Cowboy: Jorge Masvidal Is Just Another Name On My List

Donald Cerrone is ready for a scrap tomorrow night (Sat., January 28, 2017) in Denver. Cowboy will be taking on Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 23 in front of a hometown crowd in Colorado. With a win over ‘Gamebred’, who is currently on a two-fight win streak, Cowboy could potentially

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Donald Cerrone is ready for a scrap tomorrow night (Sat., January 28, 2017) in Denver.

Cowboy will be taking on Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 23 in front of a hometown crowd in Colorado. With a win over ‘Gamebred’, who is currently on a two-fight win streak, Cowboy could potentially jump into the welterweight title picture.

As for Masvidal, this fight is an opportunity to pay his adversary back for taking food off his plate after having robbed him of two opponents last year. Cerrone got the opportunity to respond to Masvidal’s comments during a recent appearance on the Fight Society podcast (quotes via FOX Sports), saying he found his opponent’s comments laughable:

“I laughed at all of it. It’s funny,” Cerrone said. “It is what it is. He’s going to have to see me in the ring. I really don’t know much about the guy to be honest with you. I don’t really have an opinion.”

Masvidal’s last Octagon outing saw him take home a controversial first-round TKO win over Jake Ellenberger after ‘The Juggernaut’s’ toe got caught in the cage. Given that 17 of Masvidal’s 31 career wins have come by way of decision, Cerrone isn’t really too concerned about his opponent coming out looking for a finish – but he can’t say the same about himself:

“We’ll see what kind of feedback we get from Jorge on that. He’s not really a finisher fighter guy. His last fight he accidentally won and that’s really the only fight I’ve seen of him. He’s really a decision fighter guy. He’s not really after the kill ever. We’ll see what Jorge shows up,” Cerrone said.

“He’s like split decision guy. It’s whatever. I finish mother (expletive). That’s how I fight. I’ve always go out for a finish and I’m looking to finish him, too. Just put him another check on the (expletive) list of people I’m running through.”

Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Leading up to tomorrow’s contest, Masvidal has been unleashing a slew of trash-talk towards his opponent, claiming he will easily add another notch to his career win column come fight night.

These words seem to have fired Cowboy up even more, who claimed he’ll be ready to stand and bang if Masvidal is ready to go to war in the center of the cage:

“(Let’s see) if he’s really all the (expletive) big bad ass talk that he says he is and comes rip my (expletive) head off. Tell that (expletive) I’ll see him January 28,” Cerrone said.

“If he wants to (expletive) come hard at me, I’ll be ready.”

Cowboy has suddenly emerged as one of the welterweight division’s finest combatants based on his early success, and while the former lightweight title challenger is looking to yet again try his hand for UFC gold, ‘Gamebred’ has a tremendous opportunity to burst onto the scene as a premier contender at 170 pounds himself.

Who are you picking to secure a huge win in Denver tomorrow night?

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Jorge Masvidal Finds it ‘Very Satisfying’ to Fight Donald Cerrone in Denver

Jorge Masvidal most likely won’t be sharing a beer with Donald Cerrone anytime soon. The two will go toe-to-toe tomorrow night (Jan. 28) inside the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. It’ll be Masvidal’s 43rd professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bout and Cerrone’s 41st. “Gamebred” is preparing for Cerrone to be in peak condition for their […]

Jorge Masvidal most likely won’t be sharing a beer with Donald Cerrone anytime soon. The two will go toe-to-toe tomorrow night (Jan. 28) inside the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. It’ll be Masvidal’s 43rd professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bout and Cerrone’s 41st. “Gamebred” is preparing for Cerrone to be in peak condition for their […]

UFC on FOX 23 Weigh-In Video & Results

UFC on FOX 23 hits Denver, Colorado this weekend for an evening of great fights. Heading in to this Saturday’s event, stories in the women’s bantamweight, welterweight and heavyweight division’s are stealing headlines. In the main event we see Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena poised for action. With a title shot against Amanda Nunes looming,

The post UFC on FOX 23 Weigh-In Video & Results appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC on FOX 23 hits Denver, Colorado this weekend for an evening of great fights. Heading in to this Saturday’s event, stories in the women’s bantamweight, welterweight and heavyweight division’s are stealing headlines. In the main event we see Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena poised for action. With a title shot against Amanda Nunes looming, expect to see the best of these budding prospects in Denver. Filling the co-main slot are Donald Cerrone and Jorge Masvidal, and we can certainly expect a striking-heavy bonanza in this pairing.

