  Jamie (The Worm) Varner (left) connects with (Razor) Rob McCullough on Wednesday night en route to dethroning McCullough as World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho-WEC-Joshua Hedges. |
Lightweight champion Jamie Varner and interim title-holder Ben (Smooth) Henderson will meet to unify the World Extreme Cagefighting title on Jan. 10 in Sacramento, Calif.
Varner has been out injured since January when he won a split decision over Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone. Henderson won a decision over Cerrone last month for the interim title and a chance to meet Varner in a unification bout.
Also on the card at the ARCO Arena, former featherweight champion Urijah (The California Kid) Faber takes on Raphael Assuncao.
Varner (16-2-2 including 4-0 in the WEC) calls Henderson (10-1) "a tough dude."
"I don't think Ben poses any challenges or threats that I haven't seen before," he added in a statement Monday. "I'm ready to show the world that I'm still the true champion in this division."
Faber (22-3) lost his 145-pound title last November to Mike Brown. He was beaten again in a June rematch, injuring both hands in the bout.
Assuncao (14-1) is coming off a win over Canadian Yves Jabouin last month.
"He definitely has some dangerous tools in his arsenal," Faber said of Assuncao. "But I think I will have slight advantages in every category of the fight."
Notes - Jon Fitch is still fighting on UFC 107 in Memphis on Dec. 12, but has a new opponent. Fitch's fight has taken a circuitous route. He was due to meet Ricardo (Big Dog) Almeida at UFC 106 but was moved to UFC 107 when Almeida's knee was injured. Fitch was then slated to take on Thiago Alves but the Brazilian was hurt in training. There's no official word on his opponent but it looks like Mike Pierce, who is in need of an opponent after Josh Koscheck was shifted to a UFC 106 bout against Anthony (Rumble) Johnson.
