Earlier this month it was Bobby Green who fought in place of an injured Jamie Varner at UFC on Fox 9 in Sacramento. The former Strikeforce lightweight defeated Pat Healy by decision and was immediately booked for a February showdown with Abel Trujillo. The roles have been reversed, as Green is out and Varner is in against Abel at UFC 169:
Varner (21-8-1, 2 NCs) lost a split decision to Gleison Tibau at UFC 164. His biggest win in the UFC is a stunning 1st round TKO of the highly touted Edson Barboza at UFC 146. What made the result more extraordinary was Varner's mediocre string of results from 2010-2012, including 0 wins at lightweight (all of his post-WEC wins were at welterweight and catchweight).
Trujillo (11-5, 1 NC) easily took apart Roger Bowling at UFC on Fox 9 in a rematch of their August no contest. His UFC debut saw him brutalize Marcus LeVesseur with knees to the body before a very lopsided decision loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 160 this past May.
UFC 169 takes place on February 1st at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao unifying their bantamweight belts in the main event. Jose Aldo also defends his featherweight crown against Ricardo Lamas.