This Sunday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be making its first appearance at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with UFC on Versus 5.
Boasting a main card slot is a lightweight battle between Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
Donald Cerrone, who fights out of Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts, is a talented Muay Thai striker with excellent jiu-jitsu and improving takedowns. Cowboy is on a four-fight winning streak, with notable victories over Jamie Varner, Chris Hordecki and Paul Kelly. Cerrone’s only real defeats come at the hands of former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben “Smooth” Henderson—with the first contest being a debatable decision.
Charles Oliveira is a rising star in the lightweight division with extremely high level jiu-jitsu and exceptional Muay Thai striking. Trying to bounce back from his first career loss—tapping to a kneebar applied by division stand out Jim Miller—“Do Bronx” faced a second setback when a rear-naked choke victory over Nik Lentz was changed to a “no contest” due to an illegal knee.
Oliveira will be looking to derail the ever-speeding train of Donald Cerrone Sunday night on Versus as Cerrone is on the verge of becoming a title contender in the UFC’s 155-pound shark tank. A decisive win over Oliveira will assuredly bring the Greg Jackson pupil ever closer to the top of the heap.
If Cerrone does his job against the dangerous Charles Oliveira, I would like to see him face one of the higher ranked fighters in the division. Maybe a third scrap with Henderson if Smooth is able to defeat Jim Miller or a battle with Anthony Pettis would put Cerrone in the conversation. Evan Dunham is another option.
I do not see Charles Oliveira defeating Donald Cerrone as Cowboy will be too much for the smaller Oliveira to handle. Cerrone has more powerful striking and comparable submission skills and this will certainly be the fight that brings Cerrone out of dark horse territory.
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