10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 126, where Donald Cerrone needs to 'pony up'

Donald Cerrone is approaching his UFC Fight Night 126 headliner against Yancy Medeiros as a must-win fight. That’s not because he’s afraid of losing his job, but because he’s just tired of losing.

“It has nothing to do with setting some record or getting back on track or proving anybody wrong,” Cerrone, who is mired in a three-fight losing skid, told MMAjunkie. “Just, it’s (expletive) time. Let’s go. I don’t give a (expletive) about keeping my job or making a statement to the guys in the upper weight class. Let’s just (expletive) go ‘Cowboy,’ just (expletive) pony up (expletive). That’s what this is about. It’s about me.”

Medeiros is on a three-fight winning streak entering this welterweight scrap, and he’s won each of those bouts by stoppage.

In the co-main event, heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Marcin Tybura, who are both coming off losses, look to avoid the first losing skids of their careers.

UFC Fight Night 126 takes place Sunday at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. It airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Here are 10 reasons to watch the event.

1. What will 2018 bring?

The year 2016 was a good one for Cerrone. He moved to welterweight and went a perfect 4-0 with four stoppage wins. Three of those victories earned him fight-night bonuses. He then fought three times in 2017, and he lost each of those bouts and is currently on the first losing skid of his lengthy career. Despite that rocky run, Cerrone (32-10 MMA, 19-7 UFC) is No. 13 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings.

Medeiros (15-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) opened his MMA career at 9-0. When he joined the UFC, he went 3-4 as a lightweight. After he moved to welterweight, he’s since won three straight.

While this bout won’t have a massive impact on the rankings, it is very significant for the futures of the two fighters involved.

2. There are some questions

The last time Lewis stepped into the octagon, he was riding a six-fight winning streak and close to breaking into the top five of the heavyweight division. He lost that fight to Mark Hunt via fourth-round TKO.

Lewis (18-5-1 MMA, 9-3 UFC) subsequently slipped to No. 13 in the rankings. He makes his return against rankings honorable mention Tybura (16-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who is coming off a decision loss to former champion Fabricio Werdum.

With his self-promotional skills and one-punch knockout power, Lewis is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. The problem he faces is that he’s largely a one-dimensional fighter. He’s a brawler who is always on the lookout for the knockout. That style could pose problems against the more well-rounded Tybura.

Another concern with Lewis is his wonky back, which had him contemplating retirement after the loss to Hunt and did force him out of a scheduled bout with Werdum on the day of the fight.

If Lewis wants to rise back up the rankings, he has to unequivocally answer the questions surrounding him at UFC Fight Night 126.

3. Not a happy man

James Vick is unhappy. The 30-year-old has won his past three fights via stoppage, and he hoped that run would secure him a highly ranked opponent or the headlining spot on this card.

James Vick

Vick told MMAjunkie Radio that his wish list of opponents included Kevin Lee, Michael Chiesa and Paul Felder. According to Vick, who is ranked No. 14 at lightweight, none of those fighters was interested in the matchup.

“I’m not a 2-2 guy asking to fight a top contender,” Vick said. “I’m a (expletive) 8-1 guy asking to fight a top contender. But the UFC can’t put a gun to these people’s heads and make them fight me, so I was going for the next best option. And I just wanted to be the main event in my home state.”

Instead, Vick (12-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) faces No. 15-ranked Francis Trinaldo (22-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC). The 39-year-old is 9-1 in his past 10 fights.

4. Wish granted

In January Curtis Millender told MMAjunkie Radio he deserved to be in the UFC. He was 13-3 at the time and coming off a knockout win over Matthew Frincu at LFA 24.

Curtis Millender

After he scored a highlight reel head-kick KO over Nick Barnes at LFA 30, the UFC finally came calling. Millender (14-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who is on a six-fight winning streak, makes his UFC debut against UFC vet Thiago Alves(22-11 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who ended a two-fight skid in April with a decision win over Patrick Cote.

Millender has an eight-inch reach edge and 5-inch height advantage in this matchup. His opponent has a massive 12-year advantage in experience.

Alves, who has faced some of the absolute best in the UFC’s welterweight division, will be a substantial test for Millender.

5. Seems to be working

During the early part of his career, Sage Northcutt faced criticism for not training with a top MMA team, but he worked with Team Alpha Male ahead of his most recent fight. The results were excellent. Northcutt put together a well-rounded and confident performance in earning a unanimous-decision win over Michel Quinones.

