Donald Cerrone gestures after defeating John Makdessi in their lightweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 187 Saturday, May 23, 2015, in Las Vegas. (John Locher, The Associated Press)
With reports of UFC lightweight champ , featherweight titlist Conor McGregor is in need of an opponent for UFC 196 on March 5.
One name that has popped up is Denver’s own Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Cerrone is fresh off his welterweight debut, defeating Alex Oliveira via triangle choke hold last Sunday. But he’s been known for his high-work rate — 13 fights since 2013 — and he’s taken matches on extremely short turnarounds before. In January 2015, he picked up a bout against Benson Henderson just 15 days after beating Myles Jury by decision.
, Cerrone’s manager Josh Jones told the UFC that his client is interested in the fight.
A few things to consider: this is a 13-day turnaround for Cerrone (29-7), the fastest since the one between his first and second career fights in 2006. Also, he would be coming down from welterweight (170) to fight McGregor (19-2), who was slated for a lightweight (155) match with Dos Anjos. That’s a large cut with less than two weeks to go.
Other names that have surfaced as possible replacements include Anthony Pettis and Nate Diaz. Diaz took to Twitter to share his sentiment.
He’s going to have to get on his knees and beg…
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209)
The UFC has yet to release a statement on the situation and still has Dos Anjos and McGregor listed as the main event for UFC 196.
