Cerrone vs. McGregor Is The Fight We All Want, Even If We Don’t Know It

Cerrone vs. McGregor Is The Fight We All Want, Even If We Don’t Know It

By Keith Turrell 

Not a minute had passed since Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone had dispatched Alexander Hernandez in customary TKO style at UFC Brooklyn this past weekend and he was calling out Conor McGregor in his octagon interview. A practice that’s now encouraged by the promotion, a winning fighter should be looking to call their next shot to set the wheels in motion and test the public’s enthusiasm for the fight they’re looking to land.

It can go one of two ways; either suddenly cementing the contest as inevitable in the eyes of the fans or making a fighter seem like they’re not thinking straight as they call out an opponent deemed far out of his or her league.

When it comes to calling out the biggest crossover star in the promotion’s history however, it often comes off as the latter.

Cowboy is no ordinary UFC fighter though. After 30 fights in the octagon he holds the record for the most wins in promotion history, 22, and his records don’t end there. He also boasts the most stoppage wins with 16 as well as the most post-fight performance bonuses, also at 16. The two big picks for me among several others.

When it comes to what Dana White and the UFC hold most dear though, pay-per-view buys, there is one man who stands head and shoulders above Cerrone and the rest of the roster. ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor owns 5 of the top 6 selling UFC pay-per-views of all time which adds up to a staggering 7,817,000 buys overall, and that’s not including the UFC 189 card which featured McGregor taking on a late replacement in Chad Mendes which drew an impressive 825,000.

That’s a lot of eyeballs and that equates to a lot of filthy lucre, the driving force in the modern age of the MMA leader.

“I would love to fight with Conor, man. This is his show, he picks and dictates. I say yes, hell yeah”

Cerrone has always been a fan favourite but it’s his recent run that has propelled him to new standing among the sports veterans. After beating Yancy Medeiros in February of 2018 he went on to lose to Leon Edwards in Singapore before returning in grand style in November to finish Mike Perry in a much hyped co-main event in Dallas.

Heading into the Hernandez fight Cowboy was the underdog and thought by some to be a stepping stone for the young prospect on the rise. After some heated pre-fight back and forth initiated by Hernandez he went on to show that he was anything but another step on the ladder as he dominated the fight, catching Hernandez with knees almost every time they engaged before landing a strong head kick to knock his opponent down, and finishing with strikes. It was a signature performance from Cowboy, displaying his well honed stand-up game as well as a new-found maturity in his game planning.

For his part, McGregor has reacted positively to Cerrone’s call-out; tweeting “For a fight like that Donald, I’ll fight you. Congratulations” in response. This was picked up by Dana White at the UFC Brooklyn post-fight press conference where he confirmed that if there was enough demand for the fight that “this is what I do”. McGregor, who is coming off a December loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov is still the prize for many fighters who would see a payday should they face him that they would be unlikely to see at any other point in their careers. It’s Cowboy who far and away deserves this shot and the chance to turn his cult icon status into something much more tangible and the current quotes coming from all camps involved suggest this may well be next for him.

There has been talk in opposition, of Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson being more accomplished challenges for McGregor in the lightweight division but this is, in my opinion only valid if you look at the Irishman as an active competitor in the UFC’s almost theoretical meritocracy.

Is Conor returning to challenge for the title and take on all comers, or is he looking once again for the biggest fight possible in what he see’s as the last few fights of his fighting life. I firmly believe it is the second option and neither of the above fighters would bring the attention to a big main event against McGregor that a resurgent and fun-filled Cowboy would.

I like both Dustin and Tony, and their days in the spotlight will most certainly come but when it comes to giving the fans what they want even when they don’t know it yet, Cerrone vs. McGregor is the fight to make.