Jamie Varner says next title defense will be against Donald Cerrone

World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Jamie Varner has revealed that his second-ever title defense will come against undefeated prospect Donald Cerrone. According to Varner, the title fight will take place during a WEC event tentatively scheduled for January 25 in San Diego.

The news comes courtesy of an exclusive report by Ariel Shnerer of The Fight Network, of which FiveOuncesOfPain.com is a content partner of.

Varner made the revelation during Friday’s weigh-ins for XMMA 6 in Montreal, Canada. The former UFC veteran is at the event to corner Jesse Forbes, a teammate of Varner’s at Trevor and Todd Lally’s Arizona Combat Sports training center.

Varner, 15-2, has not competed since his successful first defense of the title at WEC 35 this past August. Facing Marcus Hicks, Varner was declared the victor following a TKO at 2:08 of round 1. He had won the title in his previous fight at WEC 32 in February, TKO’ing then-incumbent champ “Razor” Rob McCullough at 2:54 of round 3.

He’ll have his work cut out for himself against Cerrone, who improved his record to 9-0 following a unanimous decision win over McCullough this past Wednesday at WEC 36. The bout garnered “Fight of the Night” honors with both Cerrone and McCullough receiving $7,500 bonuses for the effort.

The 25-year old Colorado native has notable wins over current UFC fighter Ryan Roberts, former UFC veteran Nate Mohr, and prospect Jesse Brock, formerly of EliteXC.