Varner Retains WEC Title

Text From: www.sherdog.com

Picture from: www.mmaweekly.com

WEC lightweight champion Jaime Varner had a short but entertaining defense against Marcus Hicks. Fighting out of Dallas, Hicks dumped the titleholder to the mat early after catching a knee Varner had thrown. Varner got up quickly, but Hicks put him right back down with a body lock.

As Varner again returned to his feet, Hicks squeezed on his patented guillotine choke, which had finished all three of his previous WEC opponents. The submission did not put away Varner, though.

Asked how he had escaped the maneuver, Varner credited “about three months of training that damn guillotine with my training partners over at Arizona Combat Sports.”

Hicks scored another takedown after the submission failed, but he still could not keep Varner’s back on the canvas. With only a minute gone by, Varner took control. The 23-year-old from Tempe, Ariz., popped Hicks on the chin with a series of knees in the clinch. Hicks, 32, broke free but looked hurt.

Varner pursued, picking him apart with punches. A big right hand connected, then lefts. Hicks crumbled against the cage, and referee Steve Mazzagatti moved in but did not stop the fight. A gutsy Hicks climbed back to his feet, as Varner flurried on him. More and more strikes followed, and then Varner measured his opponent for a final right hand that sat down Hicks for the TKO at 2:08.

“He’s a tough dude,” Varner said. “Once Mazzagatti pulled me away, I knew it was over. But God-dang, he just did not want to go down.”