A tale of two 'Cowboys'

If ever there was a fight that seemed to have been made based solely on nicknames, it’s this one.

Donald Cerrone (better known as “Cowboy” Cerrone) and Alex Oliveira (better known as “Cowboy” Oliveira), squaring off for a UFC Fight Night 83 main event that seems like it ought to take place at high noon in a dusty thoroughfare. Winner gets to keep the nickname. Loser must relinquish his trademark hat.

But, come on, that’s not the only reason the UFC booked Oliveira (14-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) for this fight. It also booked him because plan A, which pitted Cerrone (28-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC) against Tim Means (25-7-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC), fell apart when a USADA drug test suggested the “Dirty Bird” might be dirtier than we thought.

That’s when the UFC went looking for plan B, which required finding someone willing to fight Cerrone on short notice.

And for that job, you need a certain kind of fighter. You need someone already in shape and ready, and preferably someone with a few recent wins to make the matchup seem credible. At the same time, that someone can’t be too cautious or too concerned about career trajectory. That someone needs to be a little reckless, for better or worse.

That someone, in other words, probably needs to be a lot like Cerrone himself.

That’s where the UFC got lucky. It might not have two Cerrones on the roster, but it does have two cowboys. And how did it wind up with the Brazilian cowboy in the first place? Oh right, he stepped up on less than two weeks’ notice to fight Gilbert Burns in his UFC debut, resulting in his only loss in four fights with the UFC.

So when UFC officials asked if he’d like to fight Cerrone on less than three weeks’ notice, Oliveira didn’t have to think too hard.

“I was already training,” Oliveira told MMAjunkie. “Because I never stop training. It’s not the first time I’ve been called on short notice.”

The fact that the fight was against Cerrone, who was moving from lightweight to welterweight just as Oliveira was headed in the opposite direction, that only sweetened the deal for Oliveira. A fight with Cerrone, he said, is something he’s wanted for a long time.

“It’s an honor for me,” Oliveira said. “It really is.”

That’s partly because Cerrone has the name with fans and the experience in the UFC to make a win over him truly meaningful for a fighter like Oliveira, who’s still trying to claw his way into the rankings.

But, Oliveira said, it’s also because he sees a lot of himself in Cerrone, the fighter who seems perpetually ready to punch someone in the face for a paycheck. The fact that they’ll both show up in cowboy hats only adds flavor to the bout.

“Cerrone obviously has more experience in the UFC than I do,” Oliveira said. “But the point is, we now have two cowboys in the UFC – an American one and a Brazilian one. They both have the same strengths and they both have the same thoughts. That’s why it’s going to be a great fight. Neither of us is afraid of each other. We’re just going to go after each other in the octagon.”

If it’s divisional relevance you’re looking for, you might come up empty. Cerrone is new to welterweight, and Oliveira is returning there after a win at lightweight. Neither seems set on either weight class at this point.

But if you’re more interested in a clash of two similar fighters with a shared distaste for backward steps? Honestly, you could do a lot worse than some cowboy-on-cowboy violence.

For more on UFC Fight Night 83, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.