WEC 38

WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 25, 2009. It aired live on the Versus Network. In the main event, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defended his title against undefeated top contender Donald Cerrone.

Background
Featured on the card was a rematch between former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver. Faber was originally lined up to face José Aldo at this event, but Aldo was replaced by Pulver. Aldo was instead moved to a bout with the debuting Fredson Paixao at this event, though Paixao was later replaced by WEC newcomer Rolando Perez due to an injury. The Faber/Aldo matchup would eventually take place at WEC 48 the following year, where Aldo defended his then-WEC Featherweight Championship in a unanimous decision victory.

Ed Ratcliff was originally slated to face WEC newcomer Anthony Njokuani at this event, but was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by the debuting Ben Henderson.

The event drew an estimated 702,000 viewers on Versus.

Bonus Awards
Fighters were awarded $7,500 bonuses.


 * Fight of the Night: 🇺🇸 Jamie Varner vs. 🇺🇸 Donald Cerrone
 * Knockout of the Night: 🇧🇷 José Aldo
 * Submission of the Night: 🇺🇸 Urijah Faber

Reported Payouts
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the WEC and also do not include the WEC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.
 * Jamie Varner: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Donald Cerrone: $9,000
 * Urijah Faber: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Jens Pulver: $35,000
 * Danillo Villefort: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus) def. Mike Campbell: $3,000
 * José Aldo: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Rolando Perez: $3,000
 * Benson Henderson: $5,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Njokuani: $2,000
 * Edgar Garcia: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Hiromitsu Miura: $6,000
 * Dominick Cruz: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus) def. Ian McCall: $3,000
 * Scott Jorgensen: $8,000 ($includes $4,000 win bonus) def. Frank Gomez: $2,000
 * Jesse Lennox: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus) def. Blas Avena: $7,000
 * Charlie Valencia: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) def. Seth Dikun: $2,000