Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone kept his strong ride going at UFC 178 at the expense of debuting former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez. While the fight was viewed by many as a coming-out party for Alvarez, Cerrone took the opportunity to show off his evolving striking game, as he landed his long jabs and leg kicks and showed off his ever-improving knees and steely chin.
Now, after telling John Morgan of MMAJunkie.com that he doesn't plan to wait for a title shot, Cerrone will look to get back into the cage before the end of December, which would set him up to possibly win five fights inside one calendar year. That is an interesting prospect and a challenging one for the UFC matchmakers.
So who could Cerronefight? Who is even available at this time? Find out right here!
Myles Jury
Donald Cerrone isn't the only guy looking to get another fight in as quickly as possible. The fast-rising Myles Jury would like to do so as well.
Although Jury came up short while competing on The Ultimate Fighter season 15 (falling short in his first fight opposite Al Iaquinta), he has since shown himself to be the best fighter from the show. He is 6-0 in the Octagon after facing some solid competition and recently annihilated Pride veteran Takanori Gomi with a first-round knockout.
While Cerrone has a lot to lose in this fight, Cowboy is always down to scrap. Jury wasn't given a medical suspension following his fight with Gomi, and if Cerrone checks out clean as well, look for a possible December showdown for them.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
The young man from Dagestan remains one of the hottest names at 155 pounds, even though he has been sidelined with a knee injury since April. While he won't be ready to fight by December, should Cerrone find himself bitten by the injury bug, a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov makes a great deal of sense.
Nurmagomedov defeated Rafael dos Anjos in his most recent fight. Dos Anjos, mind you, is coming off a win over Benson Henderson, and he owns a win over Cerrone circa 2013. If Cerrone even slightly fancies himself to be a champion (which, honestly, might be a bigger "if" than it seems), Nurmagomedov is a man he should be targeting.
If he can beat Nurmagomedov (which is also a super big "if"), that will actually absolve him of two of his past losses at the hands of modern contenders. From there, it would be impossible to argue against him as the on-paper top contender at 155 pounds.
Jorge Masvidal
While Jorge Masvidal may find himself sitting outside the lightweight top-10 right now, the timing here could not be more perfect. Masvidal battered James Krause on the UFC 178 preliminary card just hours before Cerrone notched his win over Eddie Alvarez which, obviously, leaves them both coming off solid wins and their to-do list squeaky clean.
While Masvidal is sitting well a bit far down the lightweight rankings, that is more of a testament to the quality of today's lightweight division than an indictment of Masvidal. The Strikeforce, BODOG and Bellator veteran has long been one of the better lightweights in the game, and has faced many of the division's best throughout the years.
This is a dangerous fight for Cerrone, sure, but Masvidal is by no means some driveby contender. He deserves a chance to break into the top-10 and Cerrone would almost certainly be willing to give him that chance.
