Eddie Alvarez or Donald Cerrone Will Rise To The Top Of The Stacked UFC Lightweight Division:
Alvarez will make his long overdue UFC debut at UFC 178 after Bellator finally released him from the final fight on his contract. He comes over as their lightweight champion, but it’s safe to say he’s now swimming with the sharks in the UFC.
UFC wasted no time in throwing him into deep water, matching him up against the surging No. 4-ranked Cerrone, who has finished four straight opponents and won a post-fight bonus after each.
Alvarez could be fast-tracked to a shot at the UFC lightweight title, which will be defended when Anthony Pettis finally returns to take on Gilbert Melendez in the co-main event of December’s UFC 181, if he can get by “Cowboy.”
On the other hand, if Cerrone does what he’s been doing and knocks out the hard-nosed Alvarez, then it’s going to be hard to deny “Cowboy” his shot at the belt.
That doesn’t really seem to be something that Cerrone is all that concerned with right now. But there just won’t be too many other relevant fights available for him, especially if Melendez beats Pettis.
Cerrone already lost to Pettis in one-sided fashion, so that rematch would be a bit harder to sell for the UFC. If Alvarez shows up and dominates Cerrone, however, then a match with either Pettis or Melendez is a no-brainer booking for the UFC to find out who the best lightweight in the world is.
Either way, fans of the talented lightweight division win.
