UFC 141: CO-MAIN EVENT DONALD CERRONE VS. NATE DIAZ
BY:CHRIS PALMA
Airing live December 30th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC 141 is headlined by hulking heavy weights Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem. The main card portion of UFC 141 will air live on pay per view starting at 9 in the east, and 6 in the west. As an always evident possibility with heavy weight fights, especially ones in which there is over 500 pounds of muscle inside the octagon, is the possibility of a quick finish. Just in case this does happen UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has given us a late Christmas gift, with an exciting co-main event match up between Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz. With 10 Fight of the Night awards between the two, Donald Cerrone (17-3) Vs. Nate Diaz(14-7) promises to live up to the hype.
At a time in which many UFC fighters are lucky to get 3 fights a year with the growing promotion, this will be Cerrone’s 5th contest of the 2011 calendar year. With a 5th straight win Cerrone’s name will be among the top of lightweight title talks, and if there wasn’t a man named Jon Jones the Fighter of the Year talk too.
Fighting out of the stellar Jackson and Winklejohn camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cerrone had posted a 6-3-1 record inside the WEC cage. Two of those loses come to the person next in line to challenge UFC Light Weight Champion Frankie Edgar’s strap, Benson Henderson. With the UFC monster eating up the WEC and all its assets, Cerrone got his call up to the big show in February at UFC 126. In his first octagon appearance Cerrone was matched up against a game but over matched Paul Kelly. In an exciting fight where both fighters were awarded the UFC’s “Fight of the Night” award, Cerrone got the win with a 2nd round rear naked choke. In his second appearance against Vagener Rocha , Cerrone appeared tentative, and at times a bit uncomfortable. Although he was awarded the unanimous decision after the fight he apologized to the fans for what he says was “fighting not to lose”. Since that performance he has reminded us of why we were so excited to see him inside the octagon, adding 2 more victories; a TKO against Charles Oliviera and rear naked against Dennis Siver.
His opponent, Nate Diaz (14-7), hails from the tough Cesar Gracie Fight Team, whose fighters always come in ready for war. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter season 5, Nate Diaz had some highs and lows inside the octagon. Since that win against Manny Gamburyan on TUF 5 finale, he has posted a UFC record of 8-5, spanning 4 years and 2 weight classes. In a stretch from January 2009 to January 2010 Diaz had went 1-3 inside the octagon losing 2 consecutive fights against Clay Guida, and Joe Stevenson. These bouts saw Diaz taken down, and controlled by strong wrestlers who were able to neutralize the potent ground game of Diaz with strong top control. He rebounded with a submission win against hard-hitting Melvin Guillard, before losing a controversial decision to Gray Maynard. After this 1-3 stretch he decided to make the move to welterweight, where he compiled a 2-0 record before once again losing two straight bouts where has was controlled by bigger stronger opponents, who eked out close decisions against him. He returned to light weight this past September at UFC 135 against former top light weight Takanori Gomi.
With 23 submission wins between the two, both fighters enter the bout very well rounded. However, Nate Diaz will most definitely have the advantage should the fight hit the canvas. Diaz, a brown belt of Cesar Gracie, could very well be more versed than black belts from many other camps. To complement his superb ground game, the Diaz brothers’ “Stockton Slap” is one the most effective striking arsenals. With the sheer volume of punches they throw, they have the gas tank to go for days, and granite chins. This combination makes him one of the most durable fighters in the light weight division.
Cerrone comes into this fight with a potent muay thai attack of his own. A one time national Muay Thai champion, he showcased punching power in his “knock out of this night” performance against Charles Oliveira, one in which he dropped Oliveira with a left hook to the body before swarming and fishing with punches on the mat. Coming from Greg Jackson’s camp, you know he will come in with a complete game plan and in his fight with jui jitsu specialist Vagner Rocha, he showed a willingness to stick to game plan, stuffing take downs while controlling distance with thudding leg kicks. Like Diaz Cerrone has also never been stopped by strikes.
With double digit Fight of the Night awards between the two expect a fast paced, exciting fight come this Friday. With two tough strikers who are also very well versed on the ground expect some tense moments on the feet and exciting scrambles mat.
Should the fight hit the mat Cerrone should have the ability to avoid any of Diaz’s submission attempts, and after a few tense moments on the feet expect him to start using his powerful leg kicks, while working his angles and combinations, to win the stand up on route to a unanimous decision victory.
Main Bouts (on Pay-Per-View):
-Brock Lesnar (5-2 ) vs. Alistair Overeem (35-11 )
-Nate Diaz (14-7) vs. Donald Cerrone (17-3)
-Jon Fitch (23-3-1 ) vs. Johny Hendricks (11-1)
-Vladimir Matyushenko (26-5) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (12-1)–Nam Phan (17-9) vs. Jim Hettes (9-0)
Preliminary Bouts (on Spike TV):
-Ross Pearson (12-5) vs. Junior Assuncao (13-4)
-Anthony Njokuani (14-5) vs. Danny Castillo (12-4)
Preliminary Bouts (on Facebook):
-Dong Hyun Kim (14-1-1) vs. Sean Pierson (11-5)
-Jacob Volkmann (13-2) vs. Efrain Escudero (18-3)
-Matt Riddle (5-3) vs. Luis Ramos (19-7)
-Manny Gamburyan (11-6) vs. Diego Nunes (16-2)
UFC 141 Start Times: December 30th
Facebook Prelims: 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT (Live)
Spike TV Prelims: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (Live)
Main Card on PPV: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (Live)
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