WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner will not be stripped of his title as reported, following a story at Vindy.com, which stated that the promotion’s upcoming September 2^nd event would feature a lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone. According to a story by MMA Junkie this afternoon, WEC General Manager Reed Harris maintains that his earlier comments were taken a bit out of context, and that the injured Varner will only be stripped of the belt if he cannot return to defend his title.

Jamie is not stripped of the title,” Harris said. “We’re all hoping Jamie can come back later this year and defend his title against whoever wins the interim title.

Cool beans. Hopefully Varner (who as outlined earlier had so many injuries, after his win over Cerrone, it was like he had been in a train wreck) is back soon enough.

The interim title fight between Henderson and Cerrone will take place in Youngstown, Ohio, September 2^nd, at the Covelli Centre.

Speculation regarding the career of WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner continues to be a hot topic, especially after a report surfaced today at Vindy.com, stating that the promotion plans on stripping Varner of his belt. (Thank to Fighters Only Magazine for the heads up) According to the Ohio media outlet’s report, the WEC will be hosting an event in Youngstown on September 2^nd, which will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson. According to the story, WEC General Manager Reed Harris stated that Varner may never fight again due to the extensive injuries he incurred in his January bout with Cerrone.

Varner’s road to recovery apparently has been more agonizing than sitting through an entire episode of “America’s Got Talent”. (In fact, several MMA Fix staff members have opted to insert shards of broken glass under their finger nails, and reported back ‘it’s not so bad,’ when compared to the experience of watching the show) Shortly after his memorable five round bout with Cerrone, it was the eye injury Varner  incurred as a result of an illegal knee strike, which appeared to be the most threatening to the talented fighter’s career. (Varner won the bout by Technical Split Decision)

When news surfaced that Varner’s damaged eye would in fact recover completely, the hype machine started to churn regarding a rematch with Cerrone. (One which reached a fever pitch recently, with Cerrone apparently using the kind of rhetoric that won’t win you any points with Glaad- you can ask Dana White all about that)

More recently, however, it was revealed that Varner’s hand was still not completely healed, pushing back Cerrone vs. Varner 2 and leading to speculation that an interim title would be enacted.

In any case, here’s hoping that Varner is back in the cage soon; as a rematch with Cerrone, who is also someone you wouldn’t want to spill your drink on, (unless you would like to live out your days hobbled) is a fight that’s got to happen.

Here are some more MMA headlines for your afternoon enjoyment:

• TUF Season 1 cast is accusing “Pitbull” of juicing.  We agree. [MMABAY]

• Dan Henderson wants his damn money.  Apparently MMA Authentics isn’t holding up there end of the bargain. [Sherdog]

• Jamie Varner has beef with “Razor” Rob McCullough. Why does he want to feed him ice cream though? [Fight Ticker]

• Is BJ Penn the best fighter in the world?  Strikeforce Lightweight Champion,  Josh Thompson seems to think so. [Five Ounces of Pain]

• What would you do for a signed Randy Couture glove? How about get a  table at Wild Bill’s in the ATL? [Fight Ticker]

We all know that the UFC Ring Girls are pretty fucking hot.  Well let’s not discount what are boys over at Elite XC are doing.  Check out this gem of a girl: