Donald Cowboy Cerrone is nobody’s stepping stone or gatekeeper.
Donald Cerrone showed that he is truly elite, by handily defeating the young undefeated fighter Myles Jury and extending his current win streak to six. It was obvious after the first round who was the better ground fighter. Cerrone locked in that omaplata with exemplary speed and showed great composure in eventually getting to side control. It is the mid match adjustments that separate the elite from the great. After that first round Greg Jackson told Cowboy Jury’s obvious plan of catching kicks and scoring takedowns. After that, Cerrone made an effort to pull his kicks back faster, and to switch up which leg he was kicking, as well as kicking with. After the second round Jury was told to stop respecting his stand up, feint, and attack. He tried, but couldn’t execute his new advice. Having and being able to execute a game plan is good, but the truly elite can execute their back up plans as well. With yet another mid match adjustment Cerrone noticed the change in style of Myles and went back to throwing high kicks and landed a nasty one to the head. If he doesn’t get the next title shot a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov makes the most sense. Nurmagomedov needs to stay relevant after such a period of inaction and Cowboy doesn’t like to sit around. If he wins that, a rematch, with either of the only two men to beat him in his last eleven fights, will be exciting and much different than the original.
