XFC 16 results: Jamie Varner knocks out Drew Fickett in 41 seconds

On Fri., Feb. 10, 2012, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veteran Jamie Varner took on fellow UFC castoff Drew Fickett in a lightweight leather fest for the fans in attendance at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium in Knoxville, Tenn.

Varner was coming off a very impressive first round knockout victory over Nate Jolly at XFC 14 on Oct. 21, 2011, in Orlando, Florida. He looked to keep the streak going against a desperate man in Fickett, who was hoping to avoid his fourth consecutive mixed martial arts (MMA) loss.

Fickett was the aggressor at the outset, delivering a leg kick that ended up being more trouble than it was worth. Varner walked through it before landing a right cross that floored his adversary. He quickly pounced on him, using his killer instinct to vanquish his foe.

It was quick and it was violent. It showed that Varner still may have some "warrior" left in him while Fickett looked like a fighter who has probably fought past his career's expiration date.

After the jump, we'll take an in-depth look at the rest of the XFC 16: "Jamie Varner vs. Drew Fickett" fight card from top to bottom.

The co-main event saw Josh Hamman implore his "double punch" method of bludgeoning an opponent when he faced off against Mikey Gomez in an explosive middleweight mash up.

Gomez shot for a takedown early in the first round, but Hamman's sprawling ability and overall agility made him a tough man to get to the ground. The couple of times he did find himself on his back, he didn't stay there long and was quick to make Gomez pay for the attempts.

With a little more than a minute left in the first frame, Hamman was able to get Gomez's back and began to rain down some vicious ground-and-pound.

Referee Gary Copeland finally waved the white flag on Gomez's behalf at 3:37 of the first round, giving Hamman the TKO victory.

In a women's flyweight showdown, Marianna Kheyfets used her a massive striking advantage to completely overwhelm Heather Clark from the moment the opening horn sounded.

Though there was a good deal of back-and-forth, and Clark did land a few good strikes (including a few thunderous knees to the body) of her own, Kheyfets' punches and kicks just seemed to continually get through and cause infinitely more damage.

After absorbing a large amount of punishment and a terribly swollen left eye, Clark received the news in between the first and second round that the doctor had called a stop the fight, giving Kheyfets the TKO win.

Len Cook and Chris Wright went to war in a fight that was a little bit more than flyweight and a little less than bantamweight as they met in the middle at 130 pounds.

Wright used his ground game and grappling skills to control Cook for most of the fight. He also used some short, damaging strikes to cut Cook on the forehead near the end of the first round.

The combination of having to deal with the blood running down his face and Wright's top game was too much for Cook to overcome.

Wright was the victor by way of a unanimous decision.

It's often been said that the Super Heavyweight division is for fighters who are not disciplined or conditioned enough to make the 265 weight limit for heavyweight. (See: Tim Sylvia).

Last night's fight between Chase Gormley and Brandon Sayles did little to dispel those theories.

For three painful rounds, the two behemoth's leaned all over each other, threw wild shots and spent a lot of time on the mat being far from effective.

Mercifully, the fight eventually came to a close and Gormley was awarded the unanimous decision victory. He may have won the fight, but he and Sayles did little to win over many fans.

The tone of this card was set early on with quick knockouts, and Amaechi Oselukwue was one of the first to put his opponent to sleep.

Almost right out of the gate, Oselukwue's opponent, Julio Gallegas shot for and scored the takedown. While he did get the upper hand, it didn't last.

Oselukwue quickly made his way back to his feet, landed several brutal knees and then used a bevy of furious punches that had Gallegas seeing stars in no time.

Good night, Irene!

In the opening fight of the televised card, things started off with fireworks as Dustin West looked determined to set the striking bar high for the rest of the card.

Almost right away, Stoney Hale shot for a takedown, but was unsuccessful. The action ended up against the cage as Hale continued to work for the takedown. Unfortunately, all he ended up with was a face full of leather and repeated punches.

At 1:23 of the very first round, the referee mercifully called a stop to the fight, giving West the impressive TKO win to kick off the XFC 16 broadcast.

XFC 16 QUICK RESULTS:

MAIN EVENT:

160 lbs.: Jamie Varner defeats Drew Fickett via TKO (strikes) at 0:41 of round one
185 lbs.: Josh Samman defeats Michael Gomez via TKO (strikes) at 3:37 of round one
125 lbs.: Marianna Kheyfets defeats Heather Clark via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round one
130 lbs.: Chris Wright defeats Len Cook via unanimous decision
Super Heavyweight (over 265 pounds): Chase Gormley defeats Brandon Sayles via unanimous decision
185 lbs.: Amaechi Oselukwue defeats Julio Gallegos via KO (punches) at 1:23 of round one
185 lbs.: Dustin West defeats Stoney Hale via TKO (strikes) at 1:23 of round one

UNDERCARD:

155 lbs.: Scott Holtzman defeats Brandon Demastes via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:44 of round one
155 lbs.: Chris Coggins defeats Jay Meneghello via submission (armbar) at 2:48 of round one
185 lbs.: Daniel Crockett defeats Shane Machette via unanimous decision