Though it will take place on the undercard this evening, Dennis Siver vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is one of the most interesting fights scheduled to take place at UFC 137, and has serious meaning in the lightweight title picture.
Cerrone crossed over to the UFC earlier this year, after the promotion merged with the WEC. Since then, he has gone on a three-fight winning streak, most recently defeating dangerous up-and-comer Charles Oliveira by first-round TKO.
Siver has been with the UFC for four years now and experienced several ups and downs, but is finally making his way into title contention, coming off of big wins over George Sotiropoulos and Matt Wiman.
A win for either fighter this evening would be huge and, in all likelihood, guarantee them a top five opponent in their next fight.
Expect this fight to take place mostly on the feet.
Both men are talented and technical strikers and they both like to stand and trade.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see Cerrone, who has a slick submission game, try to take this fight to the ground, but Siver has excellent takedown defense and should be able to stop the Cowboy’s takedowns.
As a striker, Siver is compact and somewhat heavy on his feet. He could stand to be a bit quicker and a touch lighter on his feet, but he is an accurate striker with big power in his hands.
Cerrone is a different breed of striker. He probably doesn’t have as much power as Siver, but he is lighter on his feet and a little bit faster.
Also, expect Cerrone to throw significantly more kicks than Siver, as he is the lengthier fighter and will want to utilize his range effectively.
This should be a back-and-forth type of fight, but I believe Cerrone will be on the winning end of most exchanges.
Cerrone is much taller than Siver and has better footwork, so look for the Cowboy to leap in and out of Siver’s range throughout the fight and out-point him.
Siver has a solid chin and has only been TKO’d once in his career, so a decision is likely here.
Final Prediction: Donald Cerrone defeats Dennis Siver via Unanimous Decision.
Bleacher Report’s Andrew Barr