Jamie Varner

Jamie Varner is a Phoenix native whose wrestling pedigree and well-rounded fighting style made him one of the WEC's most successful lightweights before the organization folded. He captured the WEC Lightweight Championship and successfully defended it twice, including in a white-knuckle battle against Donald Cerrone that was cut short by an illegal knee strike and left Varner with a broken hand and double vision. That fight epitomized Varner's career: tough, competitive, and often caught in the middle of controversial moments.

After the WEC closed, Varner returned to the UFC in 2012 and immediately made an impact. His first-round TKO of undefeated prospect Edson Barboza on short notice was heralded as the Upset of the Year, and he followed it with a split-decision win over Melvin Guillard that, while contested by some judges, proved he could hang with ranked opposition. But it was his epic loss to Joe Lauzon on UFC on Fox in 2012 that truly defined his legacy: a brutal, back-and-forth battle that both fighters won Fight of the Night honors and earned a Fight of the Year nomination. Varner broke his hand in the fight but refused to give an inch.

That peak didn't last. A series of injuries and losses in 2013-2014, including a knockout loss to Abel Trujillo and a submission loss to James Krause (who broke Varner's ankle), signaled the end of his run. He retired after losing via rear-naked choke to Drew Dober in December 2014, having transitioned to his post-fighting life. Varner left the sport as a well-respected, fight-loving veteran whose willingness to engage and whose technical wrestling made him a fixture of lightweight wars that fans still talk about.