Will the real “Cowboy” please stand up?
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will find out the answer to that question in the UFC Fight Night 83 main event on Feb. 21, 2016 inside Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone collides with short-notice replacement Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira.
Oliveira was only recently announced as the replacement for fan favorite Tim Means, who was popped for a potential violation of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) guidelines earlier this week.
Read his rebuttal to those findings here.
The Brazilian and former bull rider fought five times in 2015, which is equal to the same amount of contests Cerrone took part in back in 2011. Oliveira, 27, has compiled a 14-2-1-(1) record thus far in his professional career and wants to deliver a message to his American counterpart, Cerrone.
“It’s going to be a battle, fireworks. I expect five rounds of stand-up battle, a war in the middle of the Octagon,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting, adding, “We’ll see who’s the cowboy. He got there first and I don’t want to take his spot, but two cowboys will clash now.”
The Jackson-Wink MMA representative Cerrone will be making his 170-pound debut in “Steel City” after previously losing in a lightweight title effort opposite champion Rafael dos Anjos at the UFC on FOX 17 event back in December.
You can bet he’ll stop at nothing to get back on the winning track.
Overall, Cerrone’s record stands at 28-7-(1), with 14 total post-fight performance bonus awards (includes WEC and UFC tenure) to his credit. The Albuquerque-based fighter certainly holds the experience advantage in this meeting, have been in clashes with the likes of former 155-pound champion Benson Henderson, Myles Jury, and Eddie Alvarez before.
Sending home Oliveira, who’s the owner of nine career knockout victories, will be no easy task.
Stranger things have happened.
For more UFC Fight Night 83 news and notes click here.