avena: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Shane Roller: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Brian Stann: $11,000
Steve Cantwell: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Josh Grispi: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Carlo Prater: $7,000
Mike Budnik: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Scott Jorgensen: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Damacio Page: $6,000
Micah Miller: $5,000
Kenji Osawa: $5,000
Todd Moore: $4,000
Dave Terrel: $3,000
Greg McIntyre: $2,000
Total: $275,000

Underpaid: Pretty much everyone. Particularly, everyone under Steve Cantwell on the list, and Hiromitsu Miura, who went into the main event title fight with just a $5,000 base salary — and left with a long medical suspension. To put this in perspective, Matt Lindland out-earned WEC 35′s entire payroll for fighting at Affliction: Banned.

Overpaid: Nobody. Though, relative to the other fighters you might say Marcus Hicks was overpaid. For some reason, his $16,000 base salary was the night’s second-highest, after Carlos Condit.

Now that it’s looking more likely that Gina Carano will face Kelly Kobald-Gavin at EliteXC’s next CBS card on October 4th, we decided to do some scouting. Above is the video of KK-G‘s last win, which came against Adrienna Jenkins last March in Minneapolis at an all-female fight event called “NFF: The Breakout.” (Props to MMALinker.) Watch as Kobald comes out like a woman scorned, beating Jenkins to the mat with power punches, then tying her up in a triangle choke and slugging her in the face until she gives up. Reffing provided by the incomparable Nick “The Goat” Thompson!

Now, some fights from last night’s WEC show…

(The brief and violent lightweight title match between Jamie Varner and Marcus Hicks.)

(Brian Bowles’s fight-ending flying guillotine of Damacio Page. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Even without franchise fighter Urijah Faber on the card, the WEC managed to put on one of the wildest events in recent memory last night, featuring six first-round stoppages and a welterweight title fight that you’ll definitely be seeing on “Best of the Year” lists in a few months. Following a kickass supporting card that saw welterweight standout Brock Larson smash Carlo Prater in just 37 seconds, and undefeated Brian Bowles choke out the tough and cocky Damacio Page in a bantamweight match, the broadcast featured a trio of title fights, and they did not disappoint.

Leading off was WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner in his first title defense, facing submission specialist Marcus “The Wrecking Ball” Hicks, who walked into the cage with a perfect 8-0 record. After an exchange of knees in a clinch, Hicks bulled Varner to the ground and nearly sunk in a guillotine choke. Hicks tossed Varner down again when he escaped, but “The Worm” scrambled to his feet and started pouring on an insane barrage of kicks, knees, and punches that continued until Hicks hit the deck at the 2:08 mark.

In the light-heavyweight championship match, Steve Cantwell avenged his only career loss and stole the WEC’s 205-pound belt at the same time, scoring a second-round TKO over reigning champ Brian Stann. The first frame saw Cantwell get the better of the previously undefeated “All-American” in a kickboxing match that turned absolutely frantic about 90 seconds in. There was a scary moment for Cantwell at the end of round one as he slipped to the ground and started taking heavy shots from above by Stann, but he was able to get to his feet as the horn sounded. Stann started the second round by kicking Cantwell dead in the nuts, but the challenger recovered with more sharp striking, eventually staggering Stann with a left hook and turning out his lights with a right hook.

With the WEC’s next event just around the corner, media coverage has started to ramp up this week. As it does, the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is that the organization’s top fighters are mostly just pissed off that they aren’t in the UFC. USA Today wrote about the UFC’s uncertain attitude regarding the future of the promotion, including a quote from Marc Ratner that reflects what seems to the consensus opinion over at Zuffa:

“There is talk about having the heavier guys come on over (to UFC), and maybe anything under 145 (pounds, the featherweight limit) would be WEC and above 145 would be UFC,” says UFC vice president Marc Ratner. “It hasn’t been put into place yet.”

In the same article, Carlos Condit describes the UFC as “the big show” and says he hopes to move on up. Jamie Varner made similar comments to Sherdog, saying:

“I still got all the doubters out there, and that’s motivation to me,” Varner said. “All the people out there saying this guy in the UFC would beat you or this guy in Dream would kill you. I want to beat everyone that Zuffa puts in front of me and hopefully one day get my opportunity to fight a B.J. Penn and show the world what I’m made of.”

Ordinarily it would be a bad thing to have all your top fighters publicly stating their desire to go and fight somewhere else, but this only reinforces how smart it was of Zuffa to purchase the WEC and use them as a sort of minor league, as well as how dumb it would be to turn it into nothing but featherweights and bantamweights.

(The thrill of victory, and the agony of nearly having your head ripped off by Miguel Torres.)

Hey, three out of five ain’t bad, especially for us. WEC put on another satisfyingly kick-ass show last night — maybe smaller, hungrier fighters really are more exciting? — and the evening was marked by two champions getting their belts violently taken from them. Here are the full results, with videos of the title fights after the jump:

— Carlos Condit (defending champion) def. Carlo Prater via guillotine choke at 3:48, R1
— Jamie Varner (new champion) def. Rob McCullough via KO at 2:54, R3
— Miguel Torres (new champion) def. Chase Beebe via guillotine choke at 3:59, R1
— Manny Tapia def. Antonio Banuelos via split decision
— Leonard Garcia def. Hiroyuki Takaya via KO at 1:31, R1
— Josh Grispi def. Mark Hominick via rear naked choke at 2:55, R1
— Coty Wheeler def. Del Hawkins via armbar at 1:57, R2
— Damacio Page def. Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision
— Yoshiro Maeda def. Charlie Valencia via TKO at 2:29, R1
— Micah Miller def. Chance Farrar via KO at 1:39, R1