Donald Cerrone, left, and Melvin Guillard fight in a lightweight bout in Denver in 2012. (The Associated Press)
Denver native Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will fight again sooner than expected after he was added by the Ultimate Fighting Championship to their Fight Night Boston card later this month.
Cerrone, coming off a dominating unanimous decision victory over Myles Jury on Saturday as the top undercard bout at UFC 182 in Las Vegas, will turn right around for a third fight against Colorado Springs native Benson Henderson, UFC president Dana White announced.
Cerrone replaces Eddie Alvarez, who was forced to bow out with an injury, White said. Cerrone beat Alvarez at UFC 178 in September.
But Cerrone (26–6) has twice lost to Henderson (21-4) before they entered UFC. Henderson is coming off a knockout loss to Rafael dos Anjos in Tulsa, Okla., in August.
But Henderson, including a split-decision victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 in Denver in 2012, defended his lightweight championship four times between 2011-13.
Cerrone on Monday moved up to No. 3 in the UFC’s lightweight rankings. Henderson is No. 5.
