WEC 38 headliners Jamie 'Little Ass' Varner and Donald 'Dead Man' Cerrone trade barbs before their Jan. 25 title bout

World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) will kickoff its 2009 fight season by invading San Diego, Calif., for the first time ever at the San Diego Sports Arena on January 25.

WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner will defend his 155-pound title against undefeated Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in a main event that is sure to spark major fireworks.

Cerrone earned his opportunity at championship glory with a fantastic unanimous decision win over former division champion, "Razor" Rob McCullough, back on November 5. It was an absolute back-and-forth slugfest that was arguably a "Fight of the Year" candidate.

"Cowboy" — currently training with GSP in Canada as a member of Team Greg Jackson — has an undefeated record of (9-0) thus far in his career, having won all three fights under the WEC banner. The decision win over McCullough was the first time in his career he had been taken past the second round.

Varner has been on a tear since making the transition from the UFC to the WEC, winning four consecutive bouts and finishing all of his opponents. Perhaps most impressive were his most recent stoppages of Marcus Hicks back in August and McCullough in early 2008.

"The Worm" will look to keep the hot streak alive in Southern California and hand Cerrone the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career.

As he told host Larry Pepe on MMAmania.com's exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio, the key to beating Cerrone lies in the Rob McCullough fight at WEC 36 'Faber vs. Brown:'

I wanted to see Cowboy go three rounds. I wanted to see what he had. All his fights ended so quick there is hardly any footage on the guy. I got that. What did Cowboy show me [against McCullough]? He showed me he has holes in his game. [Razor] wasn't the same after I knocked him out [and] I don't think Cowboy fought the same Rob McCullough that I fought. He fought a lesser opponent than I did. He's never fought a guy like me. He's never fought a well rounded or as strong or as athletic guy as me. He keeps his hands low. His takedown defense isn't that great and he's never fought a high caliber wrestler like me. That gives me an edge.

Cerrone agrees that there were significant differences in the way he fought McCullough versus the way Varner fought him. Cowboy, who battled McCullough nine months after Varner, says it's all in the replay and that the performances speak for themselves.

Jamie didn't want to stand with Rob. He wanted to take him down the whole time and I think the only reason Jamie knocked him out was because he was so exhausted from getting taken down that he got caught with the overhand. For Jamie to say it's not the same [Razor], Rob's an excellent striker and Jamie wanted no part of that.

In his first guest appearance on Pro MMA Radio back in October, Cerrone talked about Varner's TKO win over McCullough at WEC 32 'Albuquerque.' Sometime between the second and third round of the fight, Cerrone heard Varner quit on the stool and that his corner had to force him back into the fight, which he eventually won.

He also recalled UFC veteran Drew Fickett telling him that Varner could be broken mentally if you grind him out. Needless to say, "C-4" was ready to explode when he heard the clip.

Drew Fickett is a scumbag. Cowboy thinks he can grind me out and break me? What the hell has that guy ever done? He's a goddamn kickboxer and jiu-jitsu guy. I wrestled Division 1! One of the hardest things anyone could ever do is go through one wrestling season in college. I went through three of them and broke my tailbone and still wrestled. I fucking boxed also. Not only was I an All-American wrestler I was also a national boxing champion. If he thinks he can break me or take me into deep water and push me over the edge, he's crazy. If I take him into deep water I'm going to drown him. Drew Fickett is a drunk and a complete fuck-up. He's just kind of a loser unfortunately and if he's Cowboy's mentor, I welcome that. I want to thank Cowboy for taking this fight and pissing me off because now he's a dead man and I get to hold onto my belt a little longer.

Cerrone, who made a mockery of the Ring of Fire lightweight division and holds a perfect 28-0 record in his Muay Thai career (including a U.S. Championship title), didn't take Varner's comments too seriously. Instead, he laughed it off a made a few predictions of his own.

Whatever man, talk is cheap. Bring it on. This fight's not gonna go out of the second round, so it doesn't really matter how much cardio he has. I'm gonna submit his little ass. That's my prediction. I hope he's listening too. He said he's a Division 1 wrestler, so I'm gonna come out and take his little ass down. I'm feel I'm better than him in every part. Usually I'm very respectful, I have a lot of respect the for guy, but for him to come out and say he's gonna kill me and blah, blah, blah...just keep talking. I don't care, I'm ready.

And so are the fans. WEC 38 airs live on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET on the Versus network and also features former featherweight champion and hometown hero Urijah Faber in a rematch against former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver.

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