John Franklin, host of Sunday Morning Cornerman is joined by former WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner to take a look back at UFC Phoenix through the lens of Jamie’s career.
For episode 2 of “Splendid Science of MMA,” Jamie Varner is very candid in talking about his time in the WEC, his thoughts on prior opponents, and the end of his career. This is all set against the backdrop and compared with some of the fighters from the UFC Phoenix card such as Cain Velasquez, Francis Ngannou, Bryan Barbarena, Vicente Luque, Luke Sanders and Renan Barao. An Arizona native, the event went down right in Varner’s back yard.
Varner (21–11–1 (2)), who holds wins over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and current lightweight contender Edson Barboza, among others, won the WEC lightweight championship in 2008, and defended it twice. After the acquisition of World Extreme Cagefighting by Zuffa, he’d eventually make his way to the UFC. Varner retired in December 2014 following his final fight, against Drew Dober.
UFC Phoenix was the second card on ESPN proper, and saw Francis Ngannou make short work of returning former champion Cain Velasquez. Former champion Renan Barao also fell to Luke Sanders.
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