The UFC are planning to end 2015 with a bang, with their final fight of the year being a lightweight title fight between current champion Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone which will take place in the main event of UFC On FOX 17 on December 19th.
Early in his UFC career Dos Anjos looked like being a good rather than a great lightweight, but he’s really come into his own in the past three years and has compiled an impressive 9-1 run, taking out several big name opponents in the process, to become the top dog at 155lbs.
He essentially dominated Anthony Pettis to claim the title back in March, but prior to that he’d also KO’d another former title holder Ben Henderson and easily decisioned Nate Diaz too.
Dos Anjos first title defense was delayed due to knee surgery, but now he returns and will be running high on confidence, especially as already holds a 2013 unanimous decision victory over ‘Cowboy’.
The fact that this fight finally has a firm date will come as a relief to Cerrone as he’s a man who likes to stay active (particuarly as he needs the money to pay for his lavish lifestyle) and had recently started to become agitated at the prospect that his title fight with Dos Anjos may have been getting pushed back to 2016.
So much so in fact that ‘Cowboy’ had stated that he was considering ditching the title shot and moving up to welterweight if it didn’t take place in December.
It seems he’s got his wish and there’s no doubt that Cerrone has earned the chance to fight for the strap as been as active as anyone on the UFC roster over the past year and a half and yet has managed to stay unbeaten for eight fights in a row.
Along the way he’s taken out fellow top 10 opponents like former divisional kingpin Henderson, former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and the hard-hitting Brazilian Edson Barboza to name but a few.
