Varner Feels 'Overlooked' as Spotlight Shines on Faber

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner will face interim titlist Benson Henderson Sunday night in the main event of WEC 46, but you’d be hard-pressed to determine who is the headliner by watching the pre-fight promotion unfold. Hometown hero Urijah Faber’s non-title comeback from a pair of broken hands has dominated the headlines while the Varner-Henderson bout has taken a backseat.

That fact has not been lost on Varner, who has been out of action since defending his crown in a five-round battle against Donald Cerrone last January.

“I don’t feel disrespected,” said Varner at Friday’s press conference, “maybe a little more overlooked and underappreciated would be the word. In my last fight I let it all hang out, I spent eight months not being able to fight or to train, so it’s a little disappointing.”

Varner made sure to distance himself from any possible conflict with the popular former WEC featherweight champion, who he says has had a positive influence on him during what has been a very tough year off for the Arizona Combat Sports product.

“I like being piggybacked with Urijah,” Varner said. “He’s an incredible athlete, he’s a great fighter, he puts on a great show every time and he can sell 12,000 tickets.”

Though he acknowledges the fact that Faber is a huge draw for the WEC, especially in Faber’s own backyard, it doesn’t lessen the longing Varner has for the same kind of outpouring of support he sees directed at his colleague.

“I would just like to have a show go to Arizona,” said Varner, who was born and bread in the Grand Canyon state. “I would like to have a little more marketing behind me from the organization that I represent, the organization that I fight for, that I bleed for. I would just like that to change.”

Should Varner get past Henderson, it is hard to imagine he won’t find himself headlining a show in Arizona, a state the promotion flirted with for this event before it became apparent Faber would be healthy enough to return.

As for the promotional backing he seeks, winning fights will be a surefire remedy. Piling up the victories could also help solve another issue that surely eats away at the champ.

Varner has become an easy target for overzealous fans that like to point to the controversial ending of his bout with Cerrone. Varner took a knee to the side of the head that was ruled illegal by the referee. After talking to the doctor, Varner was deemed unable to continue and has felt the wrath from fans, who feel he took the easy way out of the fight. It’s a sentiment that Henderson has also echoed in the build-up to this fight.

What those fans often forget is that the fight went to the judge’s scorecards and Varner won a handy decision. They also neglect to appreciate the fact that he broke his right hand, easily his biggest weapon, early in the fight and tacked on a fractured foot later in the scrap.

“If you don’t like me, if you don’t like or appreciate my fighting style, I don’t want you as a fan,” said an emotional Varner. “I don’t need you as a fan. I want the people who appreciate my fighting style, see that I fight with heart. This fight is a chance to win some of those fans back, but I’m not really so worried about those ones I have to win back, I’m more worried about keeping the ones that I have happy.”

The harsh words he has endured over the past year have had a lasting effect on Varner, who characterized the last 12 months as the most trying of his young life.

“You learn so much when you hit rock bottom, and that’s honestly how I felt what happened to me -- when you lose everything you love it forces you to survive and when you hit bottom all you can do is get up,” said Varner. “I didn’t have fighting, I didn’t have training, I didn’t have all those things I love to do and I didn’t have the support of the fans, but what I did have was skill and the opportunity to fight again. I was blessed with a gift and I need to embrace it. I think that is one thing that really changed for me, I needed to embrace what I do have and not what I don’t.”