Is Donald Cerrone destined to be the Urijah Faber of the lightweight division?
That’s the question we found ourselves asking following Cowboy’s quick and violent loss to Rafael Dos Anjos in their lightweight title rematch at UFC on FOX 17 on Saturday. Cerrone, who has managed to rattle off an unprecedented win streak in the UFC’s most stacked division, has wilted under the pressure of title fights time after time dating back to his WEC days. First, he dropped a technical decision to Jamie Varner at WEC 38, then followed it up with a pair of losses to Benson Henderson at WEC 43 and 48, respectively.
To loosely quote Tim McCarver, as good as Cerrone has looked in non-title fights, that’s how as bad he’s been in title fights. And against Dos Anjos this time around, oddsmakers and fans alike were giving Cerrone a far better chance than his previous performances against the true elite would indicate, and he simply “didn’t show up to work.”
Which is a real shame, because Cerrone’s win streak leading up to Saturday night was nothing short of remarkable — an eight fight killing spree which included three head kick KO’s, two subs, and decision wins over former champions in Henderson and Eddie Alvarez (and Myles Jury). He had earned far better than a 66 second ass-kicking to a guy with about 10 years less striking experience, but such is what we’ve come to expect from the most unpredictable sport in the world.
Speaking of unexpected…
What in God’s name has happened to Junior Dos Santos? Aside from appearing to have aged approximately 5 years since his fight with Stipe Miocic last year, the former heavyweight champion looked more gunshy than ever against Alistair Overeem in the night’s co-main event. I suppose a pair of horrific beatings at the hands of Cain Velasquez might do that to a man, but considering all the history between Overeem and Dos Santos, it was hard to foresee the fight equating to a staring contest (with an albeit violent ending).
Still, the loss drops Dos Santos to 2-3 in his past 5 and improves Overeem to 4-1 in his, which means that the era of the Ubereem might somehow still be upon us. Crazy.
In yet another surprise to punctuate the UFC on FOX 17 card, Nate Diaz showed up to his fight with Michael Johnson in not only the best shape of his life, but with something resembling a gameplan (by Diaz standards, at least)! The whimsy! The evolution!
(*huffs painter’s glue*) (*sips wine*)
Despite getting tagged early and often by “The Menace” in the first round, Diaz was able to take over late in the fight, utilizing his reach and continuously impressive cardio to keep Johnson at bay while landing 1-2 combinations over and over and over again. Honestly, this “highlight” courtesy of the UFC on FOX Youtube channel doesn’t do the fight even the slightest bit of justice, so instead, let’s watch some classy fans brawl as the Diaz-Johnson decision was announced.
The complete list of results for UFC on FOX 17 are below.
Main Card
Rafael dos Anjos def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (R1, 1:06)
Alistair Overeem def. Junior dos Santos via TKO (R2, 4:43)
Nate Diaz def. Michael Johnson via UD
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Randa Markos via UD
Undercard
Charles Oliveira def. Myles Jury via submission (guillotine) (R1, 3:05)
Nate Marquardt def. C.B. Dollaway via KO (R2, 0:28)
Valentina Shevchenko def. Sarah Kaufman via SD
Tamdan McCrory def. Josh Samman via submission (triangle) (R3, 4:10)
Nik Lentz def. Danny Castillo via SD
Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers a no contest (accidental eye poke by Alers)
Kamaru Usman def. Leon Edwards via UD
Vicente Luque def. Hayder Hassan via sub (anaconda choke) (R1, 2:13)
Francis Ngannou def. Luiz Henrique via KO (R2, 2:53)
The post UFC on FOX 17 Highlights/Results: Dos Anjos Torches Cerrone, Overeem Flattens Cigano, + More appeared first on Cagepotato.