Donald Cerrone’s first step into the welterweight division was successful when he tapped Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira out in the first round at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy.
The fight didn’t last long, but what took place makes Cerrone’s move to 170 quite promising. Stepping in on two weeks notice, Alex Oliveira did what most people would against Cerrone – throw hard shots to the body. The two clinched up early and Oliveira immediately began throwing hard knees to the body, but Cerrone looked like a stronger, more physical fighter now without the massive weight cut. This allowed him to stay upright, and avoid being bullied around in close quarters.
Cerrone also looked strong taking Oliveira down, and holding him down. Cerrone was able to time an explosive blitz from Oliveira, duck underneath, wrap up the legs, and put Oliveira down. From there, Cerrone passed through the guard and into mount. Cerrone’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu looked sharp as ever locking up the mounted guillotine for the tap. It’ll be interesting to see if Cerrone seeks out grappling in future bouts at 170. We know Cerrone has a dangerous grappling game, and the majority of his losses have featured Cerrone losing the stand up game.
At welterweight, I believe Cerrone’s technical skill set will shine through against explosive fighters – like what Oliveira represented. That type of blitzing works well against stationary targets who try to cover up, but we also caught a possible glimpse of Cerrone’s improved striking defense through evasion. Cerrone kept his distance against Oliveira, timed his explosions, and either evaded or shot underneath and took him down. It’ll be interesting to see more of Cerrone’s stand up game in the future. Harder hitting welterweights could definitely give Cerrone some trouble if he stays stationary, but we caught a few glimpses Sunday night that showed he could be focusing more on his movement.
Now with an impressive welterweight debut under wraps, the question lies in where Cerrone is in the 170 lb division. Cerrone was a title challenger at lightweight, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think he could be a title challenger at welterweight too. Of course, evolution will have to occur now that Cerrone will be going against bigger, harder hitting fighters, but I believe Cerrone could easily jump into the top 10 and be competitive – maybe even the top 5.
For a next opponent, I’d like to see Cerrone against a strong striker. “Cowboy” Oliveira was a strong, explosive grappler, but only had a 3-1 record in the UFC coming into this fight. I’d like to see Cerrone against someone like Lorenz Larkin. It would give us an idea of how Cerrone’s striking could compare to another brilliant muay-thai striker like Larkin. Larkin is coming off of a close decision loss to Albert Tumenov (another brilliant striker).
Cerrone vs. Larkin could easily headline a fight night card, but I’d like to see Cerrone get featured on pay-per-views a little more. In fact, Cerrone hasn’t lost on a pay-per-view card since UFC 141 against Nate Diaz. Cerrone makes a great main card fighter that guarantees action. Lorenz Larkin is another fighter that is all-action; he’s lesser known, but a win for either of these men would be huge.
Another very interesting match up would be Tarec Saffiedine. Saffiedine is coming off of a win against Jake Ellenberger, and currently sits at #10 on the official UFC rankings. Flying under the radar for quite a while, Saffiedine is in need of a high-profile match up in order to rise up the rankings. Everyone in the top 10 is currently booked, outside of Dong Hyun Kim, but I don’t believe anybody ranked underneath him has a bigger name than Donald Cerrone. Cerrone vs. Saffiedine is a beautiful match up that could provide a sling shot into the top 8 maybe the top 5 (depending on who wins).
There’s a great opportunity in the welterweight division for Donald Cerrone. He’s a very exciting striker with a venomous submission game, and now that he’s going up against larger opponents I believe his technical expertise will shine through. I’m excited to see if Cerrone can impliment some better striking defense via movement and evasion as opposed to covering up and exposing his body. In addition, there’s a lot of room for dangerous submission fighters in the welterweight division. Gunnar Nelson, Demian Maia, and Dong Hyun Kim represent the best grapplers in the top 15, and there is definitely a place for Donald Cerrone.
