Right after the UFC 242 in which Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Dusting Poirier, we have another spectacle coming up our way. The Rogers Arena in Vancouver will no doubt be small to accept all the interested MMA fans. This is a fight between a guy who wants another shot at the lightweight title and the one who is yet to have his attempt. And it appears that according to Dana White and his management, that whoever wins this one, might be Khabibb’s next opponent. So all in all, the stakes on the table are pretty high.
Preview
Donald Cerrone (36-12-1) is a veteran on which sport, and one of the most fearless fighters in the UFC. Cowboy lost his last fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 238. The referees gave Ferguson a TKO win because the doctors wouldn’t allow Cerrone to continue fighting. His nose was badly injured, which later closed his eye, and the medical staff didn’t want to risk anything. But we need to say that Cerrone wasn’t inferior in this fight. After he blew the nose between the rounds, which led to hematoma appearing underneath his eye, we might say that Ferguson had the advantage and would win for sure, but before that, it wasn’t like that. Furthermore, Cowboy had several solid series against Ferguson. Prior to this fight, he had 4 wins in a row, two latest against Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, both of them Fight of the Night. The bout against Ferguson was also Fight of the Night.
Gaethje was a big signing for the UFC, and everybody expected to see him taking the belt once joined here. But for now, that isn’t the case. The former WSOF lightweight champion didn’t adjust that good to the needs of the top division of the MMA. He would defeat Michael Johnson in his first fight, but lost against Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier in the next two, both by knockouts. The battle against Poirier was a big one, which lasted almost the whole five rounds. But afterward, Gaethje bounced back, winning two bouts in a row, against James Vick, and Edson Barbosa, both of them by a KO in the first rounds, which tells us that he might be working pretty seriously. Though we need to say that these two guys aren’t at the same level as Poirier or Alvarez.
Head to head record
The two fighters never encountered one another before. Right now, Cerrone has 36 wins, 12 losses and one no contest. He was always near the top but would mostly lose against the top fighters in the division like Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis or Jorge Masvidal. Gaethje has 20 wins and 2 losses, and 17 of those wins were by a knockout. He is still new to the UFC, but it is his time to shine now without a doubt.
Prediction
The last sentence would tell you everything here. It is Gaethje’s time to make a step forward towards the title bout. It is now or never. If he loses against a fighter who, with all due respect, is an average here, then Gaethje has nothing to hope for when talking about some major success in the near future. His striking abilities are well known, and is better than Cowboy in the clinch, but is he capable of using that. BetXChange is giving 0.48 on Gaethje’s win which is an excellent bargain for us, and we would take that.
