(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.

(What the hell, let’s do it again.)

Urijah Faber may have to wait a while for Mike Brown to heal up before he can get a crack at reclaiming his featherweight title, but in the meantime he can keep himself sharp with another go at former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver.  MMA Weekly says the two will meet again at WEC 38 in San Diego on January 25, though it’s not yet officially signed.  

You might recall that both men fought on the last WEC card, and both lost via TKO.  The difference is that Faber’s loss was a major shock, and most people were generous enough to attribute it to him simply “getting caught” as we say in the business when we want to be nice.  Pulver, on the other hand, got beat down by Leonard Garcia in a fight that seemed to signal that he might be approaching the twilight of his fine career.

It’s not surprising that the WEC would want to run Faber-Pulver II, given the success of the first fight, but there’s also not much reason to think this one will turn out any differently.  Pulver hung in there for five rounds and took a unanimous decision loss in what turned out to be one hell of a fight the first time.  Now Faber has a little more to prove, and Pulver looks even further from his prime.  If he drops his third straight in the 145-pound division, you have to wonder what’s left.

At least the WEC can probably squeeze one more sell-out from this matchup, and hopefully we’ll be treated to another solid fight.