UFC lightweight Jamie Varner is looking at four men in the division he thinks can get him closer to the title, and prime among them is Brazilian Rafael Dos Anjos.
Varner recently defeated Melvin Guillard at UFC 155 in Las Vegas and has put his UFC career back on track following a submission loss to Joe Lauzon in August.
The former WEC champ spoke to MMAJunkie.com Radio, saying, “I think Dos Anjos is on a streak, so he may be on my radar more so than anyone else.”
Varner, 28, has been fighting professionally since 2003, but he only made his UFC debut last year when he upset the odds and beat top contender Edson Barboza via TKO in the first round. Barboza was undefeated in his 10 fight career until he was stopped by Varner—an outcome that catapulted the latter into the upper echelons of the stacked 155-pound division.
Just how stacked and unpredictable that division truly is came into sharp view when Varner failed to get passed Joe Lauzon in his next match. Varner, however, isn’t dwelling on the past and has his eyes firmly set on a future title shot.
“I’m not going to try to mess with the UFC and tell them that I want a certain matchup,” he said. “I definitely want that [Lauzon] fight back. But I want to fight every guy that I lost to, and I’m hoping that I get a shot at all of them.”
He told MMAJunkie.com Radio that in his next fight, he’s looking for an opponent who will get him one step closer to the No. 1 contender’s spot. That could be Dos Anjos, who recently defeated Mark Bocek to cap three wins in a row; or TJ Grant, who recently beat Evan Dunham at UFC 152; or handsome Matt Wiman, who is coming off a win against Paul Sass in September; or even British lightweight Ross Pearson, who defeated George Sotiropoulos at the final of the TUF: Smashes TV series.
For now, however, Varner will have to wait as he nurses a thumb injury he picked up during the Guillard fight. He isn’t expected to return to the Octagon until April.
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