The one show this weekend that is probably going to be overlooked, but very well might be the best show is WEC 38, which is on Sunday, January 25 and on the Versus Network.

The “main event” is the lightweight title fight between champion Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone, who had a great fight against Rob McCullough at WEC 36. If you’ve been watching the UFC Primetime specials to hype up B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre, Donald Cerrone was in St. Pierre’s camp helping him train. The fight that will be most intriguing for all but the very die-hards is the rematch to last year’s battle between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber. Their fight from WEC 34 took third place for SHOOT MATCH OF THE YEAR in the 2008 Wrestling Observer Awards. There’s not really a true reason for the rematch in my eyes, but it’s the best fight they have if they want the most eyeballs at this moment. Faber is coming off the loss of his featherweight title to Mike Brown while Pulver has lost two matches in a row, the last to Leonard Garcia by knockout in the first round.

Alan and Duan are here to preview both fights.

By Alan

Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver

I haven’t seen odds for this fight (most books don’t do WEC betting), but if you’re getting anything better than -300 for Faber, I’d take the favourite all day long, and this is coming from someone who usually bets the dog in MMA. I really see this fight as a lock for the ex-champ. Obviously the first thing you would look to when thinking about this match-up is the fight these guys had 6 months ago. I looked at that fight a lot like the GSP/Fitch fight – one guy proved himself to be CLEARLY better and the other guy proved himself to be tough as nails. In my opinion, Pulver is still tough as nails and Faber is still clearly better.

Jens has lost 4 of his last 5 fights. He’s shown that he can be knocked out with a flash strike (Lauzon and Garcia) and that he can be thoroughly dominated (Penn & Faber). It’s going to be hard for him to turn things around, and especially hard considering his opponent.

Urijah Faber, prior to his last fight, was the definition of a dominant fighter. He was carving through everyone in his division and showing world class skill in all aspects of the game. Then came the Mike Thomas Brown fight. Faber made a mistake. This could have been due to over confidence, or it could have just been sloppiness, but Mike Brown was not the man to make this mistake in front of. He made Faber pay. I don’t know Urijah Faber well, but if I’m a betting man, I’d say he will never make an error like that again. I’d say that since the loss, he’s worked harder in the gym than ever before. I’d say he is more determined than ever before. I’d say he was embarrassed and he’s going to do everything to make it known that was a once off.

But like I said, I don’t know Urijah Faber. Maybe the Brown fight broke him and we’ll never see Urijah Faber like we saw him before. Maybe he’s afraid to stand. We’ll soon find out.

By Duan

Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner

The main event of WEC 38 sees the undefeated Donald Cerrone step up to challenge 155 pound champion Jamie Varner. The 25 year old Cerrone trains out of the Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque. He is an accomplished kick boxer, but it’s his excellent submission skills which have really made him a standout in MMA. His first major break came in 2007 when he was featured on the first season of the Tapout reality series, beating Anthony Njokuani with a triangle choke in the opening round. He was signed to WEC shortly after, where he easily submitted his first two opponents before being paired off with former champion Rob McCullough in a title eliminator. Cerrone won a hard fought decision, earning him this shot at Varner.

Jamie Varner is a solid boxer with a strong wrestling base. He was brought into UFC in 2006 after a successful run in the smaller promotions. He was submitted in his debut against the more experienced Hermes Franca, but rebounded with a win over Jason Gilliam at UFC 68. However, finding himself lost in an over crowded UFC lightweight division, Varner made the decision to jump to sister promotion WEC, where he would have more space to develop. He completely overwhelmed the talented Sherron Leggett in his first WEC outing and was instantly granted a title fight. Varner went on to stop then champion Rob McCullough in the third round of an absolute war at WEC 32, and has since successfully defended his title once against a solid opponent in Marcus Hicks.

Varner will have a huge edge in the wrestling department, and should be able to dictate where the fight takes place. I have little doubt over his ability to take down Cerrone, but I’m just not sure that he will want to risk going to the ground. With the exception of McCullough, Cerrone has submitted all of his previous opponents, and will definitely be a threat off his back. They are probably pretty even on their feet should they choose to stand. Cerrone has good Muay thai skills, and is probably the more versatile striker of the two. Varner fights with a more traditional boxing style, but I would almost certainly give him the edge in power. This is a really even fight on paper, but my feeling is that Varner should be able to grind out a decision. I think this opportunity has just come just a little bit too early for Cerrone, who had never really been tested up until his most recent fight. Varner is just that bit more experience, and has fought a higher level of competition.

Photo by Dewey Hammond

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