It's time to cowboy up.
Donald Cerrone will finally get the opportunity to rematch his nemesis, Jamie Varner, at WEC 51, which is scheduled for the 1ST Bank Center in Broomfield, Colo., on Sept. 30.
Sherdog.com passed along the pending match up earlier this evening.
"Cowboy" and "C-4" first collided at WEC 28 back in Jan. 2009, battling back-and-forth for more than four rounds with Varner's division title on the line. Unfortunately, an otherwise fantastic fight ended in controversy when Varner could not continue in the fifth and final round because he sustained an illegal (albeit inadvertent) poke to the eye.
The rules stipulated that it had to go to the judges scorecards early ... just as Cerrone was beginning to heat up.
Indeed, Varner got the best of Cerrone for the first three rounds, but he began to fade as time wore on. In the end, Varner went on to retain his title with an unsavory split decision win.
Fans immediately demanded an instant rematch, and the promotion answered the call. However, in addition to the eye injury, Varner also hurt his hands and feet, which kept him on the sidelines for a year.
Cerrone's disappointment didn't last long when he learned that he would take on Ben Henderson for the interim title at WEC 43 with Varner on the mend. Cerrone would go on to lose an epic unanimous decision to Henderson in a fight that was widely regarded as one of the year's best.
Shortly thereafter, Varner and Henderson met at WEC 46 to unify the 155-pound. Varner met a similar fate, losing to "Smooth" via third round submission (guillotine choke). He rebounded with a solid performance against Kamal Shalorus at WEC 49, but somehow walked away with a jaw-dropping draw.
With both fighters clawing to get back to the top of the heap, the table is now set for a rematch that has all the ingredients of another barnburner. It's one you're definitely not going to want to miss.
WEC 51 is expected to be headlined by featherweight champion Jose "Junior" Aldo as he defends his 145-pound title against Manny Gamburyan. Former bantamweight kingpin Miguel Torres will look to get back in the win column when he takes on Charlie Valencia in the co-featured fight of the night.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.
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