‘Cowboy’ wants to make it five straight at welterweight, but Masvidal has plans to play spoiler, this is one to watch. Over to the 265-pound division, and rising prospect Francis Ngannou will battle former champion Andrei Arlovski. ‘Predator’ has been smashing his way through the competition, all the while building a growing fan base. Arlovski, although 37 and without a win in three, is a very experienced and dangerous foe. You can tune in to see the early weigh-in results throughout the morning, or check in at 7 PM ET for the traditional scales show.

Watch the Fight Night Denver official weigh-in on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7pm/4pm ETPT live from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

Event: UFC on FOX 23: “Shevchenko vs. Pena”
Date: Sat., Jan. 28, 2017, on FOX
Location: Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado

UFC on FOX 23 Main Event:

135 lbs.: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Julianna Pena

FOX Main Card (8 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Francis Ngannou
145 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Jason Knight

FOX Sports 1 ‘Prelims’ (5 p.m. ET):

185 lbs.: Sam Alvey vs. Nate Marquardt
135 lbs.: Raphael Assuncao vs. Aljamain Sterling
155 lbs.: Li Jingliang vs. Bobby Nash
205 lbs.: Henrique da Silva vs. Jordan Johnson
185 lbs.: Eric Spicely vs. Alessio Di Chirico
205 lbs.: Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Jeremy Kimball

UFC Fight Pass ‘Prelims’ (4 p.m. ET):

125 lbs.: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Eric Shelton
155 lbs.: J.C. Cottrell vs. Jason Gonzalez

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Video: Joe Rogan Breaks Down Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal Ahead Of UFC On FOX 23

With the first big FOX fight card promoted by the UFC in 2017 going down this weekend, the usual big fight feel MMA fans have come to expect from a typical UFC “Fight Week” is in full effect. The always popular Joe Rogan Breakdown videos for the top fights scheduled for UFC events are among […]

With the first big FOX fight card promoted by the UFC in 2017 going down this weekend, the usual big fight feel MMA fans have come to expect from a typical UFC “Fight Week” is in full effect. The always popular Joe Rogan Breakdown videos for the top fights scheduled for UFC events are among […]

Donald Cerrone Can Make His Case for a 170-Pound Title Shot at UFC on Fox 23

The unexpected reboot of Donald Cerrone’s singular career continues Saturday at UFC on Fox 23.
If Cerrone can defeat Jorge Masvidal in this weekend’s co-main event, he’ll rather suddenly find himself 5-0 in the UFC welterweight divisi…

The unexpected reboot of Donald Cerrone’s singular career continues Saturday at UFC on Fox 23.

If Cerrone can defeat Jorge Masvidal in this weekend’s co-main event, he’ll rather suddenly find himself 5-0 in the UFC welterweight division and—just maybe—knocking on the door of a title shot in a weight class where his involvement still feels like a bit of a lark.

Until the end of 2015, Cerrone had spent his entire six-year UFC run fighting at lightweight, though his unexpected move to 170 pounds was certainly not out of character for him.

This is a guy whose whole life reads like a long-form attempt to jump the Snake River on a rocket, after all.

Cerrone has been MMA’s favorite adrenaline junky for years, embodying a “laugh now, cry later” philosophy that appeals to a large cross-section of the renegade sport’s audience. Big-picture results have been mixed, but he’s currently flying as high as he ever has.

While at times his career has felt unfocused, there seems to be a tad more urgency in the 33-year-old Colorado native these days and—dare we say it—a bit more direction.

