Two of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster will go head to head for a second time as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis face off in a rematch at UFC 249 on Saturday night.
Cerrone and Pettis first fought back in January 2013 in a fight that saw Pettis finish “Cowboy” with a body kick mid-way through the first round to hand Cerrone only his second defeat in the UFC and earn Pettis a shot at the UFC lightweight title, which he won by defeating defending champ Benson Henderson in his very next appearance.
While Pettis made it to the very top of the sport as the undisputed UFC lightweight champion, Cerrone has been one of the sport’s “nearly men”.
Despite winning more post-fight bonuses than any fighter in UFC history, Cerrone has always fallen short on the biggest occasion, most notably against Rafael dos Anjos in his lone title challenge and, most recently, against Conor McGregor at UFC 246, where he was stopped in just 40 seconds by the Dubliner.
Cerrone is riding a three-fight losing streak heading into his fight with Pettis, with all three defeats coming via TKO stoppage. Pettis, meanwhile, is looking to find form of his own after losing three of his last four. But his one win, a spectacular “Superman Punch” knockout of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, showed that “Showtime’s” spectacular striking skills have to be respected.
Both men are now competing at welterweight, and both are desperate for a win to push them towards another big-name fight later in the year, but defeat would be unthinkable for both fighters, who are experiencing the shakiest form of their respective UFC careers.
Kicks. Both fighters love to use kicks as the focal point of their striking attacks. Cerrone loves to work the legs, then switch up to the head, and has a string of big finishes that either started, or finished, with a head kick.
Pettis, meanwhile, is one of the most spectacular strikers in UFC history. His ability to be creative and throw wild strikes from the strangest of situations – including running off the cage wall – has lived up to his fighting moniker of “Showtime”.
