Two of the best lightweights in the world are about to scrap less than a month away, and below are my thoughts on this brilliant matchup between two of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster.
Tony Ferguson vs. Donald Cerrone, UFC 238
A lightweight matchup between Tony Ferguson and Donald Cerrone has been added to UFC 238, which takes place June 8 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. ESPN first reported the matchup, which came together on very short notice after Ferguson was recently cleared to fight again by the UFC, who wanted to beef up its upcoming PPV crd in Chicago.
Ferguson (24-3) is 14-1 overall in the UFC and is currently riding an impressive 11-fight win streak, which is one of the longest winning streaks of any active UFC fighter. Ferguson is coming off of a huge TKO win over Anthony Pettis in one of 2018’s top fights back at UFC 229, but hasn’t fought yet in 2019 due to injuries and personal issues. He was recently cleared by doctors and by the UFC to return to the cage, and the sport is better off with him as he’s an incredible fighter who always puts on amazing fights for the fans. Ferguson has been waiting a long time for a title shot at 155lbs but hasn’t got one to this point. But if he can go out there and beat Cerrone in impressive fashion, it would be impossible for the UFC matchmakers to pass on giving him a title shot. With UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov likely fighting interim champ Dustin Poirier in September at UFC 242 to unify the belts, Ferguson would have a good argument to fight the winner of that bout.
Cerrone (36-11, 1 NC) is 23-8, 1 NC in the Octagon and is the winningest fighter in UFC history. Though he’s 36 now, Cerrone is arguably fighting at the highest clip of his career to date as he’s coming off of three straight upset wins over Mike Perry, Alex Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, the latter two coming in the lightweight division. Though the fight with Iaquinta happened just last wee, Cerrone took little damage in that fight and when the opportunity to fight Ferguson on short notice came up he had to take it. We all know Cerrone is always willing to fight anyone, anytime, so perhaps it’s not surprising to see him fight Ferguson in just a couple of weeks, though it’s going to be a tough fight as Ferguson is a stud.
This is a tremendous fight, and one that should very popular amongst sports bettors. Although Cerrone has looked great since moving down to lightweight, he was still the betting underdog in his last and I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be a dog again to Ferguson, who is on such a long win streak. The oddsmakers agree with me, as they recently opened the odds for the fight, with Ferguson opening as a -245 favorite with the comeback on Cerrone at +175. I personally think the line should be a bit tighter, but Ferguson deserves to be the betting favorite regardless.
