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What’s the story?
Former UFC lightweight title contender Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone lost the title fight against Rafael Dos Anjos in December 2015. After dropping the title fight, ‘Cowboy’ moved up to welterweight division in 2016, and has not lost a fight yet. He finished all four opponents he faced in the division, earning three ‘performance of the night’ bonus. Riding on the back of such amazing performances, he quickly moved from being unranked to #5 fighter in UFC welterweight division.
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While ‘Cowboy’ is looking ahead to facing his next opponent Jorge Masvidal at the co-main event of UFC on FOX 23 on January 28 in Denver, he is already eyeing for #1 contender fight in UFC 209. There are only a couple of options that really make sense, either Robbie Lawler or Demian Maia, who are currently above ‘Cowboy’ in ranking.
Speaking to FOX Sports, Donald Cerrone expressed that he would love to fight in the same card as Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson in UFC 209, for #1 contender and face the winner of Woodley-Thompson title bout. ‘Cowboy’ also gave his thoughts on his next move in the interview,
“Whoever, if I could fight in March. I know the title fight, they are going to be fighting in March so we will have to get a #1 contender.Hopefully, Demian Maia will (expletive) want to pull the trigger and not just keep waiting or Robbie Lawler. Whoever’s above us.I don’t even care. I don’t (expletive) give a (expletive).”
Cerrone also shared his views on facing ‘Ruthless’ Lawler in UFC 209 as their earlier scheduled bout was scratched,
“Diaz turned Robbie down. (expletive) Maia turned Robbie down. You know you did’t turn (expletive) Robbie down? Me.I said (expletive) yeah, bring that (expletive) on. That name don’t scare me none. I love Robbie but (expletive) come on.”
In case you didn’t know...
Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone is in pro-fighting since 2006 and has a professional MMA record of 32-7-0 (W-L-D). He has won 12 out of his last 13 fights, only losing to RDA in the lightweight title fight, and is 4-0 in his new welterweight division.
He was supposed to face Robbie Lawler in UFC 205, but the bout was later scratched as the former welterweight champion wanted some more time off to recover from his knockout loss to Tyron Woodley.
Maia has stated that he is waiting for a title fight rather than competing again against another fighter, which goes against Cerrone’s work ethic.
The heart of the matter
‘Cowboy’ is one of the few fighters in UFC who is ready to face anyone anytime. Not looking past his next fight, he is already planning ahead to face opponents to get the#1 contender spot for the welterweight title. Former lightweight title contender always wanted to be a UFC champion, but that dream was crushed by RDA in the lightweight title bout and now he is looking to become the UFC welterweight champion. ‘Cowboy’ has quickly moved up in the welterweight rankings in 2016 and is a force to be reckoned with.
What next?
Donald Cerrone is going to face Jorge Masvidal in the upcoming UFC on FOX 23 co-main event this coming Saturday. He has also expressed his desire to fight in the UFC 209 main card either against Lawler or Maia to clear his way for the title contention.
Sportskeeda’s Take
‘Cowboy’ vs ‘Ruthless’ is a fight that all the UFC fans have been waiting for and it almost happened in UFC 205. With impressive performances in 2016, Cerrone is certainly looking to start 2017 with another victory under his name in welterweight division. He is among the most active fighters in the UFC roster and would love to get as many fights possible this year and end on top of the division.
