UFC president Dana White often doesn’t like to commit to future fights immediate following an event, but seemed to indicate on Saturday night that Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone had finally punched his ticket to a UFC title shot.
Cerrone won his eighth consecutive fight by breaking John Makdessi’s jaw at UFC 187 on Saturday night, improving his record in the Octagon to 15-3 and making him a shoe-in for a shot at the belt currently wrapped around Rafael dos Anjos’ waist, as fellow contender Khabib Nurmagomedov is sidelined for the foreseeable future.
“Absolutely. Cowboy is definitely the contender,” White told UFC.com on Saturday night. “He’ll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. He always keeps his composure. He picks his shot. He takes his time. He looked great again tonight. Cowboy is next in line.”
It would be the second time that Cerrone and Dos Anjos have fought. The two squared off a couple years ago, with dos Anjos winning a unanimous decision.
The champ is currently sidelined with a knee injury, but over the weekend said that a trip to the doctor last week put him back in training in the next one to two months, depending on how quickly his knee returns to 100-percent health.
He feels that when he does return, Cerrone deserves the shot at his belt.
“In my opinion, (Cerrone) deserve to wait until I come back,” said dos Anjos. “He did his job. If he wants, he can wait until I come back (in my opinion).”
Cerrone is finally at a point in his career where waiting might just be an option. He’s worked hard, taking every fight put in front of him, to get to this point; not to mention, he fought Makdessi while injured.
Although Cerrone’s coach, Greg Jackson, wanted him to pull out of the fight, Cowboy fought through a severe rib injury to get the win over Makdessi. It’s enough of an injury that Cerrone is looking forward to some time off before worrying about a title fight… a title fight that he hopes will happen in his hometown of Denver.
“I would love to wait,” said Cerrone on Saturday. “I’ll wait for Denver, Colorado. I see a lot of Sunday Fundays in my future, so I should be alright.”
Cerrone won his eighth consecutive fight by breaking John Makdessi’s jaw at UFC 187 on Saturday night, improving his record in the Octagon to 15-3 and making him a shoe-in for a shot at the belt currently wrapped around Rafael dos Anjos’ waist, as fellow contender Khabib Nurmagomedov is sidelined for the foreseeable future.
“Absolutely. Cowboy is definitely the contender,” White told UFC.com on Saturday night. “He’ll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. He always keeps his composure. He picks his shot. He takes his time. He looked great again tonight. Cowboy is next in line.”
It would be the second time that Cerrone and Dos Anjos have fought. The two squared off a couple years ago, with dos Anjos winning a unanimous decision.
The champ is currently sidelined with a knee injury, but over the weekend said that a trip to the doctor last week put him back in training in the next one to two months, depending on how quickly his knee returns to 100-percent health.
He feels that when he does return, Cerrone deserves the shot at his belt.
“In my opinion, (Cerrone) deserve to wait until I come back,” said dos Anjos. “He did his job. If he wants, he can wait until I come back (in my opinion).”
Cerrone is finally at a point in his career where waiting might just be an option. He’s worked hard, taking every fight put in front of him, to get to this point; not to mention, he fought Makdessi while injured.
Although Cerrone’s coach, Greg Jackson, wanted him to pull out of the fight, Cowboy fought through a severe rib injury to get the win over Makdessi. It’s enough of an injury that Cerrone is looking forward to some time off before worrying about a title fight… a title fight that he hopes will happen in his hometown of Denver.
“I would love to wait,” said Cerrone on Saturday. “I’ll wait for Denver, Colorado. I see a lot of Sunday Fundays in my future, so I should be alright.”
