WEC 46 Varner vs Henderson

[Jessep76]

This is way after the fact I know, but

having just watched this over again a couple things came to mind and I wanted to see if anyone had an opinion.

The beginning of the Varner fight was it strange how Herb Dean made them both stand up when Jamie had Ben pinned against the cage and was landing shots on him? To me it seemed like he was working. Who knows if the fight would have ended differently...

Also could Urijah's speed give him any chance against Aldo?
I'm thinking in less than 2 years we'll see Aldo on a light weight The Ultimate Fighter after he blows through every opponent they give him.

 

[Young Gotti]

when i rewatched it, for some reason it crossed my mind that varner did not want to be there, i'm not claiming that it was set up, but it really looked like he wasn't giving his all, the hit in the eye and not defending himself, having it stop the way it did, it didn't really look as if varner had a killer instinct that night the way he did against razor rob....just a thought

 

[VolcomX311]

when i rewatched it, for some reason it crossed my mind that varner did not want to be there, i'm not claiming that it was set up, but it really looked like he wasn't giving his all, the hit in the eye and not defending himself, having it stop the way it did, it didn't really look as if varner had a killer instinct that night the way he did against razor rob....just a thought

Varner was looking to the ref for an eye poke [temp] stoppage, but the ref never gave it and Varner stopped fighting as though an eye poke stop had been called. Varner made the mistake of not "defending himself at all times" unless directed otherwise by the ref, so Hendo ran up and gave him a legitimate blow to the cheek.

As to Varner's immediate tap out, apparently, from another angle, looking at the fight from Varner's back side, you can see Hendo's quads in serious contraction and the arms sunk in uber deep, so a slam to the ground wouldn't have made a difference or could have caused even worse torque against his neck; basically, Varner could tell rather instantly that he was toast.

Up until that point, I thought Varner was doing rather well.

 

[Jessep76]

I'm interested to see if he can bounce back with a couple other fights. I'd like to see a rematch.