Per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, top lightweight contenders Donald Cerrone and Justin Gaethje will meet in the main event of UFC Vancouver on September 14.
First reported by Kevin Iole, a lightweight collision between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and “The Highlight” Justin Gaethje will headline the UFC event in Vancouver, Canada on September 14. The five round affair is set to take place at the Rogers Centre.
Donald Cerrone teased the fight earlier in the day by heading to Instagram and posting that he had accepted a short notice fight at 155 pounds. “Cowboy” was riding an impressive three fight win-streak across both the welterweight and lightweight divisions before running into former interim champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 238 in June. After suffering a broken orbital late in the second round, Cerrone blew his nose and caused his eye to swell shut which led the referee to stopping the bout before the start of the third.
Justin Gaethje is currently on a two fight win-streak with first round stoppages over James Vick and most recently Edson Barboza in March. Currently ranked fifth in the division, the fight with Cerrone is a huge opportunity for Gaethje to leap into title contention. Furthermore, Gaethe has had a Fight of the Year candidate each year since entering the Octagon in 2017 and the pairing with “Cowboy” figures to produce another candidate for 2019.
At present, the lightweight title picture is locked with champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier set to fight at UFC 242, and top contender Tony Ferguson is unanimously recognized as the next in line. The winner of Cerrone and Gaethje a week after Khabib vs. Poirier would have a strong case as the next top contender should they have an impressive performance in their fight.
