Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC 238 blew the roof of United Center last Saturday night (June 8, 2019) in Chicago, Illinois. Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Jessica Eye, who was knocked out cold by Valentina Shevchenko in their Flyweight title fight (recap here).
And Marlon Moraes, who saw his championship hopes come to an abrupt end after Henry Cejudo knocked him out in the third round of their Bantamweight title fight (highlights). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now two days removed from the show?
Donald Cerrone.
Coming into his fight against former interim Lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, “Cowboy” was looking to earn his second-ever title shot inside the Octagon. And this time he was actually shooting for it, which was something out of the norm for “Cowboy,” who has long had a stance of not really gunning for a championship fight. But as he got older and had his first son, his priorities changed, as did his goals in mixed martial arts (MMA). No longer was he just looking to fight every other weekend, cash a check and go home. Now he was actually having dreams of capturing UFC gold.
Billed as “The Peoples Main Event,” the lightweight scrap lived up to expectations for as long as it lasted, as both “Cowboy” and “El Cucuy” had their shining moments throughout the first 10 minutes. But as time expired in round two, Ferguson clipped Cerrone with a late shot after the bell. While it obviously wasn’t intentional, that may have been the blow that cracked “Cowboy’s” nose, though he will be quick to say it wasn’t.
Shortly thereafter, Cerrone — a longtime veteran of the fight game — made the mistake of blowing his broken nose, which caused his right eye to swell and completely close up. Naturally, the cageside doctor had no choice but to put an end to the fight (highlights).
It truly is a gut-wrenching way for Donald’s championship hopes to come to an abrupt end, as it seems that Ferguson will now face the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier, while “Cowboy” will have to heal up and start another streak.
At age 36, some may question whether or not Cerrone has it in him to start yet another championship run. And the answer to that is, an emphatic yes! “Cowboy” hasn’t lost a step and his loss to Ferguson — perhaps the hottest 155-pounder in the game today — was just unfortunate due to the nature of his injuries. He didn’t get dominated, and he didn’t look a step slow.
“Cowboy” is a man who can mount a comeback and put together a win streak in no time flat, though this time around he will have to wait a little while before he can get back on the horse. Once he’s able to get going again, perhaps a fight against the loser of Khabib vs. Poirier is in order. They won’t be fighting until September, which should give Donald plenty of time to get healthy for perhaps a year-end showdown.
Since Cerrone was likely going to face the winner with a victory, giving him the loser makes sense, and it will still be a high-profile matchup that will give either man a quick chance to get right back into the title picture.
For complete UFC 238 results and coverage click here.