Jamie Varner
An injury to lightweight Evan ’3-D’ Dunham has forced the exciting fighter off this months UFC 146 pay-per-view event.
Stepping in for Dunham will be former WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner (19-6-1, 2NC) who now faces undefeated fighter Edson Barboza (10-0) on the preliminary card of the Las Vegas card.
News of the change was made official Tuesday night by UFC officials.
On the undercard, lightweight contender Evan Dunham has also been injured, forcing him to withdraw from his much-anticipated bout against Edson Barboza. The change opens the door for the Zuffa return of former WEC champion Jamie Varner. Varner has racked up three impressive wins in the last year, all finishes in under two minutes.
UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir is expected to take place on May 26, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Varner has fought for the UFC before, going 1-1 with a loss to Hermes Franca at UFC 62 and a submission win versus Jason Gilliam at UFC 68. After that victory, Varner left for the WEC where he won that promotions lightweight title in 2008.
Varner was released from contract after going 0-3-1 with a final loss to Shane Roller at WEC 53 in the promotions final event.
He has since gone 3-1 with various promotions, earning a win over Drew Ficket at an XFC 16 event last February in a 160-lbs catchweight bout.