6 Bouts Official for Final WEC Card

World Extreme Cagefighting made two speculated lightweight contests targeted for WEC 53 official Tuesday afternoon. Jamie Varner will meet Shane Roller, and Donald Cerrone will take on Chris Horodecki on Dec. 16 at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz., the promotion announced via Twitter.

Weeks ago, it was rumored that Varner would meet Cerrone in a rubber match at WEC 53. News eventually leaked, and the rumor was proven to be only half-true: while both men will appear on the December card, they will not complete their fight trilogy that night.

Both Cerrone and Varner last stepped into the blue cage at WEC 51 in a rematch of their 2009 scrap, which ended controversially. The pair's first fight at WEC 38 was for Varner's lightweight championship. After four back-and-fourth rounds, Cerrone connected with an illegal knee to a grounded Varner in the final period. The champion could not continue, and the fight went to the judges, who awarded Varner a technical split decision. Roughly 21 months later, Cerrone evened the score with the former champion, showing vastly improved takedown defense en route to a one-sided unanimous decision victory. With both fighters now owning a victory, the pair may meet again to decide a true winner, but that will have to wait until after the WEC-UFC merger.

Come December, Cerrone will have to deal with former International Fight League lightweight contender Horodecki. “The Polish Hammer” began his MMA career in 2005 at just 18 years of age. He started with a bang, winning his first 12 bouts before finally falling to Ryan Schultz in the finals of the IFL grad prix in 2007. The Canadian rebounded with back-to-back victories before running into Anthony Njokuani in his WEC debut. Horodecki was steamrolled by “The Assassin,” eating a devastating high kick and falling in the first round. The 23-year-old again overcame defeat, however, earning another pair of consecutive victories against Danny Downes and Ed Ratcliff.

Squaring off against Varner will be three-time All-American wrestler Roller. The Oklahoma State University product is coming off a loss to Anthony Pettis to determine the number one contender to Benson Henderson's title. Prior to that submission defeat, Roller had won three straight fights. His promotional record stands at 5-2, with victories over the likes of Danny Castillo and Marcus Hicks. His performance against Castillo at WEC 44 earned him “Submission of the Night” honors.

WEC 53 will be the promotion’s final event before merging with the UFC, and it will be headlined by a lightweight championship clash between titleholder Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis. Additionally, the featherweight title will be on the line, as champion Dominick Cruz defends against Scott Jorgensen.