UFC 206 Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown: Beautiful Violence
Two of the most entertaining strikers in the welterweight division collide in the co-main event of UFC 206 this Saturday.
Originally scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum at New York’s first ever UFC show last month, Donald Cerrone ended up without an opponent and missed out on competing at the monumental UFC 205.
However, the ‘Cowboy’ who lives life to the fullest has been the talk of the town in the MMA community of late, but for a rather unusual set of reasons.
Looking for that marquee performance to really assert his name in the talent packed 170-pound weight class, Matt Brown finds himself at a significant moment in his MMA career. 1-4 in his last five outings, a win against Cerrone could wash away any doubts over his future in the UFC, a loss however, could be detrimental.
The Confusing Antics of Cowboy
Oh, about those reasons. Cerrone recently posted a video showcasing a horrific eye injury, the consensus was it was only make-up for the TV show ‘Godless’ he is currently filming. Two weeks on, a bruised eye with a neck tattoo spelling ‘BMF’ (you probably know what it abbreviates for) has left many UFC fans unsure to whether this is a joke.
Joke or not, what definitely is no laughing matter is ‘Cowboy’s’ skill-set inside the octagon. Picture perfect knees, kicks and punches with an overlooked ground game to match, as I mentioned previously, Cerrone is certainly a jack of all trades.
Evidently, Cerrone favors his stand-up, but it will be interesting to see if he attempts the takedown at any point in this fight.
Although unconventional of the Albuquerque native, we’ve seen in his fight vs. Alex Oliveira that he only needs one chance to take his opponent down (or even have his opponent take him down) to utilize his exceptional jiu-jitsu and get the finish.
It would be a great way for Cerrone to neutralize the threat of Brown’s relentless striking and vicious clinch game. Also, with two-thirds of Brown’s losses coming by submission, it is clearly a weak point in his game that Cowboy can capitalize on.
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A Desperate Resurgence for Brown
Training out the Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Colorado, Brown has trained with the Denver native Cerrone in the past on several occasions, so both guys obviously have a sense of each other’s aggressive kickboxing styles.
It’s well-documented that Brown doesn’t look half the fighter he did in the lead up to his main event slot against former champion Robbie Lawler two years ago. Coming off back to back losses, ‘The Immortal’ will try to bounce back from a disappointing performance by ‘bullying the bully‘ that he feels Cerrone is.
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Some of Brown’s best work comes from inside the clinch. In a 2014 Fight of the Year candidate vs. Erick Silva, Brown used slicing upwards elbows and knees from the Muay Thai plum to great effect in the fight. However, this will be a dangerous game to play against Cerrone, as much like ‘The Immortal’ Brown, he too is ruthless in the clinch.
The longer Brown can keep this fight standing the better. Like I said before, Brown’s weak point is his ground game. His tendency to overextend on his punches could easily allow Cerrone to duck under his shots and secure the takedown, like he did against Rick Story and Patrick Cote. So it’s important Brown moves into range when throwing strikes to avoid overextending.
The place ‘Cowboy’ finds himself in compared to Brown could not be so different. On a thrilling tear at welterweight, Cerrone looks to make it four finishes in a row and rack up his fourth win this calendar year. With Brown not having his hand raised since the classic event of UFC 189, another loss would backpedal him even further in the 170-pound division.
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