World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight titleholder Jamie Varner will be watching the WEC 43 main event between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Ben Henderson closely, but doesn’t think he’ll have any problems defeating the eventual winner. Varner will likely face the winner early next year.

If Henderson defeats Cerrone on Oct. 10, Varner will likely have to utilize his wrestling ability, but believes he’s the better all-around fighter. “I wrestled Division I. I was an All-American. I took second in nationals. I was a good wrestler. I’m a better wrestler than Ben Henderson is,” he said on a recent edition of Tapout Radio.

If Cerrone’s hand is raised in San Antonio, Texas, Varner stated, “The game plan is to do exactly what I did last time, which is to kick his ass, the same as last time.

“My boxing, I was a national champion in boxing. I fought Golden Gloves when I was younger. I was a pretty good boxer, a pretty good wrestler. I’m not really too worried about what Ben Henderson has to bring or the Cowboy,” added the Arizona Combat Sports trained lightweight. “I see both of those fights ending the same way with my hand raised and the belt wrapped around my waist.”

Varner has been sidelined due to injuries, since defeating Cerrone by Technical Decision in January. The fight was stopped in the final round when Cerrone landed a knee that was determined to be illegal, but incidental, and Varner was unable to continue. A grudge was born and neither has been shy about launching insults at the other.

Cerrone calls out Varner every chance he gets and if he is able to get past Ben Henderson, he’ll get his rematch.

“Cowboy’s first fight after he fought me was against a guy (James Krause) who it was his debut in the WEC. He beat that guy, which was kind of a garbage fight,” said Varner. “His next fight is going to be against Ben Henderson on Oct. 10 in San Antonio. If he wins that fight, then he’ll fight me.

“He has to earn it because he lost that fight,” he added. “He lost a decision and even though it was an illegal knee, it still went to the judges’ scorecards. He lost that fight, so he has to win one more fight if he wants to fight me ever again.

“I would be more than willing to give him a rematch. I would be happily and readily available to give him a rematch if he gets through Ben Henderson. Even if he doesn’t get through Ben Henderson, he can come to my gym if we have a problem. We’ve got a cage there too. It doesn’t matter to me.”

A welterweight contest between Phil Baroni and Amir Sadollah is likely to take place at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, MMAWeekly.com has learned from sources close to the fight. Though bout agreements have yet to be signed, but both parties have agreed to the fight and are expected to put pen to paper soon.

Sadollah (1-1) appeared at UFC 101, where he lost to Johnny Hendricks by TKO in a stoppage many considered to be premature. The 29-year-old winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 began his Octagon career with promise, defeating Steve Byrnes, Gerald Harris, Matt Brown, and C.B. Dollaway twice to earn the show’s title. Plagued with injuries, Sadollah was forced to sit on the sidelines for a year until his return last month.

Baroni (13-11) recently re-signed with the promotion after a four-plus year absence fighting for Pride, EliteXC, and Strikeforce. The colorful New Yorker called the Octagon home for much of his early career, fighting as a middleweight, but was cut after a string of losses to former champions Evan Tanner and Matt Lindland, and Pete Sell. After another string of losses from mid-2007 to 2008, Baroni cut to welterweight and racked up three quick wins. His last appearance, against Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Shields vs. Lawler, was his first loss at 170 pounds.

Brock Lesnar is expected to defend his UFC heavyweight title against Shane Carwin in the main event of UFC 106 in Las Vegas.

In a battle brewing between television industry giants, DirecTV on Wednesday dropped the Versus Network from its programming line-up. The move takes away the only on-air option for DirecTV subscribers to watch World Extreme Cagefighting.

The promotion has a regular presence on Versus that includes not only live events – WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson is scheduled to air live on Oct. 10 – but also WrekCage, a retrospective show featuring many of the promotion’s top fights.

The cause of the battle depends on whom you ask.

DirecTV says that it is purely bullying tactics by Comcast, the largest cable operator in the United States, which also happens to own Versus.

“(Comcast’s) unreasonable demands are the economic equivalent of juicing to gain an advantage over its competitors,” DirecTV Executive Vice President Derek Chang said in a prepared statement sent to MMAWeekly.com.

“The deal that just expired was well above market value and beyond what other significant distributors were paying. To add insult to injury Comcast demanded we carry Versus at a 20 percent premium in a new deal, thereby forcing us to take down the channel.”

On the flip side of the coin, Versus president Jamie Davis told SportsBusiness Daily, “The fact is that those market increases aren’t true. We’re simply asking them to pay what the other providers are paying.”

More so than the battle over fees, Davis indicated to SportsBusiness Daily that the dispute is primarily over DirecTV’s plans to move Versus to a lower tier, meaning that more than 6 million DirecTV subscribers who were receiving Versus at no additional cost would instead have to pay an additional fee to receive the network.

One MMAWeekly.com source close to the situation characterized DirecTV moving Versus to a lower tier as the “deal breaker” in negotiations, not the fees. That source characterized the point as “non-negotiable” to Versus and Comcast.

On the same day DirecTV pulled the plug on Versus, rival satellite television provider DISH Network made Versus available as a free preview to its subscribers for a three month period, which includes the Oct. 10 WEC event.

While WEC officials had not responded at the time of publication, UFC president Dana White recently commented on the situation.

“I have a new TV deal on Versus. I have a great relationship with them and they’re owned by Comcast. Trust me when I tell you, them and DirecTV are gonna work it out. Maybe they’ll keep butting heads and go off the air for a little while, but we’re talking about Comcast. We’re not talking about some wimpy little network or something like that. They’re gonna figure it out.”

Both DirecTV’s Chang and Versus’ Davis indicated they would continue working towards a resolution.

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