lightweights

(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:

(Bibiano Fernandes reacts after submitting Joe Warren at DREAM.11. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following recent events in the UFC, WEC, DREAM, and Sengoku, we've updated the featherweight and lightweight pages in our Power Rankings section. To summarize...

FW: Bibiano Fernandes enters for the first time. Hatsu Hioki and Raphael Assuncao rise slightly, while Wagnney Fabiano plummets. WEC 44's scrap between Mike Brown and Jose Aldo could alter the top 5. Josh Grispi and L.C. Davis lie just outside the top 10.

LW: Gray Maynard enters for the first time. Shinya Aoki solidifies his place at #2, while Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante fall. Josh Thomson officially drops off the list due to inactivity, but if he can make it through a training camp without injuring himself, the winner of the rematch between him and Gilbert Melendez could potentially re-enter. Mizuto Hirota and Tyson Griffin are also close. UFC 107's match between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez could alter the top 5.

Give 'em a look and let us know how you feel...

(Time to "kill that master"? Photos courtesy of GrapplingStore and MMASplatter.)

According to a new posting on BJPenn.com, the UFC lightweight champ will defend his lightweight title against #1 contender Kenny Florian in the headlining bout of UFC 101 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 8th. The report states that Florian has already signed the bout agreement, and Penn's own signing was imminent. It will be the first time the UFC's lightweight title has been contested in 15 months, since BJ Penn defeated Sean Sherk by TKO at UFC 84 last May. Florian has won his last six fights (five by stoppage), but hasn't competed since his first-round submission of Joe Stevenson at UFC 91 in November.

If the Penn/Florian report is accurate, it would mean that two of the UFC's five championship titles could potentially be on the line in the month of August. As we previously reported, a middleweight title scrap between Anderson Silva the winner of Anderson Silva/Thales Leites [Ed. note: Ha! Sorry, Thales!] and Demian Maia may be added to UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Ore.).

Even though it never made it onto the broadcast of WEC 36 — a gross oversight that actually led to people getting demoted — the lightweight war between "Razor" Rob McCullough and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone still managed to make it onto many MMA pundits' fights-of-the-year lists. But unless you caught the WEC's "Best of 2008" special last month, this may be the first time you'll see it in its entirety. Part one is above, and part two is after the jump; major props to MMA Scraps.

The tone is set in the first round round as McCullough drops the much-taller Cerrone with punches twice, but Cowboy manages to keep his shit together, score a knockdown of his own, then pounce on Razor and nail him with some heavy ground-and-pound. A bloodied and mouthpiece-less McCullough reverses the position, but finds himself knocked to the mat two more times before the bell rings. And that's just the first five minutes. Enjoy... 

(Shinya Aoki: Always prepared for a chilly afternoon.)

Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki were supposed to have their showdown in the finals of DREAM's lightweight GP in July -- instead, Alvarez was declared unfit to advance after getting his right eye messed up during his thrilling quarterfinal bomb-fest against Tatsuya Kawajiri, which allowed alternate Joachim Hansen to step in and whip the already-exhausted Aoki. Now the two top-five fighters may finally get a chance to test themselves against each other, as a fight between Alvarez and Aoki is in the works for "Fields Dynamite!! 2008" on New Year's Eve.

Cross your fingers that it actually comes together. Simply put, Aoki vs. Alvarez would be the most important lightweight fight you'd find outside of the UFC, as well as one of the best grappler vs. striker showcases in any weight class, in any organization. Though Alvarez hasn't competed since the DREAM tournament, Aoki snuck in a quick submission victory over Todd Moore at DREAM 6 in September; his loss to Hansen snapped a three-year-long undefeated streak that saw him go 12-0 with one no-contest.

Hansen is slated to appear in a headlining bout at Dynamite!! against JZ Calvancante, alongside bouts between Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura, and Mousasi vs. Musashi. According to MMA Weekly, other rumored participants include Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Masakazu Imanari, Nick Diaz, Hayato Sakurai, and Ikuhisa Minowa.