“I’m going to go whip Masvidal’s ass, call out one of these top contenders or call out [champion Tyron] Woodley and say, ‘Let’s dance, baby,'” Cerrone told the camera crew during the UFC’s Road to the Octagon special prior to this event. “I’m going to go get this belt in 2017. I’m coming. It’s mine. We’re just getting warmed up.”

Since decamping from lightweight, he’s fashioned himself into the 170-pound division’s most surprising championship contender. Cerrone has been astonishingly good in his new division, amassing four consecutive stoppages and winning the UFC’s performance-based fight-night bonuses three times.

He’s already No. 5 on the UFC’s official welterweight rankings. An impressive win over Masvidal Saturday could make the race to be Woodley’s next title challenger a three-horse sprint between Cerrone, Robbie Lawler (No. 2) and Demian Maia (No. 3).

Lawler hasn’t fought since losing the belt to Woodley via first-round KO at UFC 201 in July 2016, and while Maia has run off six wins in a row—including defeating fourth-ranked Carlos Condit last August—his ground-based fighting style hasn’t yet earned him a championship-level push.

All that could leave the flashy and popular Cerrone free to seize No. 1 contender status if he lives up to his billing as the Masvidal fight’s slight favorite, according to OddShark.

One thing we know for sure, though: Masvidal won’t go down quietly.

The 32-year-old Floridian has had an up-and-down ride in the UFC since coming over from Strikeforce in 2013, going 8-4. But he’s earned a reputation as a hardnosed slugger, comes into this fight riding his own two-fight win streak and has made it clear he’s got a bone to pick with Cerrone.

Not only could he steal much of the Cowboy’s momentum if he can with this fight, but Masvidal told Fox Sports 1’s UFC Tonight this week he’s tired of playing second fiddle to Cerrone altogether.

“Cowboy took food from my plate twice,” Masvidal said. “Twice, I had two bout agreements against top-ranked opponents. For some reason, they didn’t materialize, and they ended up giving it to Cowboy. Imagine you’re going to fight a top-ranked opponent and he gets swiped from you and given to somebody else.”

While that seems like strange ground for a feud between professional fighters, a loss here could still be detrimental to Cerrone’s impromptu move to welterweight.

At first, his journey up to 170 pounds seemed like just another impulsive decision, designed to maintain his breakneck fighting schedule and keep enough money coming in to finance his daredevil lifestyle.

Sure, he’d just lost a title fight to then-lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos in December 2015, but Cerrone’s 155-pound fortunes were far from bleak. All told, he’d gone 8-1 in that division dating back to November 2013. He could’ve continued to be one of lightweight’s top players as long as he wanted to do it.

Jumping up a class to accept a welterweight fight against Alex Oliveira in February 2016 seemed like just a stopgap—the chance for Cerrone to make a quick buck while washing the taste of the Dos Anjos loss out of his mouth.

Turned out, though, he was really good in the new division.

Maybe even better than he ever was at lightweight.

Fast-forward four fights and it’s starting to look like Cerrone might well become a full-time resident of the welterweight class. Free from the weight cut it took for him to make the 155-pound limit, he’s looked sharp and so far has been able to hang with the competition in the larger division.

At times during his lightweight career, he was criticized for being a slow starter and was often his own worst critic after turning in the occasional clunker performance.

So far at welterweight, those flaws haven’t reared their heads, though admittedly he hasn’t yet come up against any truly elite fighters there.

Even while looking better than ever in the cage, however, Cerrone has also made some seemingly out-of-character moves outside of it.

Once the definition of a company man, he’s recently been more outspoken about how the UFC treats its fighters. In November 2016, he was part of a conference call announcing the formation of the new Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Association.

Immediately following the announcement, however, Cerrone appeared to back away from his involvement with the group.

He said he felt blindsided by some of the MMAAA’s messaging and after meeting with UFC President Dana White has been mum about what, if anything, his future involvement will be.

Around the same time, he nearly lost an eye during a hunting accident and teased the MMA world with a gruesome video of the injury—but no explanation until days later—on his official Instagram account.

Now, though, he gets the chance to put much of that uncertainty behind him.

