UFC on FOX 6: January 26, 2013 Chicago, Illinois UFC Lightweight Contender Donald Cerrone (-130) Profile: Donald Cerrone (20-4) is a longtime WEC vet who has come close to earning gold around his waist on multiple occasions only to fall short. In the WEC, “Cowboy” was 0-3 in shots for the lightweight title, but he always defeated everyone else around him. When the UFC absorbed the WEC, Cerrone went right back to work in an extremely active 2011, fighting in the organization five times and going 4-1 with impressive wins over Paul Kelly, Vagner Rocha, Charles Olivera and Dennis Siver. His six-fight winning streak was snapped when he met Nate Diaz in the Octagon at UFC 141, as he lost a unanimous decision in a bout that won Fight of the Night. Deadly on the feet and with an impressive ground game in a relatively short period of time, this Greg Jackson-trained 29-year-old can win anywhere in the cage. UFC Lightweight Contender Anthony Pettis (+100) Profile: The last WEC lightweight champion and the creator of the “Showtime Kick,” Anthony Pettis (15-2) is one of the most exciting and interesting fighters to come around in a long time. A Duke Roufus pupil, Pettis has learned much from his trainer. Pettis has knockout power, fantastic ring IQ and can submit a good majority of lightweights in the UFC. Plus, at only 25 years old, Pettis will be a contender for a long time. He would be in the title mix right now if it weren’t for Clay Guida smothering him for three rounds in his UFC debut. Now, Pettis takes on Donald Cerrone to figure out the puzzle that is the upper echelon of the lightweight division. Opening UFC on FOX 6 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Cerrone a small -130 favorite (bet $130 to win $100) while Pettis opened as a +100 underdog (bet $100 to win $100) according to the MMA odds. These two fighters were expected to fight earlier this year, but a staph infection for Pettis prevented the bout from happening. Trash talking also ensued between the two regarding who was ducking who, but Cerrone has been hungry to prove himself against a top contender since losing a unanimous decision to Diaz last December 30 at UFC 141. That loss temporarily derailed his title shot, with Diaz continuing to roll and earning that opportunity instead. However, this matchup with Pettis is still being billed as a fight for the No. 1 contendership against the winner of Diaz and lightweight champ Benson Henderson. The long layoff could be a factor since Cerrone has fought twice since Pettis’ last bout, a first-round knockout of Joe Lauzon at UFC 144 on February 26. Cerrone was equally impressive in his first-round KO of Melvin Guillard at UFC 150 on August 11 even though that fight started off a bit rocky when he was floored early on. His 6-1 mark in the UFC simply gives him much more experience against top-level competition, and he has extra motivation for a possible rematch with Henderson, who beat him for the WEC lightweight title back in 2010.
