Jamie Varner was unable to deliver a win in front of his fellow Arizona natives, losing in the 1st round by rear-naked choke to Drew Dober at UFC on Fox 13 in Phoenix. Varner attempted a lateral drop on Dober but ended up slamming himself to the mat, momentarily knocking himself out. Dober immediately gained mount after the failed attempt and then secured the submission at 1:52 of round 1.
In the post-fight interview, Varner announced his retirement from MMA, stating that “I knew it would be my last fight.” and then later thanked his fans and family before walking away from the cage for the final time.
The 30-year-old is best known as the former WEC lightweight champion, capturing the belt in 2008 against Rob MacCullough and successfully defending it vs. Marcus Hicks and Donald Cerrone before losing it to Ben Henderson in 2010. He was not brought over to the UFC after the WEC merger, and only returned to the Octagon as a late-notice opponent for Edson Barboza. In one of 2012’s biggest upsets, Varner knocked out the Brazilan striker, and then embarked on a run of 6 more fights, winning only 1 of them.
Varner retires with a record of 21-11-1 (2 NCs).
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