MMA: Cowboy vs. Gaethje

Written by: Stephen Hardy-Delaney

After a night of gymnastics, Rudy-like underdogs, and old dogs showing new dogs new tricks, all eyes were on the main event, a main event that takes place in a country where one man is already established after multiple highlight performances and the other is looking to make his mark in his first time ever outside the United States. Once former training partners, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone took on Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje in a lightweight fight that was highly anticipated last Saturday in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A fight that would determine who would be the next title challenger to the lightweight throne currently held by the undefeated Russian, Khabib Nurmagomedov who the UFC is trying to book later this year against the former Interim Lightweight Champion, Tony Ferguson who is on an unbelievable 12-fight win streak.

In another addition of old school vs new school, the elite striker vs the wrestler, Cowboy Cerrone and Justin Gaethje always come to fight, but not just to fight, but to put on a performance of a lifetime. As soon as this fight was announced and the poster went public, every journalist, every MMA fan was shaken to their bones. Cerrone, the man who is ranked 4th in the lightweight division and holds the record for most finishes (16), most knockdowns (20), most post-fight bonus awards (18), and the most wins (22) in UFC history against the 5th ranked lightweight contender and the former World Series of Fighting Lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje who has 7 post-fight performance bonuses to his resume and has headlined 5 UFC main events in only 6 UFC bouts. Justin Gaethje has wowed MMA fans since his debut in the UFC against Michael Johnson and with his all-out wars against former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. Gaethje is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins over top 10 lightweight contenders in James Vick and Edson Barboza while Cerrone has won 3 out of his last 4, dropping his last fight to former Interim Lightweight Champion, Tony Ferguson this past June.

 After some crazy performances on this wild UFC Vancouver card, the main event was upon us as the respected warriors face off for the first time since their first training session several years ago where Cerrone actually knocked Gaethje out cold as Gaethje was trying to help prepare Cerrone for a fight he was training for. MMA fans knew there would be violence and fans knew someone was getting knocked out and lo and behold…there was violence…and there was a knockout. But this time was different, this time Gaethje exacts his revenge on the Cowboy with a barrage of heavy hands that drops Cowboy to the canvas followed by more punches that makes referee Jerin Valel have no choice but to stop the fight and declare Gaethje the winner in a fight that lasted 4 minutes and 18 seconds of the very first round making it 3 straight KO/TKO victories in the 1st round for “The Highlight” and yet add another highlight to his reel.

 So, what’s next? Well, during the post-fight interview, Justin Gaethje was asked by former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier who does he want next. Gaethje has long claimed that he wants the former featherweight and lightweight champion, Conor McGregor especially after all the mess the Irishman has gotten himself in this year and for his most recent controversy, punching an elderly man in the face in a Dublin, Ireland bar. Cormier asked Gaethje in the octagon “Do you want the Russian or do you want the Irishman?”, Gaethje went on to say “Nah, the Irishman is retired. I want the winner of Tony vs Khabib.” Though there have been reports that the UFC brass tried to book a fight between Gaethje and McGregor, the negotiations fell through when both sides couldn’t come to an agreement. Gaethje would later go on to claim that if McGregor wants the fight then he’ll gladly give it to him. Could that fight possibly serve as a main event in the future? Could it possibly be for the number one contender spot? It has to be, right? The UFC brass has done an excellent job especially this year with making MMA fans’ dreams come true. Could this be yet another masterpiece made by Dana White, Sean Shelby, and Mick Maynard aka the UFC brass? Or will Gaethje wait for what is rightfully deserved which is a title shot after Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov face-off in a fight that has been made four times in the past, but has never had the chance to be showcased?

The ball is currently in the champions court right now as we have yet to see who he currently wants. After a win against former Interim Lightweight Champion, Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi this month, reports have been flying around that Nurmagomedov does, in fact, want to fight Tony Ferguson and give him what he has rightfully earned but only after he fights the famous former UFC superstar and former Welterweight and Middleweight champion, Georges St. Pierre. Both of these matchups would be electrifying, but nothing would satisfy the MMA fans more than finally having a Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov title fight. Fifth time’s a charm, right? Even St. Pierre himself has said that Ferguson deserves his shot at the title. Only time will tell and MMA fans are praying for a chance to finally see Ferguson and Khabib go head to head and settle the score once and for all.