With Canadian fighter Sam ‘Hands of Stone’ Stout withdrawing from an upcoming bout against Dennis ‘The Menace’ Siver (19-7) at UFC 137, the UFC’s new lightweight go to guy Donald ‘The Cowboy’ Cerrone (16-3, 1NC) has been called on to step in as a replacement.
News that Cerrone was replacing Stout was announced by ESPN.com, who confirmed the news on Monday with UFC officials. They also noted that ‘Hands of Stone’ is “dealing with the unexpected passing of his longtime trainer and brother-in-law Shawn Tompkins earlier this month.”
UFC 137 is expected to take place on October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cerrone is currently riding a five fight win streak with three victories in the UFC and two under the WEC banner. Two of his three UFC bouts have occurred because of ‘The Cowboy’ stepping in for another fighter.
In February, Cerrone replaced an injured Stout at UFC 126 against Paul Kelly. Then, in his last fight at UFC on Versus 5 earlier this month, Cerrone replaced an injured John Makdessi at the event. Cerrone was originally scheduled to face Paul Taylor but wound up facing Charles Oliveira after Taylor pulled out due to injury. Cerrone would defeat Oliveira handily with a first round TKO victory.
Siver has been slowly climbing the lightweight ladder, winning has last four and going 8-1 in his last nine. The German based fighter earned his last victory in July, earning a unanimous decision over Matt Wiman at UFC 132. Previous wins in that four-fight win streak also include victories against George Sotiropoulos at UFC 127, Andre Winner at UFC 122, and Spencer Fisher at the TUF 11 Finale. Overall, Siver is 8-4 with the top promotion.