Former UFC title contender Donald Cerrone is done with the lightweight division (for now at least), but Cowboy isn’t going to sit on the shelf for long. During the UFC 195 weigh-in broadcast, the promotion announced that Cerrone is going to make his welterweight debut opposite Tim Means in the UFC Fight Night 82 main event:
Donald Cerrone moves to welterweight, will face Tim Means on Feb. 21 in Pittsburgh.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 2, 2016
While this is a somewhat surprising announcement, given Cerrone‘s lengthy history at 155 pounds and amazing level of success there, it makes a great deal of sense.
Cerrone is less than two weeks removed from a devastating loss to UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. It was the second time Cerrone had come up short against Dos Anjos (the first loss coming via decision in 2013), which leaves him treading water from a matchmaking perspective.
Moving to 170 pounds offers him a number of new opponents, however, and Means offers him an opportunity to jump into the thick of things quickly.
Means is 5-2 in his current UFC run and is coming off an impressive win over John Howard. While he has historically struggled against high-level competition, Means’ penchant for putting on exciting fights has made him a favorite with fans. Pitting him against Cerrone is almost guaranteed excitement.
While a win over Means would be a decent feather in Cerrone‘s cap, it probably isn’t wise to start fantasy-booking him at 170 pounds for long. Should Dos Anjos drop the lightweight title, the UFC would love nothing more than to fast-track him to the title yet again.
Moreover, if the belt falls to current championship hopeful Eddie Alvarez (whom Cerrone beat in 2014), it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see the UFC put Cerrone right back into contention for the title coming off just one win, regardless of the details.
That aside, Cerrone vs. Means is set to go down on February 21 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fight Night 82 also features the interesting bantamweight matchup of Cody Garbrandt vs. John Lineker and a potential welterweight slobberknocker in Brandon Thatch vs. Siyar Bahadurzada. Keep an eye out on Bleacher Report for more details on the card as they become available.
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