UFC Fight Night 83 Preview
Another change in a card has changed the outlook of a fight as two “Cowboys” will look to take a win in a very talented division.
For Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira it is a chance to get the biggest win in his UFC career after replacing Tim Means in the main event when Means dropped out after a failed drug test.
For Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone it is a chance to get back on the winning track in what has become a signature for one of the most reliable fighters in the UFC.
With so many injuries changing the look of entire cards it is refreshing to see a fighter who rarely drops out of a fight and ensures that he stays in the spotlight as often as possible.
Cerrone has been a fighter that has never dropped out of a UFC fight, although he has seen his share of changes due to other fighters dropping out.
He has also remained one of the most active fighters in the promotion with a total of five fights in 2015.
He is the dream of the UFC as a fighter who is willing to fight whenever and whoever the promotion puts in front of him.
Regardless of changes to the card or the amount of fights Cerrone always seems to be ready to go and ready to make a run at the title.
It is an effective strategy for a fighter as it becomes far easier to sell big fights when fans know who the fighter is that is in the main event.
Cerrone is constantly in the spotlight and although he may not be the biggest name in the sport he is constantly fighting.
More than that though he is constantly putting on great fights every time he steps into the octagon no matter who he fights.
That constant willingness to fight keeps Cerrone active and allowed him to put up eight wins in a row in the most talented division in the UFC.
The constant wins gave Cerrone a title shot at the end of 2015 but for Cerrone it didn’t work out the way that many thought.
Not that everyone thought that he was going to win, but he didn’t look like the Cerrone that had the longest active win streak in the UFC leading into the fight.
Whether it was Rafael dos Anjos and his talent that slowed Cerrone or the fact that it was Cerrone’s fifth fight of the year that slowed him the title shot was lost for Cerrone.
Now he returns after just over two months of rest as he seems to be sticking with his strategy of remaining active.
He is starting early and hopes to remain near the top of the division as he takes on an unranked fighter in Oliveira.
If he can win he will remain one of the best fighters in a great division and although there are too many good fighters to give him a title shot any time soon if he can get back to winning he can get back on track to a title run.
He will be one of the best fighters in the division likely until he retires and the ability to remain so active only helps him even if he does lose a fight.
He will be risking it a little bit though as fighting an unranked fighter like Oliveira has little upside for a top five fighter.
If he wins he will remain near the top but he won’t move any closer to the title and if he loses it is sure to put a big dent in what he hopes is a reset to his title run.
For Oliveira there is almost nothing but upside as a loss is somewhat expected and he won’t move much further away from the rankings as he took on a top fighter.
If he wins though he can immediately jump into the rankings and truly jumpstart his title run after he stumbled into the UFC but has begun to sort things out.
The fight itself will be an interesting one as both fighters having a similar style and Cerrone needed to adjust for that at the last minute.
Both are great in the stand-up game and can fight on the mat if they need to with submissions and knockouts from both fighters.
Where they differ is the fact that Oliveira has the power in his hands to end a fight quickly while Cerrone is a fighter who uses more unique strikes to end fights.
He has power but not as much as Oliveira and both can submit a fighter but Oliveira might have a slight advantage.
It should be a good fight but Cerrone is simply on another level and will be able to avoid the power of Oliveira while using his more unique striking to land enough for a unanimous decision win that gets him back in the win column.
The Sport Addiction 