Jamie Varner- What could've been.

[JustOnce]

Out of WEC, Varner, Henderson and Cerrone, and even Pettis, I was big on Varner the most. He had wrestling and hands. He was kinda like Justin, but not as wild, but maybe not as powerful nor did he have low kicks.

Cerrone went full Sean Sherk on Varner, and Henderson guillotined him, while losing the fight, but I feel like Varner had the biggest potential, in my opinion.

He had what it takes to be succesful in MMA. He retired little too early. He hit a rough patch, I know, but in MMA, especially right now where anyone can beat anyone, look at Jorge, if he stuck around, what could've been.

People are acting like Cerrone has any chance against Conor at any stage of his career. That's laughable. I think Cowboy is terrible.

 

[JabToucher]

Those tattoos were his downfall

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I think he retired at the perfect time to be honest, he was clearly on the downslide and even though he's not that old, he'd been a pro since a young age.

I don't think he's untapped potential as such, but he's one of my favourite fighters from an entertainment point of view. Had excellent fights with Cerrone, Henderson, Lauzon and Trujillo.

 

[DeathStroke]

I think he retired at the perfect time to be honest, he was clearly on the downslide and even though he's not that old, he'd been a pro since a young age.

I don't think he's untapped potential as such, but he's one of my favourite fighters from an entertainment point of view. Had excellent fights with Cerrone, Henderson, Lauzon and Trujillo.

Has a win over barboza too

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Has a win over barboza too

Yeah, without checking I think that was Edson's first loss too.

 

[Medulla Omoplata]

He wasn't that old and I'm sure he could have stuck around and made some money, but he had like 35 fights or whatever. Could have been he could tell his body was slipping. That's a lot of mileage.

plus: Eventually Varner graduated with major from marketing and a minor in financing. After graduating he worked at Boston Scientific before transiting to stem cell domain.

Sounds like he also had a head on his shoulders. At some point a desk and a 9-5 starts to sound pretty attractive.

 

[Oblivian]

Out of WEC, Varner, Henderson and Cerrone, and even Pettis, I was big on Varner the most. He had wrestling and hands. He was kinda like Justin, but not as wild, but maybe not as powerful nor did he have low kicks.

Cerrone went full Sean Sherk on Varner, and Henderson guillotined him, while losing the fight, but I feel like Varner had the biggest potential, in my opinion.

He had what it takes to be succesful in MMA. He retired little too early. He hit a rough patch, I know, but in MMA, especially right now where anyone can beat anyone, look at Jorge, if he stuck around, what could've been.

People are acting like Cerrone has any chance against Conor at any stage of his career. That's laughable. I think Cowboy is terrible.

Because your predictions have been so good as evidenced by the start of this thread...

 

[cassius84]

I mostly remembered him being a crybaby after the Henderson fight.

 

[VinceArch]

I think Cowboy is terrible.

That's why no one takes you serious.

 

[Thesnake101]

He retired at the perfect time. His ankle gave out against Krause and then he knocked himself out in his last fight. His body was clearly giving up on him.

He had a lot of guts though.

 

[tjumper78]

i was at prudential center when varner got knocked out badly by trujillo. i remember both his arms just flailing around and he went down real quick.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Varner was pretty decent and had a lot of exciting fights but Cerrone 1 was a shame. His fight with Lauzon is probably my favorite. War Joe.

 

[mkt]

Has a win over barboza too

Yep, he beat younger/dangerous versions of Barboza and Guillard and also beat Cowboy in their first fight (something TS didn't mention). I honestly haven't seen many of his fights, but from looking at his record, submission defense was one of his weakness (5 losses by submission). He was a good boxer, though, and his wrestle-boxer skillset gave him the potential to be elite.

Wikipedia says he had 30 concussions and is sufferering from CTE. Surely fighters like Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt have taken more big head shots than Varner (and from 250-pound HWs at that), but not all fighters handle damage the same way. He definitely didn't need to fight any more if that's true...and he sure doesn't need to start a bareknuckle career. He made the right choice.

 

[91 seconds]

Jamie Varner sounds like the name of a small town drug dealer who's dad owns the local funeral home.

 

[Harlekin]

He had so many injuries, too bad he done when he hit prime age. Could've been a good top 5-10 fighter.

 

[Safton]

Considering the issues he's facing with CTE, I'd say he retired too late if anything.

I've never been a fan of him. His bitch fit after Benson choked him was crybaby bullshit.

 

[Fedorer13]

People are acting like Cerrone has any chance against Conor at any stage of his career. That's laughable. I think Cowboy is terrible.

Lol you’re all over Varner’s nuts and then you say this. You’re an idiot.

 

[mkt]

I think Cowboy is terrible.

Typical of TS. Bizarre, unsubstantiated opinions with no context or explanation. If you're saying that Cowboy matches up terribly vs. elite pressure fighters with KO power, I agree--especially at this point in his career. But his overall record is anything but "terrible." And the Al Iaquinta fight showed he can still beat some Top 10 guys if they aren't overly aggressive and Cowboy gets to execute his gameplan.

 

[JustOnce]

Typical of TS. Bizarre, unsubstantiated opinions with no context or explanation. If you're saying that Cowboy matches up terribly vs. elite pressure fighters with KO power, I agree--especially at this point in his career. But his overall record is anything but "terrible." And the Al Iaquinta fight showed he can still beat some Top 10 guys if they aren't overly aggressive and Cowboy gets to execute his gameplan.

i thought Cowboy would beat Al laquinta. I bet you thought otherwise.

 

[wrestlefan]