By Ariel Helwani
- Video Reporter and Writer
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Jamie Varner's mixed martial arts career is not in jeopardy. The WEC lightweight champion's broken right hand has still not healed since his January title defense against
Donald Cerrone forcing the organization to book an interim title match between Cerrone and rising star Ben Henderson.
However, when FanHouse contacted Varner to comment on a
Youngstown Vindicator report stating he "may never fight again," Varner simply said, "That's bullsh*t."
"I'm 24 years old, dude," Varner said. "That statement was false. I talked to [WEC matchmaker] Sean [Shelby], and it looks like I'll be fighting late this year or early next year."
The comments were attributed to WEC general manager,
Reed Harris, who later told FanHouse that they were taken out of context.
"My comments were really designed to allow Jamie to certainly come back when he was healthy, and this interim belt was done based on the fact that there's no timetable for his return," Harris said.
Harris also reiterated that contrary to online reports, WEC has no plans of stripping Varner of the lightweight title.
"Obviously, I'm sure there is some time frame placed on that, but we haven't discussed that yet," Harris said. "Right now, we're just waiting for Jamie to heal up, and as soon as that happens his camp will notify us, and then we could begin to schedule another fight for him."
Varner said that his doctor cleared him to begin weight training too early, which led to his hand not healing properly.
WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson takes place Wednesday, September 2, from the 6,000-seat Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. The event airs live on Versus.
Ariel Helwani also covers mixed martial arts for Versus.com
Read More: benhenderson, donaldcerrone, jamievarner, reed harris, reedharris, Ben Henderson (MMA), Donald Cerrone (MMA), Jamie Varner (MMA)
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