Donald Cerrone is one of the busiest men in MMA, which is phenomenal for fight fans given that he is rarely in a lackluster bout. After competing five times in 2011, Cerrone seemed to have slowed his schedule a bit, but 2014 is turning out to be one of his busiest years yet. September 27th at UFC 178 will mark Cerrone’s fourth bout of the year, and the former WEC title challenger could be in line for a thus elusive UFC title shot with a win. Cerrone has built a four-fight winning streak for himself dating back to 2013, and adding a fifth over the streaking Bobby Green would make him hard to ignore in the title picture. Green was previously scheduled to face Jorge Masvidal at UFC 178, but with him being bumped up to the Cerrone bout, James Krause will step in for him against Masvidal. Green should not be overlooked based on Cerrone’s recent streak. Sporting an eight-fight winning streak of his own, the former KOTC champion has gone undefeated since coming to the UFC, collecting wins over Josh Thomson and Pat Healy in the process. His striking and takedown defense make him a formidable challenge for anyone, but Cerrone should have no problems engaging him if this stays standing, unlike Thomson. Given his own striking credentials and a massive grappling advantage, Cerrone will open a decent favorite in this fight, and we’ll see how much respect Green’s performances in the UFC have truly earned him from the betting public. On a personal level, these announcements were a bit of a disappointment, as Cerrone had been rumored to be taking on Eddie Alvarez for some time and the bout was apparently very close to being announced. That would have captured my attention far more than Cerrone/Green. At the same time, Green and Masvidal had already begun some trash talk leading up to their bout, and that seemed like it would be an exciting scrap as well. There were a few other fight announcements yesterday as well. Bellator added a pair of fights to their 124 main card, as Ryan Couture will take on John Schulz and L.C. Davis faces Zeilton Rodrigues. Couture makes his Bellator debut after going 0-2 in the UFC then rebounding with two losses on the regional circuit, while Schulz is 1-1 with the organization. Davis and Rodrigues both make their Bellator debuts as well, as the former WEC contender looks to get back on track against the Nova Uniao product. The UFC also announced that it found a replacement for the recently injured Tim Elliott. Undefeated Joby Sanchez was scheduled to compete on September 12th for the RFA flyweight title against reigning champion Matt Manzanares, but will move his schedule up three weeks for a shot in the UFC. This is a tough short-notice bout for the young Albuquerque native, as Wilson Reis was consistently able to outmuscle opponents at 135 and 145, and now makes his debut as a flyweight. The UFC’s first event in Halifax also got a big serving of Canadian content, as six new bouts (all featuring Canucks) were added to the card. TUF Nations winners Elias Theodorou and Chad Laprise will face Bruno Santos and Yosdenis Cedeno, respectively. A fantastic bantamweight bout between Mitch Gagnon and Aljamain Sterling is on tap for the card, while TUF Nations runner-up Olivier Aubin-Mercier gets another shot in the UFC against Jake Lindsay. Canadians Jason Saggo and Matt Dwyer will round out the action, taking on Paul Felder (who was mentioned in Monday’s MMA recap) and Albert Tumenov.
