Anticipation has been rapidly growing for this Friday’s UFC 141 as former champions Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem square off for a shot at the newly crowned heavyweight king, Junior dos Santos.
Although the battle of giants headlining the event is the fight most fans are looking forward to, another main card fight between two of the UFC’s scrappiest fighters will steal the show.
Lightweights Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone are two fighters who are not afraid to go to war, both possessing well-rounded skill sets that should set off fireworks when the Octagon doors close tomorrow night.
If fans were not already excited for this bout based purely off these two warriors’ past performances, then their recent war of words should have surely piqued fans’ interest.
Cerrone is having the best year of his career, having gone 4-0 since making his UFC debut in a February Fight of the Night victory over Paul Kelly.
Since making the move from the WEC, Cerrone has taken out some of the most talented fighters in the lightweight division, defeating Dennis Siver and Charles Oliveira in his last two wins.
“The Cowboy” is known for his hard-nosed fighting style and his willingness to go to war with any challenger. An avid striker and former Muay Thai champion, Cerrone is also a solid grappler, with 13 of his victories coming via submission.
His style is very similar to Diaz’s, who is a great boxer and an experienced jiu-jitsu practitioner under Cesar Gracie. Diaz, like his brother Nick, is a scrappy fighter who can beat his opponent standing or on the ground.
The younger Diaz brother is coming off the biggest win of his career at UFC 135 in his return to the lightweight division, tapping out Pride legend Takanori Gomi. Owning wins over Melvin Guillard and Marcus Davis, Diaz is an experienced fighter that should be even more dangerous now that he is staying at 155 lbs.
Whereas most fighters’ judgments become clouded when they let trash talking get in their head, both Diaz and Cerrone are actually fueled by these war of words.
Their recent scuffle at the pre-fight press conference is just the tip of the iceberg as to what fans can expect when they enter the Octagon.
Lesnar versus Overeem may be the bout generating more buzz, but true fight fans will appreciate the intensity that Diaz and Cerrone will bring in their surefire war.
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