Donald Cerrone Steps Up Once Again at UFC 137
When it was announced that the WEC would be merging with the UFC, many began wondering how the Lightweight division would pan out. The Bantamweights and Featherweights could easily cross over and continue thriving as if nothing happened. However, the WEC Lightweights would have to figure out to survive among the better known UFC Lightweights. With the division being so large now, it was assumed that there would be some “house cleaning” and guys would be released from the company. One man who took matters into his own hands to secure a position on the roster was Donald Cerrone, who has become somewhat of the replacement fighter.
Cerrone’s first fight in the UFC was against Paul Kelly back in February at UFC 126. Originally, Kelly was scheduled to face Sam Stout, but when Stout pulled out with an injury, Cerrone jumped at the chance to make his UFC debut against a tough opponent. Not only did Cerrone have a successful debut by defeating Kelly via submission late in the third round, but their fight earned Fight of the Night honors.
Four months later, Cerrone was slated to face Mac Danzig at UFC 131. Unfortunately, Danzig suffered an injury in training and was replaced by Vagner Rocha, who was a completely different type of fighter than Danzig. Without protest, Cerrone altered his training camp to better suit a fight with Rocha and went on to defeat him by way of Unanimous decision. Cerrone apologized for his performance, though, claiming that he “fought to not lose, rather than to win.”
Two months after that in August, Cerrone jumped at the chance to fight again as John Makdessi got injured and left hisUFC on Versus 5 opponent, Paul Taylor, without an opponent. With just a month left before the fight, Taylor, too, got injured and was replaced with Charles Oliveira. Again, Cerrone tweaked his camp just a bit to make a better game plan for his new opponent. However, he would need only three minutes to dispose of the tough Brazilian and collect a $65,000 Knockout of the Night bonus along the way.
This weekend at UFC 137, Donald Cerrone will once again step in as a replacement against Dennis Siver. Sam Stout, Siver’s original opponent, pulled out of the fight following the death of his coach, and close friend, Shawn Tompkins. Having taken three of his four fights in the UFC as a replacement thus far, Cerrone has shown the willingness to fight whomever and whenever.
If he defeats the very tough Siver this weekend, he will be 4-0 in the UFC and as the saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Many fighters claim they are willing to fight anytime, but Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is actually stepping up and letting his actions speak louder than his words.
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Aspiring chef turned MMA writer after financial issues prevented me from pursuing my first dream. Ever since I started watching MMA, I've read up about it and talk about it all the time and with the encouragement of family and friends I finally decided to actively pursue a career in writing about it.Subscribe
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