A win over Masvidal puts Cerrone in the driver’s seat, with the potential to launch his unexpected career at welterweight higher than any Evel Knievel stunt.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jorge Masvidal Furious At Cowboy For “Stealing His Food”

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone has been on quite the tear since making the jump up in weight to 170 pounds, winning all four of his welterweight bouts via finish. Now “Cowboy” will take on another tough test in the UFC’s welterweight division when he faces No. 12-ranked Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of

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Former UFC lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone has been on quite the tear since making the jump up in weight to 170 pounds, winning all four of his welterweight bouts via finish.

Now “Cowboy” will take on another tough test in the UFC’s welterweight division when he faces No. 12-ranked Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 23 this Saturday night (January 28, 2017). Masvidal called out Cerrone following his first-round TKO win over Jake Ellenberger last month, and Cowboy was happy to oblige.

Masvidal recently joined the Fight Society podcast (via FOX Sports) to discuss his upcoming contest with Cerrone, claiming he’s just happy to have finally landed a top 10 opponent after many obstacles:

“It’s just a dude with a number by (his name) is what I’ve been gunning for. I’ve had so many close calls of getting top 10 dudes, both of us signing bout agreements and somehow the fight doesn’t go down,” Masvidal said. “That’s happened four times that I’ve signed a bout agreement against a top 10 dude.

“They sign the bout agreement, they put out the posters, the UFC announces the fight coming soon, gives us the date, the arena, buy the tickets online — for some reason the fight doesn’t come to fruition. It’s (expletive) nuts.”

‘Gamebred’ stated that Cerrone has taken ‘food from my plate’ on two different instances, as fighters who were scheduled to throw down with him were pulled to fight Cowboy instead at a different time. One most recent example of this came after Matt Brown was originally scheduled to meet Masvidal but ‘Immortal’ was then moved to the UFC 206 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event against Cowboy, something that has obviously gotten Masvial fired up for this weekend:

“I feel like I’m going to break his face. I’m telling you I have a lot of ill will towards him for different reasons,” Masvidal explained. “He’s taken literally food from my plate on two different occasions of those fights that got pulled from me. They pulled fighters from me who were already signed and ready to fight me and I was ready to fight them and they give it to him.

“I know it’s not him intentionally doing that but somebody’s got to pay. That somebody’s name is “Cowboy”. He’s got to pay with interest.”

Mandatory Credit: Tracy Lee for USA TODAY Sports

Given that the fight will take place in Cerrone’s backyard of Denver, Colorado, Masvidal said he knows he needs to finish the fight as he doesn’t want to go to the judges’ scorecards in enemy territory:

“I’m not going to out-point this dude. I know I’m not going to win a decision in Denver, this (expletive) white dude from Denver. It’s not going to happen,” Masvidal said. “I don’t win decisions in Florida. It’s not going to happen, I’m going to beat this guy in his own home state.

“So I’m going to go in there and execute him so he doesn’t have to worry about the split decisions on this one, I promise you.”

When they share the Octagon this weekend, Masvidal believes his adversary will be searching for a way out once the contest gets difficult, something he claims Cerrone frequently does but he has never done in his fighting career:

“I don’t see him at any point having the lead in the fight. I just see him like he’s done in the past saying ‘you know what maybe it’s not my day today and look for a way out’,” Masvidal said. “You can look at all my losses, don’t go to my wins, just go to my losses and look at my eyes and see if I’ve ever found a way out of a fight. If I ever even thought to tap or let me not engage and just be real defensive and try to survive. That’s never happened in my career.

“You can see in his fights where it’s happened multiple times. So that’s how I feel.”

Come fight night, Masvidal will finally get the opportunity to unleash all his pent-up anger towards Cowboy, and he closed by saying he plans to send his opponent to the hospital in a helicopter:

“To tell you the truth, I wish the fight was right now. I just want to break this guy’s (expletive) face,” Masvidal said. “This is not a sparring match. You’re not going to see me touching gloves.

“You’re going to see me getting after it and either I’ll be leaving to the hospital in an ambulance or he’ll be leaving to the ambulance in a helicopter because it’s going to be a (expletive) fight. I’m coming to fight and I’m coming to break his (expletive) face.”

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