Northcutt stayed with Alpha Male after that victory, and by all accounts, the soon to be 22-year-old has fit in nicely with the fight team.

Northcutt (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and his coaches get their next test at UFC Fight Night 126, where the Texas-born fighter faces Thibault Gouti. The soon to be 31-year-old Gouti (12-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) ended a three-fight skid in September with a first-round TKO win over Andrew Holbrook.

Northcutt has a great deal of potential. The move to a quality fight team might be what he needs to unleash that potential.

6. Making up for lost time

Diego Ferreira returns to the octagon for the first time in more than two years. His absence was a result of a 17-month suspension due to an anti-doping policy violation. His most recent fight was a January 2016 decision win over Olivier Aubin-Mercier. After that contest, Ferreira said he hoped to land a matchup against a ranked opponent as soon as he could.

Ferreira (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) meets Jared Gordon, who is unbeaten in his two UFC outings, in this lightweight tilt. Expect Gordon (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) to approach this fight like he did his recent scrap against Hacran Dias. In that bout, Gordon used a high-pressure attack and attempted 285 strikes on his way to a decision win.

This bout is at the top of the prelims for a reason. It promises to be an exciting scrap that could leave the victor in the position to face a top-15 opponent.

7. A different situation

Geoff Neal stepped up on 11 days’ notice to take a fight on the Dana White’s Contender Series 3 fight card. Like the LFA fight he ended in the first round on July 14, Neal wrapped up his July 25 fight inside the TUF Gym in the opening frame. The stoppage win over Chase Waldon earned him a UFC contract.

Geoff Neal

In the first fight of that deal, Neal (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) faces Brian Camozzi in a welterweight contest. Camozzi (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) is 0-2 since joining the UFC off the strength of winning the RFA welterweight title. Both of Camozzi’s losses have come via knockout.

We saw what Neal could do on short notice. Now we’ll get the chance to see what he can do with seven months between fights.

8. Living the dream

Joby Sanchez had a short run with the UFC from 2014-2015, when he went 1-2. He hit the local circuit for two fights after his UFC release and scored victories in both contests. Over the summer Sanchez got the chance to fight on the first DWCS card. He won that fight, but he didn’t earn a UFC deal. However, Sanchez (11-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) did get the chance to return on the seventh DWCS card, and his second-round TKO win over J.P. Buys earned him a second crack at the big time.

Sanchez now faces Roberto Sanchez (7-1 MMA, 0-1) in Austin. The former LFA flyweight lost to Joseph Morales via first-round submission in his UFC debut, which was the first loss of his career.

As impressive as Joby was in the cage during his second DWCS fight, what really stood out was his attitude in his post-fight interview.

“If it isn’t enough, I don’t care,” Sanchez said when asked if he thought he did enough to earn a UFC contract, “I’m going to keep winning and keep moving forward. It’s my dream.”

9. Momentum

Ashlee Evans-Smith was a 3-1 favorite over Sarah Moras at UFC 215. She submitted Evans-Smith in the first-round with an armbar so nasty that light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, who was commentating the fight, said he couldn’t watch the replay. It was Moras’ first fight in more than two years.

Sarah Moras

At UFC Fight Night 126, Moras (5-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) faces Lucie Pudilova (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is coming off a decision win over Ji Yeon Kim.

Injuries have hampered Moras’ run in the UFC. She’s remained healthy since the Evans-Smith bout, and now the strawweight rankings honorable mention has the opportunity to ride the momentum from that victory into a fight against a ranked opponent if she can get past Pudilova.

10. Two finishers

Oskar Piechota made his UFC debut in his native Poland in October. He kept his unbeaten record intact that night with a dominant decision win over Jonathan Wilson, and he now enters UFC Fight Night 126 as one of the biggest favorites on the card.

Oskar Piechota

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Robert Drysdale, the former Cage Warriors middleweight champ came close to adding a 10th finish to his record against Wilson.

Piechota (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Tim Williams (15-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a two-time competitor on “The Ultimate Fighter” who has spent most of his career with Cage Fury Fight Championship. His most recent fight came a year ago, when he earned a decision win over former UFC fighter Jay Silva.

Williams does have a solid ground game of his own with nine submission victories, but he’ll have his work cut out for him against Piechota, who looks like he could make some noise in the middleweight division.

For more on UFC Fight Night 126, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.