Jorge Masvidal and Donald Cerrone want to fight at UFC Fight Night 63 in April

Jorge Masvidal

It appears UFC lightweight contenders Jorge Masvidal and Donald Cerrone have taken matchmaking duties into their own hands.

Cerrone (27-6 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who’s ranked No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, and Masvidal (28-8 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who’s just outside the top 15 but quickly moving up the ranks, want to fight in April.

Masvidal originally was slated to fight former champ Benson Henderson (21-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 63, which airs on FOX Sports 1 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. However, Henderson recently pulled out of the April 4 fight to take a short-notice opportunity against welterweight Brandon Thatch (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in UFC Fight Night 60’s headliner on Feb. 14.

That left Masvidal without an opponent for UFC Fight Night 63, but it appears the ever-busy Cerrone, who recently picked up his fifth victory in a 12-month span, is willing to step in.

The fighters discussed the potential bout on Twitter:

Cerrone has other potential suitors, though. Following a recent win over Henderson at UFC Fight Night 59, Cerrone said he wanted to take a small break and then fight Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), an undefeated (and big-talking) No. 2-ranked 155-pounder who’s recovering from an injury. The fighters were aiming for a slot on May’s UFC 187 card.

Although Nurmagomedov is the higher-ranked opponent, Masvidal is on a roll of his own. He’s won three straight fights, most recently defeating James Krause in September. Overall, the former Strikeforce fighter is 6-1 over his past seven fights, and the lone defeat came in a “Fight of the Night” effort against Rustam Khabilov.

For more on UFC Fight Night 63, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.