Jamie Varner not being stripped of WEC Lightweight Title

Published on: 30th June, 2009

Jamie Varner not being stripped of WEC Lightweight Title | read this item

With todays news confirming that Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Ben Henderson will be competing for the Lightweight championship there was speculation that current champ Jamie Varner was going to be stripped of his title in order for Cerrone and Henderson to compete for it. However, WEC General Manager Reed Harris made it clear that the bout will be for an interim 155 pound title and Varner will not be stripped.

MMAWeekly.com caught up to the WEC GM and said that there was a misunderstanding in the Lightweight title picture and Cerrone and Henderson will be fighting it out for an interim belt.

“I think there was just some misunderstanding in what I said and it is an interim belt. It is not a vacant title,” WEC General Manager Reed Harris told MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday.

Harris then said that there are no plans to strip Jamie Varner of his championship, but does need to be medically cleared by a physician in order for him to get back into action.

“What we wanted Jamie to do prior to actually scheduling (a rematch with Cerrone) was to get cleared by his physician and his physician wouldn’t clear him. So what we decided is we need to move the division forward. Then we decided to do an interim belt,” explained Harris.”(Varner’s recovery time) is indefinite and we’re going to wait to hear from Jamie and his physician as far as him being cleared to fight. As soon as he’s cleared to fight, I’d be more than happy to set up a fight for him.”

Now with Varner to spend additional time on the shelf either Cerrone or Henderson will be the new champion in the weight class until Varner can fully recover and make his return as WEC 43 will in fact be going down at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio on September 2 and the first time the WEC puts on a show in the Buckeye state.

Nelson Rodriguez AKA: Nelo2.0 is the Co - Owner of URDirt.com who is also an Editor and Author on the site. Read more from this author